Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) said it invested €173 million in research programmes last year and supported over 1,500 industry collaborations, its annual report shows.
The organisation said research programmes it backed generated €116 million in non-exchequer funding, of which €70 million derived from the EU with a further €32 million coming from private enterprise and €10 million from international sources.
Approximately 50 per cent of SFI’s budget is committed to its various research centres. A further 40 per cent is allocated in the way of grants for industry collaborations.
SFI-funded researchers were involved in 78 patent filings. In addition, 45 licensed technologies and 145 invention disclosures were also reported.
Industry partners
According to the organisation, 4,894 publications were reported by SFI-funded researchers in 2017, representing a 17 per cent increase on the prior year.
SFI also said it had more than 300 signed collaborative research agreements with industry partners, representing cumulative company commitments of over €120 million to date, €65 million in cash and €79 million in kind.
Currently, 4,524 people are working on SFI-supported research projects, including 1,038 postdoctoral researchers and 1,451 PhD and masters students.
The organisation said it supported 31,200 jobs in Ireland, either directly or indirectly.
