Higher Education Research and Development Survey: 2020 to 2021

The Higher Education Research and Development Survey (HERD) presents the results of the survey of research and development (R&D) activities in the higher education sector for the academic year 2020 to 2021. Expenditures and human resources devoted to research activity in the higher education sector are measured biennially in the HERD survey. The sector comprises the publicly-funded higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ireland.

The HERD Survey was the responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment until 1 January 2021 when this responsibility was transferred to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

The results of the survey are used by national policy makers when analysing the national research

and innovation system and developing associated policies and programmes. The current survey

results are particularly important in the context of Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy.

The total HERD stated in the report is the sum of:

Direct HERD

Research expenditure which can be attributed to a particular source (such as Irish public, European Union) using an institution’s financial records.

• More than €607 million

Indirect HERD

An estimate of the amount of research expenditure which is nominally attributed to recurrent grant and free fees funding. This is based on a calculation in the Frascati Manual:

• (Total recurrent grant + free fees expenditure) x (percentage of academic staff time spent on research)
• Nearly €135 million

Total

• More than €742 million