‘PRTLI Cycle 5, the largest investment in research in the State’s history, will make Ireland Europe’s innovation hub’ – Minister O’Keeffe

The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen TD, today [Friday July 16th 2010] announced a €359 million investment plan for research and innovation which will create jobs and new enterprises and drive Ireland’s economic recovery.
The Government’s Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) invests in physical infrastructure and research projects in our higher education institutions. Under Cycle 5 of the programme, announced today, the Government will invest €296.1 million, with €62.6 million coming from private non-Exchequer sources.PRTLI Cycle 5 will run between 2011 and 2016 – the period of the revised capital programme. Click here to read more

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Ireland’s first Competence Centres for industry-led R&D were announced on 10th March by the Tanaiste Mary Coughlan T.D in Dublin.  There will be 9 centres in total, 5 centres are already up and running. Click on each link to watch a 3 minute video in which industry personnel and researchers involved explain what each centre will be working on over the next 5 years:
Competence Centre for Bioenergy & Biorefining, based in NUI Galway, co-hosted by UL and UCD
Competence Centre for Applied Nanotechnology, based in Tyndall UCC, co-hosted by TCD CRANN
The Competence Centre for Composite Materials, based in UL and co-hosted by UCD
Competence Centre for IT Innovation, based in NUI Maynooth
Competence Centre for Microelectronics, based in Tyndall, UCC and co-hosted by UL
Work is ongoing to create the following Competence Centres;
Manufacturing Productivity
This centre will address the key challenges in developing Ireland as an environment for high value added manufacturing. Some of the companies involved are Pfizer, Intel, Bombardier and Seagate.
Energy Efficiency
Using new multi-disciplinary approaches, this centre will focus on making manufacturing in Ireland more competitive, cleaner and greener. Companies involved include Xerox, Analog Devices, SEI and Intel.
E-learning
The aim of the Competence Centre in E-learning is to create a world-class environment to combine learning and innovation for the benefit of Irish industry.
Financial Services
This centre will create a research environment where the challenges facing the financial services industry can be efficiently met positioning Ireland as an innovation leader in this global sector.
For more information visit www.competencecentres.ie

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Enterprise Ireland is currently seeking new Business Partners to help us create start-up companies.  We want to hear from successful business people to partner with us to transform State funded research projects into profitable commercial ventures. Our Business Partners Programme is fast tracking the creation of new companies by giving you access to our portfolio of potential start-ups. It will be your job to lead them to the marketplace. We would like to hear from you if you have ;

• a strong commercial track record
• excellent business credentials
• capacity to invest
• ability to identify commercial opportunity
•  vision to transform new technologies into solid businesses

Watch out for the adverts in the national press and click here to check out the details on our website.

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Initial findings from the latest Enterprise Ireland Survey of Researchers indicate an increase of 17% in the number that would like to see their research commercialised since the survey was conducted in 2008.   Now, 78% of State-funded technology and science researchers want to see their research commercialised.
The respondents also said that they want more opportunities to interact with companies, face-to-face to speed up the process of getting their technologies into the marketplace.

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The latest report from the Advisory Science Council published on the 15th December 2009 details the contribution of PhDs to industry. Among the findings was that while only 29 per cent of R&D firms employed PhD researchers in 2007, these companies accounted for 70 per cent of business expenditure on research and development. Read the full report

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A CAP on the number of students entering third level may be necessary as colleges struggle with a deepening funding crisis, according to the chief executive of the Higher Education Authority, Tom Boland in his opinion piece in today’s Irish Times (30.11.09) Read opinon piece

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Cauwill Technologies, an Enterprise Ireland supported spin-out from University of Limerick, has won one of two top prizes in the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition 2009.  The prize is worth €100,000 and was presented at an award ceremony last night in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin 2.
Cauwill provides software and services to enrich and empower the mobile, web and personal navigation experience. The company was founded in 2009 by Ian Rice and Ronan Skehill and is in the Limerick Enterprise Acceleration Centre, one of a network of 21 Enterprise Ireland supported campus incubation centres.The main product, PinPoints, solves the problem of describing a location. It has wide application but initially is being targeted at the travel sector, specifically hotel booking engines. In this sector it helps people navigate to the location of their hotel using their mobile phone. www.yourpinpoints.com

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New Life Sciences Alliance to drive potential in the sector
The Life Sciences sector has contributed significantly to Ireland’s economic development and has real prospects for future growth, according to a report published by Forfás on 17th November 2009.  Health Life Sciences in Ireland – An Enterprise Outlook asserts that by enhancing the collaboration of the key stakeholders including industry, research institutes, the hospital system, government departments and agencies, and regulatory bodies, Ireland can emerge as a global leader in high value-added products and services based on technology, scientific expertise and clinical research excellence. Read more and access full report

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Irish mobile communications companies, Altobridge and Sentry Wireless, won the Mobile Innovation Grand Prix, Asia Pacific Tournament at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong this week.  Altobridge and Sentry Wireless are Enterprise Ireland high potential start ups. Read more 

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The third Enterprise Ireland survey of researchers on their views and experiences of research commercialisation has closed and we are in the process of collating the results. Check back soon for some snippets from the findings.

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