US-Ireland research funding programme now open

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is inviting research institutions in Northern Ireland to apply for funding to participate in joint projects with the United States and the Republic of Ireland that will benefit the local agri-food sector.

The ‘Research and Development Partnership’ is a tri-jurisdictional collaborative funding arrangement between DAERA, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The partnership seeks to identify opportunities to co-fund research in areas of shared strategic priority. Northern Ireland research institutions apply with research partners in ROI and US partners for funding through a competitive process.

DAERA Departmental Science Advisor, Dr Alistair Carson, said: “Addressing common issues with a collaborative approach has many benefits including the leverage of additional research capacity and expertise to meet the needs of the local agri-food sector.

“DAERA recognises that Science has a vital role in providing our farmers and agri-food industry with a competitive edge in highly demanding markets. Addressing transnational issues affecting the sustainability of the agri-food sector through collaborative research creates many shared benefits for NI, ROI and US.

“This funding to local scientists, technologists and advisers will play an essential part in assisting NI farmers who face the challenges of increasingly competitive agri-food and forestry sectors. Sharing knowledge and resources through transnational collaboration enhances both the quality of research, and the value derived from DAERA funding.”

With the addition of four new areas of shared strategic priority across the three jurisdictions, the 2018 US-Ireland R&D Partnership Call in Agriculture sees an expansion in the number of areas supported from three in 2017 to seven, as follows:

• Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems
• Animal Nutrition, Growth, and Lactation
• Animal Well-Being
• Animal Health and Disease 
• Tools and Resources - Animal Breeding, Genetics and Genomics
• Understanding Antimicrobial Resistance
• Food Manufacturing Technologies

The submission deadline to DAERA and DAFM is four weeks in advance of the stated NIFA deadline for the respective Programme Area Priority in AFRI’s 2018 Foundation Competitive Grant Programme.

Download more information about the funding programme from the DAERA website

Notes to editors: 

1. This pilot innovative Research and Development programme has been extended for another year. The first year of the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership Programme Call in Agriculture was 2016 and resulted in one successful NI Research Organisation.
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