Minister Martin Heydon, has announced the establishment of a new pilot research initiative.
The ‘Policy and Strategic Studies Research Call’, or PSSRC, will support research that expands the evidence base for the department, informing and supporting the development of policies across the agri-food, forest, and biobased sectors.
In tandem with announcing the establishment of the PSSRC, Minister Heydon also announced the launch of the first research call under this new initiative and he invited all eligible Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) to submit research proposals aligned to the topics specified in the call.
Minister Heydon stated, “I am delighted to announce this new pilot research initiative and to see the immediate launch of the first Policy and Strategic Studies Research Call on 14 September 2022. Sound science is at the heart of everything we do and research is essential for providing the evidence and knowledge base for the development of policies and schemes and services, of benefit to the agri-food, forestry and bioeconomy sectors.”
“The twenty topics in this Call have been identified by my department to address immediate strategic policy needs. They range from climate, pesticides and forestry to animal health and welfare, the bioeconomy, and women in farming.”
Continuing, the Minister said, “The Programme for Government and Food Vision 2030 highlights the need for support and investment in research. This new initiative will mean that we can be more agile in how we fund research, particularly for more urgent issues facing the department and the wider agri-food sector. I strongly encourage Irish researchers to examine the broad range of topics in this Call and to submit relevant proposals.”
The Dept updated its research programme in 2021 by replacing the three strands of FIRM, Stimulus and COFORD with five new strands, one of which is the Strategic Studies Strand.
This strand is designed to provide a more flexible funding vehicle capable of addressing mainly policy issues more rapidly whilst still requiring scientific rigour.
The initial call under this programme may subsequently be rolled out through further open calls based on specific topics identified by the Dept to address immediate or short-to-medium term strategic/policy needs.
Projects can be up to 1 or 2 years in duration.
The Dept described the PSSRC as a ‘public good’ competitive research call and the process and added that along with relevant outputs, will be widely published and made freely available in line with state aid rules and the principles of open science.