International Funding for Marine Research

During the period 2000-2006, Irish marine researchers won competitive research funding of over €22.5million, mainly from the EU FP6 and Interreg III Programmes. Previous successes in these programmes are outlined in the following documents available for download:

• FP6: Oceans of Opportunity II - Review of Irish Participation in EU FP6 Marine Research Projects 2002-2006 (PDF, 76 pages, 3MB)
• Interreg III: Directory of Irish Marine Sucess in the EU Regional Development INTERREG III Programme 2000-2006 (PDF, 42 pages, 1.98MB).

So why participate in international marine research?

With significant national funding available for marine research during the period 2007-2013, it would be easy to forget the considerable benefits of international collaboration. Participating in an internationally funded research project:

• Is the best way to get involved in cutting edge international marine research
• Can help to raise the profile of your research group
• Can help you gain access to skills and resources at international centres of excellence

There are now significant opportunities for Irish marine researchers to compete for international funding from a range of European programmes. The Marine Institute International Funding web pages contain regularly updated information on:

• EU 7th Framework Programme
• Interreg IV
• COST
• Scholarship and Courses

Useful Information / Events

• Enterprise Ireland's FP7 Ireland website provides information on the FP7 Programme, notices of relevant events and info-days and acts as a communication channel for the Irish FP7 support network. Further details on FP7 support services can be found on our dedicated FP7 page.
• The Irish Liaison Office for EU RTD in Brussels  offers a range of services to Irish participants in FP7.
• The Irish Researcher's Mobility Portal provides information on fellowships and mobility for graduates, postgraduates and doctoral researchers
• Hyperion Ltd specialises in training for research managers. The company runs regular training courses in proposal writing, negotiating, managing and administering EU RTD contracts, research dissemination and innovation. Details on available courses can be found on the Hyperion website.
• Further information and registration details can be found on the Enterprise Ireland FP7 Events page.

 Download presentation:

• International Marine Research: Funding Opportunities and Support Services (PDF, 1.58MB)

Finding a Partner
The best means of finding project partners is through your own networking activities. Attending and presenting at international conferences is, therefore, very important. However, if you are still unable to find a suitable partner or wish to join a consortium preparing a bid under a particular topic, you should use the Irish national contact point for the relevant FP7 Theme or Interreg programme. The Irish national contact points are linked into to a European network of contact points and can send an e-mail request for partners on your behalf.

You can research potential partners yourself by using the EurOcean portal. Eurocean provides information on researchers, projects and networks that are currently active in European Marine Research.

Finally, there may be a COST action supporting a network of researchers in your field, some of which may be potential partners. You can check the list of current COST actions on the ESF COST website.