From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for research and innovation, Martin Heydon TD, today announced the opening of the 2022 Call for Proposals in Agriculture under the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership.
Making the announcement, the Minister stated
“I am delighted to launch this year’s Research Call in agriculture under the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership. This unique collaboration between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US has been in operation for 16 years and I am pleased to note that it is moving into a new phase with an expanded range of research opportunities. This follows a review of the Partnership undertaken by my Department along with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). I also want to formally acknowledge the ongoing participation and commitment of DAERA and the USDA to this Partnership.”
The US-Ireland R&D Partnership is a product of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and involves the governments of the United States of America, Ireland and Northern Ireland working together for scientific progress by awarding grants for research on a competitive basis. The Partnership was launched in 2006 and to date, a total combined funding of €105. 7 million ($125.6 million) has been awarded to 65 projects in 7 priority areas including Cybersecurity; Agriculture; Health; Nanoscale Science & Engineering; Sensors & Sensor Networks; Telecommunications; Energy & Sustainability.
The 2022 Agriculture Call reinforces the importance of international scientific collaboration on critical research topics, while also extending new opportunities for the co-funding of joint research proposals. Six additional research areas have been included in the latest call, providing twelve research areas in total that are open to joint research proposals from Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the USA.
In announcing the 2022 Call, Minister Haydon remarked
“The Food Vision 2030 Strategy aims for an innovative, competitive and resilient agri-food sector, driven by technology and talent. It identifies the need to build on ongoing initiatives and strategic international partnerships in research and innovation, particularly in aiding the transition to a climate-neutral agricultural sector and circular bioeconomy. This new tri-partite Call between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US delivers on this commitment and represents a significant opportunity for international collaboration in research areas that have become increasingly important for the agricultural sector. I therefore encourage Irish researchers to explore opportunities and find partners in the other jurisdictions and to apply to the Call”.
More information about the 2022 Call is available at the following link: Call Information: US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership
Notes for editor
• The call invites eligible Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) from the Republic of Ireland to submit joint research proposals, with collaborating partners from the USA and Northern Ireland, under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The submission deadline to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland is four weeks in advance of the stated AFRI deadline for the respective Programme Area Priority in AFRI’s 2022 Foundation Competitive Grant Programme.
• The earlier launch of the 2022 Agriculture Call allows time for RPOs in Ireland to network and find partners across the other jurisdictions, and to explore and develop their ideas in the research areas on offer under the Call in advance of the submission deadline in 2022.
• The twelve research areas in the Call and the respective DAFM/DAERA and AFRI deadlines in 2022 are:
| Programme Area Priority in 022 | DAERA/DAFM Deadline | AFRI Deadline |
| Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems (A1112) | 28/07/2022 | 25/08/2022 |
| Animal Nutrition, Growth, and Lactation (A1231) | 14/07/2022 | 11/08/2022 |
| Welfare of Agricultural Animals (A1251) | 14/07/2022 | 11/08/2022 |
| Diseases of Agricultural Animals (A1221) | 14/07/2022 | 11/08/2022 |
| Animal Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics (A1201) | 14/07/2022 | 11/08/2022 |
| Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance Across the Food Chain (A1366) | 04/08/2022 | 01/09/2022 |
| Sustainable Bioeconomy through Biobased Products (A1414) | 04/08/2022 | 01/09/2022 |
| Sustainable Agroecosystems: Health, Functions, Processes and Management (A1451) | 18/08/2022 | 15/09/2022 |
| Biorefining and Biomanufacturing (A1531) | 01/09/2022 | 29/09/2022 |
| Agricultural Microbiomes in Plant Systems and Natural Resources (A1402) | 08/09/2022 | 06/10/2022 |
| Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems (DSFAS) (A1541) | 22/10/2022 | 17/11/2022 |
| Inter-Disciplinary Engagement in Animal Systems (IDEAS) (A1261) | 08/09/2022 | 06/10/2022 |
• The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the leading competitive grants program for agricultural sciences in the US. Since 2016 the scope of the Partnership has included agriculture whereby researchers in eligible institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland can link with a US-based researcher to submit research funding applications to annual Calls launched by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
• The Department’s funding of successful projects under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Calls comes from the Department’s competitive Research Programme.