(From left) Dr Eucharia Meehan, director, Irish Research Council; Minister for Education and Skills Jan O'Sullivan, TD; and Deirdre Garvey, CEO, The Wheel. Photo via DHR Communications
The Irish Research Council (IRC) announced a partnership with The Wheel, a representative body for community and voluntary organisations and charities across Ireland.
The Irish Research Council (IRC) wants to ensure that high-quality research coming out of Ireland contributes to social innovation, and helps socially excluded and marginalised groups.
With this aim in mind, the IRC has awarded almost €400,000 in funding to more than 40 research projects under its Engaging Civic Society initiative, which includes the partnership with The Wheel.
Under this initiative, academic researchers from higher education institutions across Ireland will collaborate with organisations such as Trócaire, Pieta House, GLEN, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and the ISPCA.
As well as funding research collaborations with community and voluntary groups, this new partnership will also involve engagement with Horizon 2020, and support to develop strong European research links and collaborative research networks.
Dr Eucharia Meehan, director of the IRC, was excited to launch what she described as the first type of funding of its kind in Europe.
“The partnership between the Irish Research Council and The Wheel is a new departure for the research sector,” she said. “The research findings from these projects will not only benefit grassroots communities, and inspire the work of researchers, but will also inform national policy-making for civic society.”
Engaging Civic Society forms part of the IRC’s New Foundations programme and full details of the projects awarded can be found on the IRC website.
