Exhibitions: Taispeantais: Funding for Research in Institutions of Higher Learning in Ireland

University of St. Thomas (Center for Irish Studies)

Exhibitions: Taispeantais: Funding for Research in Institutions of Higher Learning in IrelandAuthor(s): John HaydenSource: New Hibernia Review / Iris Éireannach Nua, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring, 2002), pp. 138-145Published by: University of St. Thomas (Center for Irish Studies)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20646371 .

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John Hayden

Funding for Research in Institutions of Higher Learning in Ireland

Much of the discussion attempting to explain Ireland's economic success in recent years has focused on a number of factors.1 In addition to industrial

development policy, fiscal and public expenditure policy, European Union

membership, educational development have all been seen as important. Cer

tainly successive Irish governments has persisted in developing participation in secondary and post secondary education. Yet, research in higher education institutions has to some extent been the Cinderella of academic activities. This has now changed. After many years of talk, many years of plans and

pilot schemes* a large amount of money is being provided for research not

only in the universities and in higher education institutions, but also in pub he sector bodies and in the economy generally The extent of the resources and the scale and nature of the programs being initiated would have been unthinkable not only a generation ago, or fifteen years ago during the long recession of the 1980s, but even five or six years ago. These developments in

higher education, and elsewhere in the economy and society hold out great promise for Ireland.

Universities in particular, and higher education institutions generally, have always insisted that they have a two-fold function: teaching and research. Con ventional wisdom has it that one could not be a good teacher in higher educa tion without being engaged in research to discover new knowledge or, at least scholarship in the sense of keeping up with one's subject. That some doubt has been cast on this assumption in recent times?and> indeed, that teaching may suffer on account of involvement not to say absorption in research?cannot be denied. But, given that in recent years doctoral studies have more and more become the entry qualification for academic posts, or that they are expected to have been completed before promotion from the junior lecturer level, the close involvement of research with teaching in higher education is obvious. Certain ly in Ireland's higher education system, and in the systems we to some extent

model ourselves on, the opportunity to carry out research has always been con

. This article is based upon a lecture presented at the Merriman Summer School, Lisdoonvarna County Clare, on August 19,2001.

NEW KIB?RNIA REVIEW/lRIS ?IREANNACH NUA, 6:1 (SPRING/BARRACK, 2002), 38-145




sidered important whether by way of time being made available for research or

by a well founded laboratory or other resources. The annual reports of presi dents of Irish universities for many years have featured academic publication of

articles or books by staff. In more recent years this information has been aug mented by participation in conferences or other activities at which papers are

presented. This shows the greater importance being given to research and the

perception at the top that it is important for an institution to have a compre hensive involvement in research.

Models of higher education in which research features strongly are drawn

either from Germany, whose universities feature the Humboldt model of the research-based chair, or from the United States, where the graduate school

approach has always been advanced as something to emulate. Until the 1970s, the Irish research system was mainly characterized by such public research

organizations as An Foras Taluntais (the Agricultural Institute), the Institute for

Industrial Research and Standards, the Economic and Social Research Institute, and the Medical Research Council?all somewhat divorced from the higher education system.

To the public mind of the time, that seemed the best way to advance

research-focused research organizations with a clearly identifiable aim in mind.

The main emphasis was considered to be the applied and the utilitarian.

Research as an end justified in itself was not really understood as a concept. Pub

lic funding of "curiosity research" would have been seen as laughable. Univer

sity researchers generally kept a low profile and worked away as best they could, their main purpose and perhaps justification being in specialist postgraduate education. Most postgraduate education for Irish students was obtained in the

United Kingdom and the United States.

Financing of Irish universities from the Exchequer until the 1980s was based

on block grants for both teaching and research. The insistence on this by the

universities was based on quasi-ideological grounds that more detailed scruti

ny?such as the separation and identification of components into teaching and

research?would be intrusive, and hence undesirable for academic freedom. To

an extent, this system worked. Modest funding for the current costs of research

was available in the block grants and new university buildings provided in the

1970s and 1980s incorporated some research facilities. But the enormous

increase in undergraduate student numbers changed the balance and, in the

context of the block system, it was claimed that the research component was

quickly extinguished. The extent of the growth of student numbers is some

times not appreciated. Early in the 1960s, about 10 percent of the age cohort

went on to higher education; by 1980, this had grown to 20 percent, by the mid

1980s it was 30 percent, by the early 1990s it was 40 percent and by 1998 it was

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Funding for Research in Institutions of Higher learning tn Ireland

nearly 50 percent. Ireland now enrolls 100,000 full-time students. Inevitably

keeping pace with such growth was difficult, particularly during the oil crises of

the 1970s and the long 1980s recession.

