Funding Programmes

The Research Ireland-Cyber Security Innovation Challenge 2026, developed in partnership with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), seeks to support innovative research that strengthens Ireland's cyber resilience and preparedness in the face of evolving digital threats.

The Industry Fellowship Programme forms part of Research Ireland's portfolio of mobility fellowship programmes, which support the movement of researchers across sectors to strengthen collaboration, knowledge exchange and research impact

This programme is a new initiative that provides a recurring, predictable and flexible mechanism for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to implement their institutional research and innovation strategies.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP), supported by the European Commission, is a network of research and innovation funders across Europe and beyond, committed to advancing a resilient and sustainable blue economy.

The Research Ireland St Patrick’s Day Medal is awarded annually to a distinguished researcher living and working in the USA with strong Irish connections.

This programme aims to support research projects that address existing and emerging defence challenges in Ireland.

In an effort to help tackle the humanitarian and economic loss in line with the Government of Ireland’s Temporary Protection Directive, Research Ireland offers a supplemental grant scheme to encourage and enable holders of existing grants, and their associated Host Institutions, to provide opportunities for displaced researchers from Ukraine at any stage of their research career to join and collaborate on existing funded grants in order to integrate swiftly into the Irish research system, to enable them to maintain continuity in their research career and to bring added benefits from their expertise.

This programme aims to support international, interdisciplinary, and transformative research to harness the potential of disruptive technology to offer novel solutions to global challenges and accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs.

This collaboration aims to generate valuable discoveries and innovations which are transferable to the marketplace, or will lead to enhancements in health, disease prevention or healthcare.

This partnership supports joint research and technology development in all areas of EPSRC’s remit which covers chemistry, engineering, information and communications technologies, materials, mathematical sciences and physics. 

This programme provides opportunities for independent investigators to conduct highly innovative, collaborative research with the potential to deliver impact, whilst also providing opportunities for high-risk, high-reward research projects.

The Strategic Partnership Programme is a flexible mechanism for academic researchers to build strategic collaborations with key stakeholders such as industry, other funding agencies, charities, philanthropic organisations, higher education institutes (HEIs), or a combination of any of these.

Supporting excellent researchers to undertake cutting-edge research, create training and employment opportunities, increase Ireland’s capacity and reputation for excellent research, and promote innovation in the Irish research system.

In support of the common objective to deliver positive impact for the Irish society from research and innovation, Research Ireland and Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) have partnered to develop the Research Ireland – Gas Networks Ireland Innovation Challenge.

The Innovating in Health and Wellbeing Challenge aims to support the development and implementation of effective, scalable and sustainable solutions that address complex health and wellbeing challenges in Ireland.

CETP is a European Partnership co-funded by the European Commission under Horizon Europe, bringing together regional and national organisations to pool resources, share expertise, and align priorities to address shared challenges.

Nominations are open for Irish-based researchers to attend the 76th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (Physiology/Medicine) through our strategic partnership with the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

Research Ireland funds research and innovation that benefits society. The Research Ireland Discover Programme supports organisations to develop and deliver education and public engagement projects that aim to broaden participation and engagement of the public with research and innovation.

The Science Week programme is for innovative public engagement projects that connect wider society with research, innovation, and science during Science Week.

This scheme is for outstanding scientists in the Republic of Ireland who are in the early stages of their research career and have the potential to become leaders in their field.

This programme aims to support Irish institutions in recruiting ERC-funded researchers from outside of Ireland and to support ERC awardees by providing excellent facilities and infrastructure.

The aim of the Ulysses scheme is to foster new collaborations between Ireland and France-based researchers by providing seed funding for reciprocal travel visits.

The Research Ireland Infrastructure Programme supports the research community in building and sustaining essential resources to conduct high-quality, innovative research across all disciplines.

As Research Ireland works towards developing a new consolidated fellowship programme, the original SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship Programme will run under the Placement Stream and the IRC Enterprise Fellowship Scheme (Postdoctoral) will run one final time under the Partnership Stream of the 2025 Research Ireland Enterprise Fellowship Programme.

Innovate for Ireland’s key objective is to attract world leading research and entrepreneurship talent to Ireland to conduct advanced, multidisciplinary PhD research to address global sustainability challenges.

The New Foundations Scheme supports eligible researchers who intend to pursue research, networking and/or dissemination activities within and across the diversity of disciplines.

A national initiative that connects leading researchers from all disciplines with enterprise partners. Through this co-funded programme, postgraduate researchers develop new, advanced knowledge and skills linked with industry and employer needs.

The Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship aims to support suitably qualified applicants to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at an eligible higher education institution in Ireland for either one or two years.

The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme is unique in the Irish research landscape and complements other channels for funded postgraduate education in the Irish ecosystem.

Global Talent Ireland aims to attract exceptional mid-career and established researchers from across the globe to Ireland.

This programme provides a transnational platform to support research and innovation in personalised medicine, and to accelerate implementation into healthcare systems for the benefit of patients and society.

The Research Ireland Public Service Fellowship is an initiative which offers researchers a unique opportunity to be temporarily seconded to Government Departments and Agencies to work on specific projects where they can add value resulting in mutually beneficial outcomes. 

AHRC and Research Ireland are collaborating on a new research programme that will deliver transformational impact on creative economy research between the UK and Ireland. The programme will exploit complementary strengths in the creative economy between centres of excellence in both countries, leading to new and sustainable collaborations and strengthening world-class research and industry capacity across UK and Irish ecosystems.

The goal of this initiative is to build a coordinated research and innovation ecosystem that strengthens Europe’s capacity to prevent, diagnose, and treat brain-related disorders, while promoting mental well-being across all stages of life.

BE READY is focused on pandemic preparedness, aiming to build a coordinated research and innovation ecosystem that strengthens Europe’s capacity to anticipate, prevent, and respond to infectious disease threats. 

By harnessing the power of earth observation, environmental and agricultural data, and cutting-edge digital technologies, AgData brings together researchers, funders, and policymakers to support transformative projects that drive sustainability, productivity, and resilience in agriculture. 

By fostering cross-sectoral collaboration across human, animal, plant, and environmental health domains, the partnership ensures coordinated support for transformative AMR research.  

This programme supports talented postdoctoral researchers from all research disciplines to develop their track record and transition to become independent research leaders.