Why Irish eyes are positive in the bubble 2020

One of the surprise success of the Horizon program of the European Union in 2020 this year was the arrival of four Irish universities in the list of 50 best performances of the university. But how do they do that?

As reported in the analysis of University News last week, Nui Galway is Ireland's highest on the list at number 25, together with the University College Cork (30); University College Dublin (31) and Trinity College Dublin (38).

Together they received contracts worth € 62 million (US $ 66.6 million) from the Horizon 2020, or H2020, when decisions on the financing of 24th June this year. However, none of the four was listed among the 50 high-performing universities in the Seventh Framework Programmers (2007-13), or FP7.

What's behind this collective leap forward? Is this the result of a national mobilization to H2020? What strategies have been used by universities and how they interact with other actors in the competition to increase participation in the study of the European Union? What tools are used?

The answer can be found on several levels, when looking at the organization to which the agenda of Irish science policy. Our focus here is the role of universities in the "application engine for Horizon 2020" - the Irish case can give you some transferable clues as to which university strategy works better in the Horizon 2020, which is not primarily scientific boundaries, but research innovation big project?

A key role for universities

Organization in Ireland to take part in the 318 contracts in H2020, as indicated in the e-Corday database at the end of July 2015. From the 318, 164 or 52% of the contract with Irish universities. The comparable percentage was 26% for Norway, 31% for Finland, 30% in Germany, 49% for Sweden, Denmark for 55% and 40% for the Netherlands.

It is therefore obvious that universities play a more important role in ensuring H2020 contracts in Ireland, Sweden and Denmark in relation to Norway, Germany and the Netherlands.

Irish universities noted the remarkable success of the European Research Council, or ERC, the program 2014 - part of the column "great science", which is significantly expanded in H2020 - particularly in the category of initial grant. Irish institutions get 18 ERC grant in 2014 amounting to more than 30 million €.

Ten of these have begun to support seven consolidator support and an advanced support was given to Pool Holm, a professor of environmental history at Trinity College Dublin for a project entitled "Assessing and synthesizing the dynamics and importance of North Atlantic fish Revolution in the 1500s and 1600 that reshaped alignment in economic power, demographics and politics ".

In addition, four ERC proof-of-concept contracts have been awarded Irish scientists who have already been awarded ERC grants allowing them to develop their ideas into commercial routes.

In the category of grant beginning in 2014, Ireland in second place among the EU-28 countries, from the 20th to the FP7.

Irish universities coordinate several major H2020 collaborative projects. University College Cork coordinates "Mari - Marine Blue investment for the economy: Unlocking the potential of our seas" with the sub-projects in the marine renewable energy, aquaculture, marine biotechnology and mining and intended to encourage the development of business opportunities.

Cork coordinate major energy project in H2020 "energy system transition stakeholder action, education and skills development", which was awarded € 3,460,000 for the ejection energy transition in several European community.

Another example of a successful university-industry cooperation is the involvement of University College Dublin as a major academic project partners Real Value. Led by Irish multinational company Glen Dimple, and with the consortium covers the entire energy chain, € 12 million project (from € 7.2 million to the Irish partner) is aimed at improving the efficiency and value across the European energy market through the use of advanced information and communication technologies, and ICT.

Trinity College Dublin coordinates "complete, quality-centric software and data engineering," ICT project H2020 allocated € 4,000,000, with universities and companies in Leipzig, Oxford, Austrian and Polish, and coordinates the swimming project - Semantic Web for information modeling in the energy efficient buildings - a project financed energy efficient buildings to call, which includes the national co-operation with the Tyndall National Institute in Cork.