The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, has today welcomed Irish Research Council funding for 76 New Foundations projects that will bring researchers and community/voluntary organisations together to share knowledge and develop new insights to help create a better society for all.

Since 2015, over 200 community, voluntary and charity organisations have engaged across various Irish Research Council programmes, 278 projects have been funded with an associated investment in excess of €6.5 million.

The 76 projects announced today will reach out across communities to look at diverse issues, including those affecting carers, senior citizens, young people, migrant communities, and the LGBT+ community. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of different groups in society and on the delivery of services is also a significant theme within the research projects being announced.

Among the research that will be funded are 2 Breakthrough collaborative projects led by the following:

• Dr. Aileen Murphy of University College Cork who is working with Breakthrough on Estimating Costs, Resource Use and Financial Toxicity Amongst Cancer Patients & Survivors
• Dr. Aisling McMahon of Maynooth University is working with Breakthrough on Patients’ Access to Advanced Cancer Therapies (PAACT): Ethics and Equity of Access

 

Commenting today, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD said: “These research collaborations are helping with some very important community and voluntary sector projects. I welcome that the highest ever number of funding awards are being made today by the Irish Research Council to support these research collaborations with the community and voluntary sector. This vibrant sector plays such an important role in supporting different groups in society, including the more vulnerable or marginalised. Through partnerships with researchers, such as the projects being announced today, diverse community organisations can bring new evidence and insights to enhance their services and impact for those that need them.”

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