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Research Funding in Ireland – A Guide to the Main Sources

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Ireland has a strong and growing research and innovation sector. Funding comes from many different sources – government agencies, European Union programmes, and specialist organisations. This article explains the main ways researchers, companies and universities can get funding in Ireland.

The Main National Funding Agency

Research Ireland (also known as Taighde Éireann) is the country’s main research funding agency. It was established on 1 August 2024, following the merger of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC). The agency supports research across all disciplines – from science and technology to arts and humanities.

Research Ireland runs many different funding programmes:

  • Frontiers for the Future Programme – In November 2025, the agency announced €34.5 million for 39 scientific research projects across the country. One project at Maynooth University received nearly €1.7 million to develop new ways to make chemicals that can replace expensive metals.
  • COALESCE Research Fund – This programme supports research that addresses national and global societal challenges. In 2025, €3.5 million was awarded for 16 projects. Researchers at University College Cork received a combined €1.1 million through this programme.
  • Pathway Programme – In June 2025, €23 million was announced to support 36 projects for early-career researchers. This helps postdoctoral researchers move towards becoming independent investigators.
  • New Foundations Programme – This awarded €683,677 for 59 projects in 2025, supporting collaboration between researchers, community organisations and government departments.
  • Discover Programme – A €6.5 million investment in 40 projects designed to increase public engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Research Ireland also runs the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme, with PhD stipends now set at €25,000 per year – an increase of over 31% in two years.

Other National Funding Agencies

Many other government bodies provide research funding in their specialist areas.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – The EPA funds environmental and climate research. In 2025, the agency announced €6.9 million for new environmental and climate research awards. This brought the total EPA research funding announced in 2025 to €21.4 million. Earlier in the year, €6.5 million was awarded for 24 new research projects covering climate change, healthy environments and the green economy.

Health Research Board (HRB) – The HRB supports health research that creates new knowledge to benefit people’s health. It funds clinical research, patient-oriented research, population health sciences and health services research. The HRB also helps Irish researchers take part in international collaborations, such as the 2025 ERDERA joint transnational call for rare diseases research.

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine – In April 2025, the department launched a €30 million Thematic Research Call. This five-year programme supports research in four areas: climate and biodiversity; animal and plant production; bioeconomy and agri-digitalisation; and sustainable food systems. Funded projects range from €750,000 to €3 million.

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) – SEAI announced €20.5 million in government funding for 34 national energy research awards in 2025. The programme supports research on energy poverty, offshore renewable energy, carbon capture and energy-efficient buildings.

Teagasc – This is the leading organisation for agriculture and food research in Ireland. It runs around 300 research projects each year, carried out by 500 scientific and technical staff in research centres across the country.

EU Funding – Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is the European Union’s main research and innovation programme, running from 2021 to 2027 with a budget of over €95 billion. Ireland has done very well in this programme.

In September 2025, Ireland passed the €1 billion mark in funding secured from Horizon Europe. By the end of 2025, Irish organisations had been awarded €1.02 billion, which is 2.09% of the total funding awarded so far. This is ahead of Ireland’s target of 1.6%.

The funding breaks down across the three programme pillars:

  • Pillar 1 (Excellent Science) – €312 million secured
  • Pillar 2 (Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness) – €577 million secured
  • Pillar 3 (Innovative Europe) – €118 million secured

Irish researchers have been particularly successful in the European Research Council (ERC) part of the programme, securing €159 million. In December 2025, six Irish researchers won ERC Consolidator Grants, bringing Ireland’s total ERC funding under Horizon Europe to over €200 million.

Irish companies have also benefited. In August 2025, two Enterprise Ireland-backed companies won funding approvals of up to €18.75 million through the Horizon Europe European Innovation Council Accelerator.

The Horizon Europe National Support Network, led by Enterprise Ireland, helps Irish researchers and companies apply for this funding. The network has 32 National Contact Points drawn from 10 Irish agencies.

Enterprise Ireland Funding

Enterprise Ireland is the government agency responsible for helping Irish businesses grow and compete internationally. It runs several research and innovation funding programmes.

Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) – This is a €500 million fund established in 2018. It supports collaboration between research institutions and industry to develop and commercialise disruptive technologies. By late 2025, 118 projects had been supported with total funding of €455 million. Over 64% of the funding has gone to project partners outside Dublin.

In 2025 alone, multiple rounds of DTIF funding were announced:

  • July 2025: €28.2 million for three projects, including the largest ever DTIF award of almost €12 million for a cancer treatment project.
  • September 2025: €33.1 million for eight additional projects.
  • October 2025: €36.9 million for six more projects.

Commercialisation Fund – Enterprise Ireland runs a Commercialisation Fund to help turn academic research into commercial products. In April 2025, the agency launched a new Proof of Concept stream under this fund. It offers up to €100,000 over 12 months to help researchers test whether their ideas can work in the market.

Sustain-FIT Programme – Launched in January 2025, this €15 million programme is co-funded by Enterprise Ireland and Horizon Europe. It will recruit 50 postdoctoral researchers from around the world to work with Irish companies on sustainability-focused research.

Major Infrastructure Investment

In November 2025, the government launched the INSPIRE Research Infrastructure Investment Programme – a €750 million package for research infrastructure across Ireland’s higher education sector. The investment will be made between 2026 and 2031, with an initial €100 million in 2026.

National Training Fund

The government is also unlocking nearly €1.5 billion from the National Training Fund for education and research. This includes €650 million core funding for higher education, €600 million capital investment for skills development, and €235 million for the tertiary sector.

Summary

Ireland has a wide range of research funding sources. Researchers, companies and universities can apply to national agencies like Research Ireland, the EPA, the Health Research Board and the Department of Agriculture. They can also compete for European funding through Horizon Europe. Enterprise Ireland provides business-focused funding for innovation and commercialisation. With major new investments like the €750 million INSPIRE programme, Ireland’s research funding landscape continues to grow and develop.