US-Ireland research program celebrates 17 years with landmark $21 million investment

Alexandria, VA: The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a joint overall investment of approximately $21 million through a tripartite research and development partnership between the U.S., the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, marking the highest number of annual awards ever made through the U.S.-Ireland Research and Development Partnership, which came about as a result of the Good Friday Agreement.

Through the investment, 12 awards that span 27 research institutions will receive funding for projects that include research in the areas of wearable health diagnostics, robotics, 5G communications and quantum networks, among others.

"The U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership program plays an important role in pushing the boundaries of frontier research beyond any borders. This unique research partnership model aims to generate, at speed and scale, valuable discoveries and innovations which are transferable to the marketplace or will lead to enhancements in health, climate resilience and telecommunications to improve our world. I congratulate the awardees and look forward to seeing how their outcomes contribute to successfully addressing global challenges," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan.

The program is supported by NSF and the National Institutes of Health; Science Foundation Ireland and the Health Research Board in the Republic of Ireland; and the Department for the Economy and the Health and Social Care Research and Development Division in Northern Ireland.

The 27 collaborating institutions are:

• United States
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital
  • James Madison University
  • Kent State University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • New York University
  • Texas A&M University
  • University of Arizona
  • University of Chicago
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • University of South Florida
  • The University of Texas at Austin
  • The University of Texas at Dallas
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio
  • University of Utah
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Republic of Ireland
  • Dublin City University
  • Maynooth University
  • South East Technological University
  • Trinity College Dublin
  • Tyndall National Institute
  • University of Galway
  • University College Dublin
• Northern Ireland
  • Queen's University Belfast
  • Ulster University

Read NSF's Dear Colleague Letter detailing the U.S.-Ireland-Northern Ireland R&D partnership.