In adversity some people will find ways to exploit the situation to further

their ends either by taking advantage of opportunities arising in other areas or

by focusing on their particular strengths. There was indeed much talk in the

1970s onward in public circles of the need to match developments in education

with developments in technology. The latter word was much m use in the 1970s

and the development of higher education outside the universities?whether in

the Regional Technical Colleges, the Colleges of Technology in Dublin, or the

National Institutes of Higher Education in Limerick and Dublin?was predi cated on meeting skills needs arising from industrial developments. In partic ular, the skills needed by "new technology"?and the term was in use in the

1970s and in the 1980s?were seen as being provided outside universities.

Eventually, the need for university participation in this area was seen and

understood, and not least by the Industrial Development Authority. Also, the

work done on science policy by the National Science Council?founded in

1968 and chaired by the late Dr. Colm ? hEocha, president of University Col

lege Galway (1975-95)?and its successors?the National Board of Science

and Technology Eolas (the Irish Science and Technology Agency) and latter

ly Forf?s?deserves recognition for keeping alive the hopes for greater things in regard to research and its relevance to national development. The amounts

provided directly for research in higher education institutions were minus

cule, indeed, until the 1990s. Even so, research and its organization and man

agement were all fostered, including participation in European community programs.

Parallel with this spartan funding regime in Ireland were other significant developments. The National Microelectronics Research Centre in University College Cork was developed from small beginnings in 1979 through the enthu

siasm, drive and determination of the current president of that university Pro fessor Gerry Wrixon. There were major developments in food science in Cork; electronics in University College, Dublin; computer science and genetics in

Trinity College, Dublin; materials science in Limerick; marine science in Galway. Biotechnology was developed in the National Institute for Higher Education

Dublin, later Dublin City University. The funding sources for research were con tracts from public and private bodies, particularly European Community pro grams. Irish researchers were spectacularly successful in these program and the extent of this success is reflected in the growth of contract research income in a number of institutions from almost nothing to twenty-five percent of gross income over a period of ten to fifteen years.

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Funding for Research m Institutions of Higher Learning in Ireland

Like most blessings, this one was mixed and it was to cause problems later

in the 1990s. Under nearly all contract research programs, national or interna

tional, the difficult question of overhead or indirect costs arises. Few funders of

contract research allow adequately for these costs for a number of reasons, not

least of which is the disputed basis on which they should properly be calculat

ed. To a body like the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the funds provided in a block grant form were intended for and had to be prioritized for teaching. The larger the contract research element became, the greater the pressure on the core grant provided to the institutions?a very real pressure, at a time when stu

dent numbers were increasing enormously, and being encouraged to increase by

public policy. Higher education institutions, their management, and their aca

demics began to clamor for direct support of research. The Irish Research Sci

entists Association was particularly vociferous.

Old tensions emerged, in particular the assertion that research funding should be programmatic and addressed to the needs of industry and the econ

omy generally. The location of the Office for Science and Technology in the

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment emphasized this aspect of

the funding of research. In 1994, minister responsible for this office established

the Science, Technology Innovation Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Dan Tierney, which published the wide-ranging report Making Knowledge Work for Us (1995) recommending changes in science policy and funding. A

White Paper on science, technology, and innovation followed in 1996, with an

emphasis on research supporting the economy. The Green and White Papers on

education of 1992 and 1995 dealt also with the educational aspect of research and

its place in the university sector, in the regional technological colleges, and in the

Dublin Institute of Technology The Higher Education Authority commissioned a report in 1995 titled

Organisation, Management and Funding of University Research Published in

1996, this report originated in the HEA's perception that research in higher education institutions was inadequately funded, but that it was unlikely sub

stantial public funding would be provided in addition to existing funding until

the government could be assured that the organizational framework was in

place within the institutions to channel and use effectively funding provided for

this purpose. The HEA accepted the main thrust of the report, carried out by CIRCA Group Europe, and recommended that research councils be established

for science and technology and for humanities and social sciences to fund pro

ject research in the institutions. It was recommended that ?20 million per annum be provided immediately for research. As Ireland's national finances

improved from the middle of the 1990s onward, the case for wider funding of

research was made with much greater likelihood of success. Appreciation of

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Funding for Research in Institutions of Higher Lem mug in h eland

higher education and its contribution to development was growing and the obvious success of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) strategy in

regard to mobile international investment in, for example, information tech

nology was accompanied by more long term consideration of technology and its place in the "knowledge-based economy" a term which came into wide use in the mid-1990s,

