Irish Academia: A Collaborative Approach to Innovation

Ireland’s world-class higher education sector, in collaboration with industry and research focused institutions, bolsters Ireland’s research and development (R&D) ecosystem and fosters innovation across the country

Ireland is an innovation powerhouse. The country has become a science and technology global leader driven by a higher education sector prioritizing research and development (R&D). 

The small yet innovative island country is one of the leading R&D hubs in the world, placing 11th in global scientific ranking for overall quality of scientific research. Open and welcoming to all industries, the country has attracted more than 1,000 foreign multinational corporations to base significant operations in Ireland, and it also boasts an ever-expanding indigenous enterprise base. 

Key aspects of Ireland’s winning formula include its focus on talent, a supportive environment to launch start-ups, a relentless focus on excellence, and an exceptional level of collaboration between academia, industry, state agencies, and regulatory bodies.   

The country’s thriving R&D ecosystem is being further developed with an unprecedented investment of EUR 8.2 billion under the Irish government’s strategy for Science Technology and Innovation. This ecosystem further benefits from additional inward FDI, particularly stemming from the United States.

According to Professor Mark W.J. Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), an Irish governmental agency, “SFI’s new ambitious strategy for Ireland is focused on delivering today while preparing for tomorrow. ‘Delivering today’ means developing Ireland’s top talent, building on our excellent research base and maximizing tangible benefits for our country in the immediate future. ‘Preparing for tomorrow’ means ensuring we have a cohesive system, fostering new talent and skills, and preparing to give Ireland first-mover advantage when it comes to emerging technologies. A key element is focused on deepening the existing collaborations and developing more partnerships. SFI’s 16 Research Centers provide world-leading capacity in strategically important areas of research for the Irish and global economy. The centers attract and retain FDI in Ireland and help grow indigenous industry, with research excellence and global thought leadership at their core.”

Deep Talent Pool

Ireland’s R&D success has always depended on, and will continue to rely on its people, a diverse mix of problem solvers from home and abroad.

Professor Maggie Cusack, President of Munster Technological University (MTU) stated, “Ireland’s unique talent pool is thanks to the country’s excellent higher education sector. The education system is really flexible and inclusive. This plays a key component to unlocking the full potential of Ireland’s human capitol, allowing for more agility, and responding to the needs of industry. When our students graduate, they are work ready. Our ecosystem encourages and supports innovation and entrepreneurship. Also, a lot of students return to university to up-skill and re-skill. We offer value for companies to essentially future proof their staff by having our graduates learn the skills they will need into the future. We work closely with companies of all different scales to ensure we are up-to-date on the needs across an array of sectors.” 

TU Dublin’s President, Professor David FitzPatrick, stated, “The number of people who are truly entrepreneurial and are really successful entrepreneurs is a small proportion of the population wherever you go in the world. Many entrepreneurs are driven by hunger – a need to show what they have is the best and see it succeed as the next big solution to the problems they want to solve. To encourage entrepreneurship, you have to let people develop a naturally curious, innovative mindset. That is part of what we try to create within our educational framework. I believe one advantage Ireland has in its educational system is that students maintain a broad mix of subject areas all the way through secondary education. This system is unlike the UK, where students end up specializing in three subjects. Here, your top six subjects are what counts for entry into university.”

Professor Orla Feely, Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact at University College Dublin (UCD) discussed the higher education system and stated, “Ireland’s phenomenal higher education system consistently produces innovative graduates that are ready to excel in the modern workforce. Ireland is not only producing excellent local graduates, but also is an attractive destination for inward migration and we attract a lot of international students, faculty and researchers. We have succeeded in attracting outstanding talent from across Europe and the wider world. This has greatly contributed to Ireland’s as well as UCD’s dynamic and vibrant ecosystem.”

Local and foreign graduates and researchers entering Ireland’s higher education institutions continuously comment on the sector’s nurturing environment that helps them achieve their full potential, and many alumni go on to create successful startups. For instance, a graduate of UCD, Dermot O’Shea, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Taoglas. Alongside Ronan Quinlan, he successfully grew the company to become a dominant player in the IoT antenna and RF market, in part thanks to his education at UCD. 

