Three Science Foundation Ireland research centres based in Trinity College Dublin, ADAPT, AMBER, and CONNECT, have been awarded €6 million in Horizon 2020 EU funding for a new postdoctoral programme, EDGE, which will employ 71 world-class ICT (information and communications technology) researchers.
This is the single biggest award for Trinity under Horizon 2020, the EU’s €80 billion research and innovation funding programme.
The funding, awarded under the EU’s COFUND initiative, will match €7m of investment already pledged to the EDGE project by the three centres.
Professor Linda Doyle, Director of the CONNECT Centre for Future Networks and Communications, will coordinate the EDGE initiative.
In a press release, she stated that: “This programme will attract more leading ICT researchers to Ireland’s third level institutes. EDGE will support research at the interface of three strategically important areas of ICT: advanced materials, telecommunications networks and digital content technology. Expertise in these fields is particularly attractive to employers and EDGE will strengthen Ireland’s ability to create and attract high quality jobs.”
She continued: “Industry, in particular, will play a major role by providing secondment opportunities and specialised training to EDGE Fellows. The three participating research centres have unrivalled access to industrial partnerships and already work closely with more than 70 companies. EDGE will consolidate Ireland’s ‘knowledge triangle’, linking higher education, research innovation and industry. The primary beneficiaries will be the EDGE Fellows who will receive excellent cross-disciplinary training in their chosen area of research.”
Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Patrick Prendergast, commented: “This is a significant funding success for Trinity. Securing funding from Horizon 2020 is a primary focus of Trinity’s research strategy and the EDGE project is the largest award for Trinity to date. This programme will result in exciting collaborative ICT research and innovation. I would like to congratulate the three research centres on this significant research award.”
EDGE will operate for five years and will begin recruitment of postdoctoral researchers in September 2016. Ten third-level institutions nationwide are participating in the programme, which will be coordinated by the CONNECT Centre at Trinity.
