Ó An Roinn Breisoideachais agus Ardoideachais, Taighde, Nuálaíochta agus Eolaíochta
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Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, will begin a visit to Washington DC and Boston on Monday 12 February.
Ireland marks 100 years of diplomatic relations with the United States this year and the Minister’s visit will celebrate this milestone, as well as launch Ireland’s new international Talent and Innovation strategy, Global Citizens 2030 in the US.
Speaking ahead of the visit, the Minister said:
"I look forward to visiting the United States this week to meet with educational and political leaders.
“We have strong economic links with the United States but it is essential we continue to grow and develop this relationship.
“We see significant opportunities in the area of education and research. In this regard, I am very pleased that I am being accompanied on this mission with representatives from our higher education institutions and our science agency.
“We will use this opportunity to embed the strong bonds our two counties share but also how we can expand them to benefit both our economies and societies.”
The Minister will begin his programme in Washington DC on Tuesday 13 February and Wednesday 14 February. On Tuesday morning, he will officially launch the 30th year of the Washington-Ireland programme.
The Minister will then visit both Georgetown and Howard University, accompanied on the mission by senior academics from eight publicly funded Irish higher education institutions. He will meet with senior leadership in both universities and will discuss deepening the collaboration between Irish and US higher education institutions.
During his time in Washington, the Minister will also travel to Capitol Hill to take high-level meetings with the Under Secretary at the Department of Education, James Kvaal, Director of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, and Deputy Director for Policy at the Office of Science and Technology and science policy advisor to the President, Kei Koizumi, to discuss Ireland’s policies on international education, talent, research and innovation.
The Minister will also meet with several members of the United States Congress, including members of the House Committee for Science, Space, and Technology, the House Committee for Education and the Workforce, as well as Democratic co-chair of the Friends of Ireland Caucus, Representative Richard Neal.
The Minister will use the opportunity of these meetings to discuss Ireland’s relationship with the United States, as well as developments in Northern Ireland and the common global challenges being faced by all.
On the evening of Tuesday 13 February, the Minister will officially launch Global Citizens 2030 in the US at a reception at the Ambassador’s residence, where he will also make an announcement on the location of the first Talent and Innovation Attaché position under the initiative.
The Minister will then travel to Boston on Thursday 15 February, where he will meet with the Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, to discuss developments in Northern Ireland.
On Friday 16 February, the Minister will have a working breakfast with senior leadership at the Council on International Education Exchance(CIEE) . The Council is non-profit organization that supports international education and exchange, and provides research scholar and graduate J-1 visas to Irish graduates to work in the US. The Minister will be looking to explore opportunities to further promote these programmes to Irish graduates.
Following this the Minister will visit the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), a start-up incubator and co-working space located between Boston’s Downtown Crossing and Financial District. There the Minister will tour the facility and meet with its leadership to hear about the ways that CIC has succeeded in fostering a community environment of founders and investors. The Minister will also discuss CIC’s global network of campuses, and how best to support Irish innovation through relationships with CIC.
While in Boston, the Minister will also meet with Jeevan Ramapriya, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI) to discuss the economic relationship between Massachusetts-Ireland and to explore possible opportunities for growth.
Finally, the Minister will visit Northeastern University, where he will inspect the EXP Building, Northeastern’s new Science and Technology research building. He will also meet with the university’s Provost, Prof David Madigan to discuss the strong academic relationship between Northeastern and Ireland’s higher education institutions, as well as explore opportunities for increased joint research projects and partnerships.