A new report on research funding, details of which were published in yesterday's edition, is a highly significant document which provides a template for the development of scientific research in third-level colleges in the Republic.
As the report - which was prepared for the Higher Education Authority - makes clear, knowledge and intellectual capital will provide the foundations for the new innovation economy. It concludes, however, that expenditure on research still falls well short of international norms - notwithstanding the Government's decision to make the push towards the knowledge economy a key policy target.
That said, much progress has been made. The international assessment team was clearly impressed by the operation of the five-year old Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI). The programme, which has already approved over €600 million, is described variously as "innovative", "unique" and "far-sighted". In many colleges it has totally transformed the environment for research "and in many cases for teaching and learning too".
The international assessment team led by Prof Enric Banda, a former secretary general of the European Research Foundation, delivers a strong, positive verdict. Among other things, the PRTLI is producing highly skilled personnel for the economy and allowing the Republic to retain top-flight researchers who might otherwise move abroad. The HEA itself is praised for establishing a truly competitive environment in which colleges pitch for available research funds.
The authors of the report are clear in their own minds about what should happen next. In their key finding, they recommend and "emphasise the critical need for the continuation of PRTLI funding for a considerable period into the future" if the progress in hand is to be consolidated. "In our experience, continuity and stability of funding ... are essential in effectively managing the development of a sustainable research capability."
In truth, this kind of stability does not exist. The impact of the PRTLI "pause" or freeze on spending last year is still being felt - even though it was rescinded by Government. It appeared to signal a lack of commitment towards research, according to the report. There still remains, as university presidents have pointed out, something of a "disconnect" between the rhetoric about a knowledge economy and this uncertainty about future funding. The Government could end this uncertainty by embracing the main finding of the Banda Report. PRTLI funding should be guaranteed for the next decade, at least.