Economy

Ireland achieves €127m funding through Horizon 2020 programme

By Business & Finance
28 August 2015
Minister Damien English,TD
Damien English TD, Minister for Skills Research and Innovation

Minister for Skills Research and Innovation Damien English TD has congratulated Ireland’s researchers and companies for their €127m success in the first year of the Horizon 2020 programme.

Horizon 2020 is the current EU framework programme for research and innovation. With a budget of nearly €80bn, Horizon 2020 will run over seven years (2014-2020).

Ireland’s success exceeded targets set by the Action Plan for Jobs 2014.

Minister English said: “In the particularly competitive environment for EU research and innovation funding, surpassing our national target by 27% and achieving €127m is a great achievement.’

“I welcome this financial success but I am also equally conscious of the importance of Irish researchers and companies participating in the Horizon 2020 programme so that they get to collaborate and innovate with the best and brightest that Europe has to offer therefore resulting in further excellence in our national system.”

The Minister also commended the Horizon 2020 National Support Network. “I want to encourage industry in particular to build on the success to date and engage further. Horizon 2020, with its focus on competitiveness and smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs, offers more opportunity for industry participation than ever before,” he said.

Horizon 2020 is open to everyone including individual researchers, higher education institutes, research performing organisations and private industry including SMEs.