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 has today launched an €83.68 million TU Research and Innovation Supporting Enterprise (TU RISE) Fund.
The scheme is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.
The TU RISE scheme will support research capacity building in higher education institutions in the technological sector, with a focus on institutions enhancing engagement with enterprises in their regions.
Minister Harris said:
"This is a really important investment in our Technological Universities and in cementing the links between education and enterprise.
"This funding will ensure there is greater and more structured engagement with regional enterprises, in particular, small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
"This new fund builds further on the significant support already being provided by Government for the establishment and continuing development of our new technological universities.
"RISE will focus on the research capacity building element which is so fundamental to the TUs and with a focus on enhancing engagement with regional enterprises."
The purpose of the TU RISE scheme is to establish, strengthen, and systemise research and innovation offices in technological universities (TUs) and institutes of technology (IoTs).
The new programme will be administered by the Higher Education Authority and following today’s launch funding will be allocated by Quarter 4 this year.
The Minister said:
"TU RISE is directed at developing researcher human capital in the TUs, including staff development, recruitment, postgraduate training and supervision, networking, and collaborative knowledge-transfer and mobility schemes.
"It will bolster regional entrepreneurship through investment in the TUs, leveraging the role of these higher education institutions as anchors for enterprise and for regional growth in line with the tenets of the 2019 TURN report and the ambitions of the TU national agenda.
"TU RISE is in my view a hugely significant programme that will produce real benefits for the TUs, their staff, students and stakeholders and for our regions more generally."
The call is now open and the closing date for application is 14 September 2023, with projects expected to commence in 2024.
CEO of the Higher Education Authority Dr Alan Wall welcomed the partnership of the Government of Ireland and the European Union to support the development of the technological sector:
"The TU RISE scheme underlines the importance of the partnership of the government and the EU in developing Ireland’s higher education and research system.
"The co-funding provided by the European Regional Development Fund for TU RISE complements investment in landscape reform through the Technological University Transformation Fund (TUTF) and N-TUTORR programme, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
"The HEA is committed to the development and enhancement of research across higher education institutions.
"Through TU RISE, institutions in the technological sector have the opportunity to develop the structures to enable increased engagement with enterprise and accelerate research and innovation capability. Research fields will be extended and greater capacity will be developed within institutions to serve national and regional strategic objectives."
Through the TU RISE scheme, funding of €63.68 million is available under the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme, and funding of €20 million is available under the Northern and Western Regional Programme.
Institutional eligibility to apply for these programmes is as follows:
Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme (€63 million):
Northern and Western Regional Programme (€20 million):
Proposals for funding under TU RISE will encompasses initiatives to establish and strengthen research and innovation offices and increase researcher human capital.
The closing date for application is 14 September 2023, with projects expected to commence in 2024.
TU RISE is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) that aims to strengthen economic, social, and territorial cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions. The objectives of the fund are to create a competitive and smarter Europe, a greener transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe, and a Europe closer to citizens by fostering sustainable and integrated development at a regional level.
The fund finances programmes with shared responsibility between the European Commission and national and regional authorities in Member States. In Ireland, two ERDF Regional Programmes have been launched for the period 2021-2027 totalling €863 million, of which €396 million is financed by the European Union. The Northern and Western Regional Assembly is the Managing Authority for the Northern and Western Regional Programme.
The Southern Regional Assembly is the Managing Authority for the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme. The Regional Programmes focus on three strategic outcomes: Strategic Priority 1: Smarter and More Competitive Regions, Strategic Priority 2: Low Carbon, Energy Efficient Regions and Strategic Priority 3: Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development. The objectives of Priority 1 will be delivered through six funding schemes, one of which is the TU RISE scheme.
TU RISE responds to Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) ambitions by strengthening TUs as regional innovation leaders. It aims to build new and additional capacity to facilitate and enable knowledge transfer and S3 objectives.
By supporting enhanced research, development and innovation capabilities and work placements into enterprises, TU RISE activities will bring knowledge and expertise out of TUs and into the regions and generate opportunities for enterprises to draw on academic expertise within institutions. This exchange is a critical enabling step in cultivating engagement with SMEs and building a pipeline for further collaborative projects.
TU RISE will make €83.7 million in funding available over four years (2023-2027) via the two regional programmes, the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme encompassing the Higher Education Institutes of MTU, TUS, SETU, TU Dublin, DkiT and IADT and the Northern and Western Regional Programme encompassing ATU.