Research Classification Ireland

Research Classification Ireland (RCI) is Ireland’s first national classification for public investment in research and experimental development (R&D). RCI categorises publicly funded R&D projects according to the Type of Activity (TOA), Field of Research (FOR) and Socio-Economic Objective (SEO). RCI will improve transparency and provide valuable evidence of what publicly funded research is taking place. This will strengthen the connections between Government Departments and the public research system and facilitate accessible research expertise. It will also inform future policy development and impact assessment. RCI will therefore help to achieve the strategic objectives in Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy

RCI is designed to be inclusive of all current sectors of research in Ireland and was developed to ensure consistent categorisation of Exchequer-funded research in Ireland. This will enable reliable comparison of research statistics and data nationally as well as the development of standardised reporting and benchmarking. In addition, RCI is closely aligned with the concepts underlying the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC 2020) and the Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC 2020). RCI also takes account of international standards and best practice in research reporting, as described in the OECD Frascati Manual 2015. This enables comparability of Irish statistics with those derived using ANZSRC, CRDC or OECD Frascati Manual classifications.

R&D projects that receive public funding will be categorised using a set of three related classifications. The three RCI classifications are:

• Type of Activity (TOA)
• Fields of Research (FOR)
• Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

Types of Activity (TOA)

The TOA refers to the type of research. This can be:

• Basic research: experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view.
• Applied research: original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific, practical aim or objective.
• Experimental development: systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience and producing additional knowledge, which is directed to producing new products or processes or to improving existing products or processes.

Fields of Research (FOR)

The FOR refers to the researcher’s area of investigation. The researcher states the area of the problem or phenomenon they are studying. It also covers:

• the methods and techniques used
• the professional profile of the researcher
• where the research will be used.

The FOR has four hierarchical levels:

• Divisions
• Groups
• Classes
• Fields.

The Divisions represent a broad subject area or research discipline and the Groups represent a part of that subject area or research discipline. The Classes and Fields can be used to identify more specifically and accurately the precise nature of the R&D.

Socio-economic Objective (SEO)

The SEO refers to the intended outcome of the research. It shows which audience will get the most use out of the research findings. This includes economic, social or technological uses.

The SEO has three hierarchical levels:

• Divisions
• Groups
• Objectives.

Each Division is based on a broad research objective. Groups within each Division are those which are aligned towards the same overarching objective as the Division. Each Group is a collection of related research Objectives. Groups are categorised to the Divisions with which they are most closely aligned.

RCI was developed for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research and Science by Dr Claire McKenna through the SFI Public Service Fellowship Scheme, in response to Action 7.6 of Innovation 2020 (predecessor to Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy). Dr McKenna and DFHERIS prepared the following documents:

• Report - Development of RCI: explains why and how RCI was developed.
• Research Classification Ireland Version 1.0: explains how to classify R&D using RCI. This includes technical documents aimed at the research sector, namely:
• RCI FOR v1.0.xlsx: this Excel file contains the full list of RCI FOR codes.
• RCI SEO v1.0.xlsx: this Excel file contains the full list of RCI SEO codes.

This report also includes the following comparisons:

• Comparison of OECD Frascati Manual – Broad Classification (FOR) and RCI Version 1.0 – Division levels (FOR)
• Comparison of OECD Frascati Manual – Second level classification (FOR) and RCI Version 1.0 – Group levels (FOR)
• Comparison of the NABS 2007 and RCI Version 1.0 – Division levels (SEO)
• Comparison of All Science Journal Classification codes (ASJC) and RCI Version 1.0 – Group levels (FOR) (Refer to Excel file ASJC to RCI).