Ireland is, of course, not unique among nations in regard to such policy developments. A number of approaches are needed to research funding in high er education, clearly indicated by the experience of other countries. The block

grant must contain some component for research. Not all the working time of academics can be considered as teaching time. Activities associated with teach

ing also require time. Laboratories, whether for teaching or research, must be maintained, lighted and equipped appropriately Consumables, and they can be of considerable cost must be provided for. There is also a need for project fund

ing whereby research councils established for this purpose consider proposals for funding projects selected following peer review, a long-established system m

competitive academic research. The Technology Foresight Initiative announced in 1999 and undertaken

under the aegis of the Irish Science Technology and Innovation Council (STIAC), chaired by Dr. Ed Walsh, the founding president of the university of Limerick, made the case for biotechnology and information technology as the first two subjects about which research of international standing should be developed. An old controversy was rekindled when the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) was established under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It permitted the option of setting up independent research laboratories outside the higher education system?shades of the 1950s and 1960s when state-funded research tended to occur outside the higher edu cation sector. The Science Foundation of Ireland has announced the results of its first call for proposals in both areas. Principal investigators have been fund ed to carry out five-year research programs. The focus falls on the investigators all of whom, as it happens, will work in higher education institutions.

The fourth "pillar" is the program initiated by the Department of Education and Science and managed on its behalf by the HEA to fund proposals made by institutions on the basis of their strategies for research development. The Pro gramme for Research in Third-Level Institutions is currently in its third cycle. Like the SFI and the research council program, it is competitive and decisions are made by an international assessment panel. The criteria by which the insti tutional proposals are assessed are: the institutional strategies for research, col laboration with other institutions, research content, and teaching content. A high proportion of the funds for the three cycles to date has been for investment

142




in buildings and equipment for research. The balance will move toward current

expenditure in later cycles as the infrastructure is built up and as the volume of

research projects grows. Such infrastructure is a requirement in advance of

large-scale expansion of research activity. Research proposals include humani ties and social sciences in addition to science, technology, and engineering.

In operation since 1998, the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and the Social Sciences has provided funding for scholarships for postgraduate research studies and postdoctoral positions. Previously, such funding was min imal and was provided only by the Health Research Board, formerly the Med ical Research Council. The Humanities and Social Sciences Council has extend ed its funding to postdoctoral fellowships and visiting professorships, and a

funded project scheme is envisaged for the future. The total absence of such

support until the advent of the Humanities and Social Sciences Council explains the comprehensive character of these support measures for postgraduate and

postdoctoral research. On the question of support for the humanities and social

sciences, nearly all of the national debate on the support for research up to the

late 1990s was conducted with reference to science and technology, with a slight

opening for the social sciences, which were perceived to have possible relevance to the economy. The debate on the matter in Europe was conducted similarly The Science Foundation of Ireland program will be devoted entirely to science

and technology. The Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions cov

ers all fields of study in the institutions and some notable funding has been and

is being provided for projects in the humanities and social sciences area.

The Irish Council for Science Engineering and Technology was established

in 2001, and it will no doubt establish a proper support scheme for research stu

dents and researchers in its area. Support of students engaged in research

became a major issue in the 1990s and it has remained one. The problem is one

of the most pressing in regard to the development of research in higher educa

tion and the wider national aim of developing research as a career option for

Irish students. The arguments for and against funding postgraduate students are

well known and need not be rehearsed here. But, as the labor market in Ireland

is being transformed, the relative attractiveness of options other than research

training in educational institutions for students increases. There are some,

though limited, signs of students choosing to enter the labor market rather than

engage in further studies based on research training. In particular, it is hoped that the council will address this question immediately.

