Ireland has secured almost €180 million of funding for research and innovation projects through Horizon 2020, since the programme began.

Horizon 2020 is the current EU framework programme for research and innovation. With a budget of nearly €80 billion, Horizon 2020 runs over seven years from 2014 to 2020.

Ireland’s success comes at a time when the EU Institutions have just announced agreement on the 2016 budget, boosting investment in competitiveness, jobs and growth. A budget of €10 billion has been allocated to Horizon 2020 (up 11.6% from 2015). 

Minister for Skills, Research & Innovation, Damien English commented, "I would like to congratulate researchers from academia and industry in Ireland who have secured this prestigious funding.

"Irish Researchers are punching above their weight & continue to excel at winning competitive funding against the Europe’s best researchers. This confirms to me that Ireland is well on the way to becoming a global research destination of excellence.

"Since the beginning of the programme over 440 applicants from Ireland have secured almost €180 million of funding for research and innovation projects.

"In particular I welcome the strong performance by Irish companies in winning €53 million (of the total funding secured). This level of funding will allow some of our leading SMEs to become world players in areas such as medical devices, road safety and energy."

Minister English concluded: ‘I would call on Irish researchers and companies to actively respond to this growing opportunity from Horizon 2020.’