North-South Research Programme
The North-South Research Programme aims to support the deepening of links between higher education institutions, researchers and research communities. The programme is a collaborative scheme arising from the Government’s Shared Island initiative and it is being delivered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
The programme will have €40 million of funding available over a five-year period from 2021 and will specifically support collaborative research, innovation and development between individuals, research teams (in and between disciplines) as well as between higher education institutions on the island. The programme will support research which will be of economic and social benefit to the island of Ireland.
Expression of Interest Deadline: 4 PM, 1st September 2021
Online System Open: 6th September 2021
Deadline for Submission: 4 PM, 18th October 2021
Funding Overview
The funding allocated to this programme is €40M over a five-year period from 2021. Projects can vary in size from up to €100,000 to €4,000,000 and will be considered in light of overall funding requests and the final amount of funding available. Partnerships of scale may seek up to €4,000,000 for projects with a minimum of three years duration and a maximum of four years duration. Partnerships seeking funding for smaller projects may seek up to €200,000 for projects with a minimum duration of one year and a maximum duration of two years. A maximum of 50% of any award may be allocated to NI partners. Projects with a shorter timeframe will also be considered.
Applicants may choose from three different strands:
- Strand I: Bilateral researcher-researcher projects. This strand will support individual researchers based in an Irish higher education institution (HEI) to collaborate with a researcher in a HEI in Northern Ireland and vice versa on an identified research project.
- Strand II: Emerging hubs of excellence. This strand will support academic research teams to collaborate on an agreed work programme. Interdisciplinary collaborations will be encouraged.
- Strand III: Partnerships of scale. This strand will support institution to institution strategic research engagement: Higher education institutions will be supported to collaborate with each other on the basis of their respective institutional strategic research priorities.