Dr. Ed Walsh, currently chairman of the Irish Council for Science, Technol

ogy and Innovation, spoke in a 1999 Thomas Davis lecture of the "quantum

leap" needed if Ireland is to become a knowledge-based society. In many ways, the country is striving to approach this threshold and it would seem inevitable,

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Funding for Research m Institutions of Higher Learning in Ireland

in addition to being desirable, that this should occur. Where does Ireland stand

in comparison to European countries in this regard or to the United States and

lapan? The position was dealt with in detail in the 1999 STIAC report and in the

report commissioned by the Higher Education Authority from CIRCA con

sultants on the financing, management, and organization of research in Irish

Universities. In the CIRCA report, the position in the mid 1990s was summa

rized thus: "Public funding of higher education research in Ireland is among the worst in the O.E.C.D ... there is virtually no financial support for science, lit

tle postgraduate support and very inadequate funding structures "

That the position has improved is attested to by a recent publication by the

European Commission, "Towards a European Research Area." This CIRCA

report details benchmark indicators for national research policies. Some of the

findings are very heartening from a national point of view; others indicate a

great deal to be done yet. Many of these indicators are predictable: for example, the numbers of researchers in relation to the total workforce, which is a measure

of human resource capacity in research and development. On this scale, Europe falls considerably below lapan and the United States, while Ireland is just below

the European average. However, Ireland has grown fastest in Europe over the five most recent years?even ahead of Finland, which has an enviable reputation in this area.

In terms of new Ph.D. graduates in science and technology, Ireland ranks below some other European countries. Indeed, there is evidence that the buoy ant labor market is making progress in this regard more difficult. Ireland still trails badly in Europe in relation to research and development expenditure as a

percentage of GDP, but the country is second only to Finland in the growth in such expenditure since 1995. Industry-financed research and development is lower than the European average but, here again, it is increasing fast. Govern

ment spending on research and development is increasing, from a very low base, faster than other countries. A number of indicators?such as seed and start-up venture capital investment?relating to research and development show that Ireland is doing well. While quite low compared with other countries, applica tions for European patents are again increasing rapidly in Ireland. Irish acade

mic researchers are publishing more and being cited more frequently in other research articles. This may appear to be very far from the university of yester day, but in Ireland the higher education system is considered as one of the main contributors to economic competitiveness.

This brief history of research policy formation in Ireland shows that many have endeavored long and hard since the 1970s to give research in institutions o? Irish higher education the elevated status it occupies today. The energy and focus of the institutions is illustrated by the range and scale of the proposals that

144




have been successful in the Programme for Research in Third-Level Education. As recently as 1995 there was no direct educational investment in higher educa tion research. This has now been greatly changed. The National Development Plan (2000-2006) includes over ?1 billion for research funding. The Department of Education and Science fund is ?550 million, while the Science Foundation of

Ireland fund is ?500 million. The Programme for Research in Third-Level Insti tutions has been in operation since 1998. The funding allocated in Cycle One

was ?160 million and in Cycle Two ?60 million. Cycle Three is in progress and a total of ?260 million is involved. There is to be a further cycle next year, small er in scale. The challenge will be for Ireland and the Irish economy to build both on the research capacity created and on the training facilities essential to a

knowledge-based society. The scope of research in higher education is greater, however, than that of

the economy alone. Research is being funded concerning: biopolymers, sensor

research, optical characterization, biomedicai engineering, advanced materials

science, information technology and advanced computation, food and health

science, biopharmaceutical science, biomolecular and biom?dical research. Also

funded are Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies, Irish-Scottish Studies, a

National Political and Social Survey, a Social Change Centre, a National Social

Science Archive, and humanities research on history and society, as well as:

health informatics, a Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical

Change, an Urban Institute, and an Institute for Spatial Analysis. Interdiscipli

nary research figures prominently but even more prominent is institutional

collaboration between Ireland's universities, institutes of technology, Dublin

Institute of Technology, and colleges of education. One can only wonder at the

nature of change which attends these programs. The Dublin Molecular Medi

cine Centre is a large-scale project pooling resources in University College,

Dublin, and Trinity College, Dublin. This certainly indicates the direction in

which the research strengths of the institutions may develop and be combined

to produce centers of excellence not only of national but of international stand

ing. The vastly increased new level of funding will continue until 2006. One

must hope that, before then, the investment will have been seen to be worth

while and worth developing further.

HIGHER EDUCATION AUTHORITY / AN t?DAR?S UM ARD-OIDEACHAS

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Exhibitions: Taispeantais: Funding for Research in Institutions of Higher Learning in Ireland

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