Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has partnered with the Royal Society in the UK and the Irish Research Council (IRC) on two funding schemes to support early-career postdoctoral researchers to get on the pathway to research independence.
Dr Róisin Cheshire, head of Individual-led Research with SFI explains that both programmes are aimed at bridging the gap between qualification with a PhD and finding a job in academia or in research-performing organisations. “They are specifically designed to support postdoctoral researchers who want to get on the pathway to academic posts and independence as researchers,” she says.
The highly prestigious Science Foundation Ireland-Royal Society University Research Fellowship programme provides an opportunity for outstanding early-career scientists with the potential to become leaders in their field to be recognised as internationally competitive, build an independent research career and to carry out their research in the Republic of Ireland with their funding costs being covered by SFI.
Royal Society
Fellowships are awarded in all fields of the natural sciences, including but not limited to biological, biomedical, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics research.
“The partnership with the Royal Society began in 2014 and since then we have funded 28 university research fellows based in Ireland,” says Cheshire. “We typically fund between four and six fellows each year. Irish-based researchers can apply for funding of up to €1.8 million. Applicants go through a peer review process and an interview before the award is made.”
Renewal and enhancement grants are available to extend the term of the project where necessary. “New applicants to the programme can apply for funding for up to eight years,” she points out. “This gives them the confidence and certainty to be able to plan ahead.”
Successful applicants also benefit from other Royal Society programmes. “The Royal Society invests a lot in the development of researchers,” says Cheshire. “For example, its Meeting of Minds conference brings together research fellows from all over the UK and Ireland. It’s amazing to see the level of research being carried out. They also provide training in soft skills like presenting at conferences.”
Current Royal Society-SFI University Research Fellows include Dr Christiana Pantelidou from UCD who is investigating the key concepts and quantities involved in gravitational turbulence and modelling its consequences on black hole collisions in the universe.
Dr Michael Gibbons (TCD) is looking at harnessing waste heat from data centres to produce usable energy that will reduce data centre energy requirements and carbon emissions.
Computer needs
Dr Lynette Keeney is a Senior Researcher and Royal Society-Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellow in Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork. Her project is aimed at optimising a new material she has developed which contains both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties at room temperature in order to produce a more efficient memory storage technology for today’s computer needs.
Applications are now open for the programme with a deadline of September 7th, 2023, with the successful applicants being announced in April or May of next year.
The SFI-Irish Research Council Pathway Programme was established in 2021 to support talented postdoctoral researchers from all research disciplines to develop their track record and transition to become independent research leaders. A joint initiative between SFI and the IRC it funds research from any discipline within science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
“We have had two calls so far in 2021 and 2022,” says Cheshire. “We have just announced the successful applicants under the second call and are going to launch the third towards the end of the year. Over 100 researchers have been funded so far and we hope to fund another 50 this year. This is the first programme for us to cover all these disciplines and it has been very interesting to see the applications in the different areas.”
Agricultural emissions
Funded projects range from the identification of highly nutritious versions of Irish oats that will be resilient in the face of climate change, research into gendered violence in the Irish South Asian community, the development of writing in early Ireland, the impact of plastics on health, and novel sensors for measuring agricultural emissions.
“Applicants can apply for funding of up to €500,000 over four years,” Cheshire adds.
Another important dimension to the programme is its focus on gender equality. “Both SFI and IRC recognise the need for greater gender equality in research,” she explains. “We are addressing gender imbalance by trying to increase the number of grants awarded to women researchers. There is a limit on the number of applications that can come from each research institution and a maximum of 50 per cent of those can be from male researchers. Every application is treated equally in the review process after that.”