The Government is to provide funding of over €6.5m, covering 58 research awards, as part of Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) Technology Innovation Development Award (TIDA) programme.
The funding will seek to enable SFI-funded research groups to focus on the first steps of an applied research project which may have a commercial benefit if further developed.
Institutes covered by the TIDA scheme include: NUI Galway (8 awards), Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (5), University of Limerick(1), Dublin City University (6), University College Cork (4), IT Carlow (1), Dublin Institute of Technology (3), Trinity College Dublin (11), University Collage Dublin (8), Tyndall National Institute (3), Cork Institute of Technology (2), Waterford Institute of Technology (2), IT Tralee (1), NUI Maynooth (2) and Athlone Institute of Technology (1).
Prof Terry Smith at NUIG, for example, will investigate the feasibility of a device for the rapid detection of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, the bacteria which was recently responsible for several infant deaths in a Belfast hospital.
Newly appointed Director General of SFI, Professor Mark Ferguson, said: “The TIDA awards being announced today will make a telling impact on how academia and enterprise intertwine towards commercialisation. The projects present significant opportunities for commercialization of research and potential treatments in diverse areas such as new drug delivery system, new transistor devices, 4G wireless communication, cornea repair, SMART needles, hay fever, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, biomass, wastewater treatment and acoustic sensors to detect damage in pipes. Enterprise Ireland has played a key role in the programme’s selection process, further underpinning the market potential of the award recipients.”
In the October 2011 edition of the PAI Journal, Professor Mark Ferguson’s predecessor, John Travers explained how “our ongoing scientific activities ultimately help to deliver innovation, which, in turn, contributes directly to our competitiveness”. To view this article click here.