Ireland’s Minister for Higher Education, Research, and Skills has a message for my friends in America who have seen their research grants terminated and watched their collaborators rounded up by ICE. Here is what Minister James Lawless says.
Behind every thriving economy lies a quiet, often overlooked engine: research. For Ireland, a small country with a big reputation in technology and life sciences, that engine needs constant fuelling. As we look toward the next phase of national development our investment in research is no longer just desirable. It is essential.
Each week our researchers produce new groundbreaking research, which will translate into jobs, new opportunities or impact people’s lives in a positive way.
I look forward to seeing the impact on health in the research led by Professor Tomas Ryan in Trinity College Dublin (TCD). The recent insights from his team on how the brain forms memories from cold exposure to control our metabolism has applications for treating obesity and certain forms of cancer.
That TCD research was in collaboration with Princeton University and Columbia University with support from the USA Office of Scientific Research - funding that is now under threat.
I am concerned that global uncertainty in research will have a similarly chilling effect on the development of new collaborations and discoveries.
In a matter of months, the US, under president Donald Trump’s administration, has become a cold place for free thinkers and talented researchers.
Whole institutes are being denied funding while faculties face shutdown over federal cuts. The most advanced research is grinding to a halt while students have been arrested or face deportation.
Reports of library culls bring to mind book burnings of old. Aside from any cultural wars, investment in innovation and cultivation of the best minds is absolutely key to economic advantage.
Europe recognises that, through the Draghi competitiveness report which priortises innovation.
As minister for this sector, I get it too. Ireland will be a welcoming host for the best and brightest fleeing the US university system and I will outline the details of my plan to attract that talent to Government this week.
Ireland prizes science, research and academic freedom. Talent is our greatest natural resource and also our best defence to trade wars and economic upheaval. A recent survey by Nature revealed that up to 75 per cent of US scientists are currently considering leaving the US with the EU cited as a preferred destination.
Our partners in Europe understand this. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, announced a €500m investment with Emmanuel Macron, French president, to attract researchers to Europe over the next two years. This is in addition to €105 billion investment Horizon Europe programme funding. Research and innovation is our mission.
In the past week alone, I have brought Ireland both into CERN - which I signed in Geneva on Thursday - and the EU quantum computing pact, which I secured cabinet approval to join. International collaboration is the way forward and science knows no borders.
As we face an uncertain world, one thing is certain - as minister, I will ensure that both Irish researchers and internationally based academics who want to come to Ireland, will be supported to make ground- breaking discoveries.
Therefore, I am launching a call, backed by budgetary commitment, to attract top research talent to Ireland. We will create competitive packages that combine research funding and startup supports to at- tract them.
I will also strengthen the environment for research and innovation. This will benefit our already resident world-class researchers. We will increase the number of high-impact projects, generate new knowledge and patents and we will create a world-class training base to develop new researchers.
The presence of world-class researchers not only enhances our own programmes, but also attracts further high-calibre talent, creating a virtuous cycle of innovation and excellence.
To be clear, this is not about funding science for its own sake. The pursuit of knowledge always has merit, but research also drives massive economic growth through supporting Irish companies to innovate and fostering new industries. The National Bureau of Economic Research estimates that every €1 invested in research and development (R&D) returns at least €5. Ireland has been successful in attracting top talent in the past, providing researchers with certainty through uncertain times.
Taoiseach Éamon de Valera courted Erwin Schrödinger during World War II and convinced him to help establish the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS). When founded in 1940, DIAS was only the second of its kind in the world and the first in Europe - a bold decision at the time. While Schrödinger’s work led to discoveries in genetics and his eponymous cat-thought experiment, DIAS has impacted - and continues to impact - Ireland through its research.
I can only imagine the future impact of Prof Brian Jacob’s paper which provided unequivocal proof that our continental shelf was larger than once believed. This research is the basis of our submission to expand of our economic zone of interest at sea by a factor of 10 to the European Commission. It also highlights that the old west-of-Ireland saying, “Next stop America”, is a geological reality as well as a cultural phenomenon.
And that the flow of talent and investment can now travel both directions.
This call to attract top talent is a further step on a journey to place Ireland at the forefront of global research. Many of our researchers are already engaged, creating a world-class base locally with global talent.
At the midst of the global pandemic, the first Covid-19 vaccine (described by the head of Pfizer as “the greatest medical advance” in the last 100 years) was developed in Germany, by a Turkish immigrant whom had worked for US corporations. Great science knows no borders, nationalities or arbitrary rules around knowledge.
Ireland has the talent, institutions, global connections and welcoming environment to attract research leaders. Through all the uncertainty we face, in this I am certain. St Brendan the navigator used early astronomy to map his voyage from Ireland to America. Irish science and technology can now guide the way for those coming back.