The IRC has entered into co-funding partnerships with the UKRI funding council, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
ESRC-IRC Networking Awards
ESRC-IRC Networking Awards
Programme scope
In 2020, the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Irish Research Council (IRC) agreed to collaborate on a new funding programme, the ESRC-IRC UK/Ireland Networking Grants call, which aimed to foster the development of long-term relationships between British and Irish social science researchers, leading towards the potential development of future joint research proposals between the two countries.
This call sought to improve the connectivity between British and Irish social science research communities. Funding was provided to groups of researchers for the purpose of fostering new connections, identifying common interests, building networks and developing common research agendas, helping to lay the groundwork for future collaborative research activity while also enabling new sustainable collaborations to be formed and existing relationships to be strengthened. Interdisciplinary proposals across the breadth of the social sciences were encouraged.
Specific objectives underpinning the call included:
- To establish and develop partnerships between UK and Ireland-based social science researchers.
- To identify common research priorities and promote the sharing of research ideas (including new methodologies) between UK and Ireland-based researchers.
- To facilitate the development of interdisciplinary collaborations between UK and Ireland-based researchers for the purpose of submitting high-quality joint research proposals to possible future funding calls or responsive mode competitions.
- To establish networks with non-academic collaborators (such as policy makers, businesses or third sector organisations) and engage with the wider population through public engagement activities, if applicable to the research area.
Project teams were comprised of both UK and Irish researchers, with researchers in each country led by a Co-Principal Investigator for that country, who co-ordinated networking activities and shared ownership of the project and its direction.
Proposals had to include a UK component of maximum £10,000 GBP and an Irish component of maximum €11,800 EUR (at 100% non-standard fEC). Up to 10 awards were expected to be funded, which would run for 12 months and generally commence by autumn 2020. The ESRC-IRC UK/Ireland Networking Grants call was launched on 2 March 2020. Following assessment of eligible applications, 20 projects were awarded in total, with a duration of one year. The awarded projects commenced in December 2020. All projects were completed by February 2023.
Please see the below table for the list of ESRC-IRC Networking Awards made or click on the links to project sites:
SHINE (Smoke-Free Homes Innovation Network)
RIFNET (Reconstituting the Irish Family Network)
Towards Hybridity in the Protection of Civilians
Public Health, Ethics and Law Network
| Irish PI | UK PI | Project Title | Irish PI | Value of IRC award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Yekaterina Chzhen | Dr Julia Mikolai | An Interdisciplinary Child Well-Being Network (ICWBN) to study the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on children in Ireland and the United Kingdom | TCD | €6,976.88 |
| Dr Deirdre O’Donnell | Prof. Louise Locock | Choice, voice and change: developing networks for the involvement of people from seldom heard communities in England, Ireland and Scotland | UCD | €9,511.44 |
| Dr Jennifer Ryan | Dr Kimberley Smith | The UK-Irish Consortium for ageing well with a lifelong disability: Priorities, perspectives and opportunities | RSCI | €10,291.50 |
| Dr Elizabeth Shotton | Dr Oriel Prizeman | Harbourview | UCD | €11,398.00 |
| Prof Joe Bogue | Prof Barry Quinn | Dairy Evolution NeXt Network (DEX) – A Network for the Exchange of Knowledge and Expertise in the UK and Ireland Dairy Sectors | UCC | €11,760.00 |
| Dr Paul Ryan (replacing Dr Kathryn McGarry) | Prof Graham Ellison | Commercial sex in the UK and Republic of Ireland: Current knowledge and future challenges | Maynooth University | €6,454.00 |
| Dr Fiona Newell | Dr Harriet Allen | Seeing How You Feel: Multisensory Enhancement Of Touch In Ageing | TCD | €10,019.00 |
| Dr Martine Smith | Prof Lindsay Pennington | Promoting the communicative participation of children with speech, language and communication needs | TCD | €10,024.50 |
| Dr Edoardo Celeste | Dr Napoleon Xanthoulis | UK-RoI Cross-Border Data Protection Network (Cross-DPN) | DCU | €11,730.00 |
| Dr Kate Frazer | Dr Rachel O’Donnell | The Smoke-free Homes Innovation Network (SHINE) | UCD | €11,750.00 |
| Dr Maeve O’Riordan | Dr Leanne Calvert | Reconstituting Irish Families Network: RIFNET | UCC | €11,794.20 |
| Dr Amanda Fitzgerald | Prof Cherie Armour | Mood Movement: Exploring existing and emerging technologies to facilitate help-seeking, stigma reduction and support of Young People’s mental health | UCD | €11,571.90 |
| Prof Ben Tonra | Prof Federica Bicchi | New Diplomacy: The UK and Ireland in a Changing World (NEWDIP) | UCD | €11,800.00 |
| Dr Marie Mahon | Dr Michael Woods | Civil Society in Turbulent Times: Exploring Connections, Comparison and Capacity-Building in Ireland and Wales | University of Galway | €11,800.00 |
| Dr Walt Kilroy | Dr David Curran | Towards Hybridity in the Protection of Civilians | DCU | €10,240.00 |
| Dr Finbarr Brereton | Dr Viviane Gravey | All-Island environmental governance post Brexit? Mobilising key actors in Ireland and Northern Ireland | UCD | €10,043.19 |
| Dr Samantha Dockray | Prof Alina Rodriguez | Wellbeing in Teens Network in UK and Ireland (Well-TeenN) | UCC | €11,779.50 |
| Dr David Meredith | Prof Sally Shortall | The UK and Ireland Rural Futures Network: Preparing for social and economic transitions Post Brexit and Covid-19 | Teagasc | €11,800.00 |
| Prof Joe Barry | Prof Niamh Fitzgerald | UK-ROI Alcohol Research Network (AcoRN) | UCD | €11,740.00 |
| Prof Mary Donnelly | Prof Anne-Maree Farrell | A Public Health, Ethics and Law Research Network | UCC | €8,380.00 |