#MarineScience - Two marine science projects will be funded as part of €40 million in research funding for 24 major projects as announced yesterday (Wednesday 3 August) by Minister for Innovation Mary Mitchell-O'Connor.
Distributed via the Science Foundation Ireland's Investigators Programme, the investment supports world-class research in key priority areas for Ireland, with co-funding for seven of the projects provided by the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland; the Geological Survey of Ireland; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Marine Institute, which is co-funding two key research projects as part of the programme.
Dr Louise Allcock of NUI Galway has been awarded €1,940,000 to investigate deep sea corals and sponges to identify novel natural products in Ireland's offshore waters and increase knowledge of their economic value and distribution.
Dr Allcock also aims to produce predictive maps of biodiscovery potential to maximise the economic impact of future biodiscovery work.
Meanwhile, Dr Philip McGinnity of University College Cork has been awarded €1,709,500 to investigate interactions between wild and farmed salmon, and aims to develop a predictive methodology to inform environmental best practice to secure long-term sustainability of global wild and farm fish populations.
With awards ranging from €500,000 to €2.7 million over four- to five-year periods, projects funded by the Investigators Programme will support more than 200 researchers overall.
"This funding provides an important platform for researchers to advance their investigations and further enhance Ireland's reputation for excellence in sectors such as health, agriculture, marine, energy and technology," said Minister Mitchell-O'Connor.
"Engaging with 39 companies, the programme offers researchers the opportunity to develop their careers, as well as providing industry collaborators with access to the wealth of outstanding expertise and infrastructure found throughout the island.
The minister added: "The alignment of the Investigators Programme with Horizon 2020, the European Union's research funding programme, will lead to further successes in leveraging EU resources and increasing international collaboration.
"The projects within this programme clearly demonstrate excellent and impactful research which is a key goal of the Government's science and innovation strategy, Innovation 2020."
Dr Ciaran Kelly, marine research and development manager at the Marine Institute, said: "We're delighted to partner with Science Foundation Ireland to co-fund this important research to build capacity in key areas such as deep sea biodiscovery, and aquaculture and genetics.
"These research projects will help to maximise the benefits of our ocean resources to society, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of these activities."