According to Dermot O’Shea, Co-Founder and CEO of global (Dublin headquartered), Taoglas, “As an enabler of digital transformation through IoT and a global leader of advanced antenna designs, Taoglas is a catalyst for indigenous Irish companies and some of the largest global corporations to achieve next-generation technology solutions and to develop their own IoT and M2M solutions. Taoglas is the one-stop-shop for enterprises looking to transform their business through IoT.” 

Another example, the University College Cork (UCC) runs Ignite, a 12-month program assisting graduates with entrepreneurial mindsets to turn original ideas into new products and services.

Professor John O’Halloran, Interim President at UCC stated, “The concept of  Ignite is to grow and nurture talent. For example, one of the recent spinoffs from UCC’s research was PrecisionBiotics, a pharmaceutical precision company. They are currently working on truly fascinating products and services in relation to the gut microbiome and developing new opportunities in this field.”

He continued, “Another example is Oculus. Facebook recently purchased Oculus, which was another spinoff from our university. At UCC there is such a variety of talented students, researchers and staff working together to generate ideas that become viable concepts and commercial products or services for companies. Our direct connection with multinationals creates a circular ecosystem where we help each other solve tomorrow’s problems by creating innovative solutions today.” 

Unlocking Potential

As key hubs of innovation, Ireland’s seven universities have made and continue to make influential contributions to society. To further capitalize on this innovative potential, Ireland has established a new governmental department – the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Professor Feely added, “This is quite an interesting time for research and innovation in higher education. Having a specific governmental department dedicated to furthering these endeavors showcases how dedicated Ireland is to growing the country’s capabilities in this arena. It has an ambitious agenda to drive national performance and link research and innovation performance with higher education performance. Ireland is dynamic and will continue to build on its strengths over the coming years.” 

The Value of Partnerships

Innovation is not a solitary pursuit, and no individual organization has the intellectual and financial resources to go at it alone. Alliances and collaborations are the cornerstone of Ireland’s R&D strategy, including partnerships between governmental departments, agencies, academia, industry, and international investors. A solid illustration of this is in Cork, Ireland’s second-largest city.

“Cork continues to develop as an innovation city connecting the ecosystems of UCC, Munster Technology University, and Tyndall National Institute,” said Professor  O’Halloran.

“We will start to connect these higher education institutes in a coherent way to give the best opportunity for innovation. I believe innovation happens on the boundaries of where industry is trying to solve problems and where educators are  researching and subsequently innovating. UCC is a research-intensive university, and I have developed what is called a connected curriculum. The main pillars of this connected curriculum include – research, sustainability, globalization, and interdisciplinary practices- because we will not solve global challenges alone. It is also connected to community engagement, as it is important to connect with our communities and engage with local industry.”

Professor Cusack added, “Our undergraduate students work with local companies to address real issues companies are facing head-on. Design engineers collaborated with social scientists, nutritional experts, and more, and by working together they provided so much added-value, and helped companies overcome their challenges all while building more sustainable operations. We also have entrepreneurship training and a whole series of competitions we run to shine a spotlight on, and celebrate what our students have accomplished.” 

Another example is Skillnet Ireland, an organization responsible for supporting businesses with professional training to advance innovation and growth within Ireland. CEO of Skillnet Ireland, Paul Healy, stated, “Our mandate is to advance the competitiveness, productivity and innovation of Irish businesses through enterprise-led workforce development. We believe that maintaining a highly skilled workforce is essential to our national competitiveness. Our business is to ensure that your business has the skills it needs to thrive.”

Investing in the Future

Underpinning Ireland’s world-class research and development sector is its ability to attract funding from both the Irish government and partner with private sector, including attracting significant funding from the USA. In March 2021, the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership announced an investment of EUR 13.5 million to be spread across 14 institutions in Ireland and the USA over the next three to five years.

Dublin City University’s Vice President for Research and Innovation, Professor Greg Hughes added, “Ireland will continue to prioritize focused R&D activities at a national level. This will have an overlapping interest for academia and companies operating in the knowledge economy including large-scale multinationals. To some extent, Ireland’s research and innovation strategy has been guided by our economic policies, which further adds to the country’s overall attractiveness as a hub for FDI.”

With significant financial investment, an international talent pool of brilliant minds, and a supportive environment, Ireland’s R&D sector continues to be an innovative force to be reckoned with, providing a wealth of opportunities to collaborate with the best and brightest in the world.