During the weekend I read about Intune Networks and the Exemplar Network in Ireland’s next big thing - Govt commits extra €5m to Exemplar Network. It appears to be a very positive development, and I am delighted to see that it has such strong links to fourth level research.
The video Digital 21 - The Exemplar Network is worth looking at also. Unfortunately, I cannot embed it here :( It is funny to hear Eamon Ryan describe it as open source, and then realise that he does not actually know what that means :D
Tags: Exemplar Network, Intune Networks
As always, I am delighted to read about the Irish Government investing in third and fourth level education. I am a product of the education system, so I am very familiar with how important this is to the Irish economy.
Today’s announcement is that the Government will invest 296€ million over the next six years. For more details see Govt commits €296m to third level research. (The article appears to confuse third level and fourth level.)
This certainly is great news, but part of it deeply concerns me:
The money will be spent funding buildings and also directly on individual research projects.
The article then continues:
Overall the funding announced comprises €260m to be spent on infrastructure and almost €100m to spend directly on research projects.
I really hope that I am wrong, but this looks like a construction industry investment rather than a research investment! The Government (through NAMA) already owns more property in this country than anybody else. A lot of this property is commercial, and it is currently unused. This really makes me wonder who is the Government trying to support by creating more buildings!
It really is depressing, especially since this is not the first time that this has happened. For example, I wrote about this in Irish Government Research Investment. I have many friends currently involved in research in the Dublin Universities. There certainly is a shortage of money. However, I do not think that any of them would prioritise buildings above more people or equipment!
As an aside, I wonder how much of the previous 300€ million is being included in today’s announcement.
Tags: Ireland
The Irish Government will implement 17 of the suggestions from the Ideas Campaign, as described in Recession ideas to be acted upon.
There were two ideas that caught my attention. The first idea is:
Provide a one-stop-shop virtual helpdesk for start-ups with advice on legal, HR, patents, accountancy issues etc.
I think that is a great idea, and I can easily imagine it being very useful. I guess that funding it will be a problem :(
The second idea that caught my attention is:
Teach business skills as part of all PhD education as a means of promoting the knowledge economy
This sounds great, but I seriously doubt that many PhD students would be interested in this :o Generally, PhD students just want to focus on their research, and they generally dislike attending classes of any type :o
Tags: Ireland
Science Foundation Ireland has announced the creation of a new fund to commercialise existing research that it is funding. The fund is called the Technology and Innovation Development Award (TIDA), and you can read more about it in Technology and Innovation Development Award (TIDA).
The maximum grant size is 100,000€ over 12 months. I think that is a really significant amount, and it should be enough to determine if existing research has commercial potential.
I am actually surprised that Science Foundation Ireland is doing this, because I thought that commercialisation was under the remit of Enterprise Ireland.
Tags: Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland
Earlier this year Science Foundation Ireland announced the creation of five new Strategic Research Clusters with an investment of 23.9€ million. (I should have written about these at the time, but better late than never :)
Two of these projects are of interest to me (because they are ICT related):
- Clique is analysing data graphs and networks. This project is based in UCD.
- FAME is investigating end-to-end communications over heterogeneous networks. This project is based in TSSG.
For more details about this announcement see Tánaiste announces establishment of 5 New Science Foundation Ireland Strategic Research Clusters, and for the complete set of Strategic Research Clusters projects see Strategic Research Clusters.
Tags: Science Foundation Ireland, TSSG, UCD
There was a story in one of the Irish national newspapers earlier this week claiming that UCD was having difficulty filling up to 33 computing research positions. The full story is Wanted: 33 smart people for top posts, and the positions are described in Vacancies.
I thought that this was very surprising when I read it initially, but after further investigation I think that it is understandable.
Firstly, 23 of these 33 positions are for PhD studentships. The successful candidates will receive a tax-free salary of 18,500€. I do not think that this level of remuneration will attract anybody of the right calibre who is already working in industry. Most likely, it will only appeal to graduates.
The other issue that I see with these positions is that they are based on formal methods. I know that this area is significant within the computer science world, but I do not think that industry has much interest in this area. Therefore, it is less likely that the successful candidates will learn significant transferable skills.
Tags: UCD
I read earlier in the week that TCD and UCD are going to merge their research capabilities. These are the two largest universities in Ireland. You can read more about this proposed merger in UCD, Trinity announce Innovation Academy and Universities hope merger will create 30,000 jobs.
I think that this is a great move, because the Irish Universities have seen each other as their main competition for too long. In a globalised economy, they need to work together to outperform other international universities. In other words, I think that there needs to be some rationalisation and concentration within the Irish fourth level education system. Ireland can either have several mediocre universities, or one or two world class universities.
However, I am slightly sceptical that significantly increasing the numbers of PhD students is going to be beneficial to the economy. Creating PhD students to improve some national statistic will not be of any benefit unless there is a real need and demand for people with PhDs.
Perhaps it would be equally beneficial, or even more beneficial, to focus on reducing the cost base in Ireland!
I also think that there will need to be some radical changes within the universities. For example, I think that the distinction between an academic career and an industry career needs to be removed. Perhaps it would be a good idea to stipulate that all new academic recruits must have several years of industrial experience. In reality, I do not think that this idea would be popular!
Tags: Ireland, TCD, UCD
It is great to read that the Irish Government has just announced that it is to invest a further €300 million in research in €300m for cutting-edge research. I think that this type of investment is needed to ensure that Ireland remains a significant location for business in the future.
I also think that this is quite a brave mood for a very unpopular government, especially as many other more visible services are being cut to reduce costs.
However, there is something that concerns me about this announcment.
The funding will be targeted at developing buildings and other infrastructure for research.
Why invest in buildings? Buildings will not help the economy! Indeed, many would argue that the focus on building over the last few years is a significant cause of the current financial problems.
Furthermore, is there not already an oversupply of commercial property in Ireland at the moment?
Tags: Ireland
Science Foundation Ireland is an organisation that is tasked by the Irish Government to invest 1.4€ billion in fourth level research in the areas of science, technology, and innovation. (Chris Horn noticed that it is unfortunate that Science Foundation Ireland’s remit excludes Engineering in Accident and Emergency Beds ? Or….)
I am familiar with some of the Science Foundation Ireland projects that are currently being funded in the Irish Universities, so I will briefly mention them here for my own record. I am listing these projects because I either know some of the people involved in them, or they are of interest to me. (I am certainly not suggesting that they are the best in any way!)
There are two Strategic Research Clusters (SRCs) that are of interest to me:
- ITOBO is investigating the creation of new types of buildings that make greater use of information and communication technology. For a long time I have felt that current buildings are really just large, but dumb, devices that contain many simple but totally independent systems. So I think that there is a lot of potential here to create really smart buildings simply by linking these systems and giving them some intelligence. This project is based in UCC.
- StratAG is investigating methods for measuring and processing spatial information. It is based in NUI Maynooth.
For the complete set of Strategic Research Clusters projects see Strategic Research Clusters.
There are three Centres for Science, Engineering & Technology (CSETs) that are of interest to me:
- Clarity is investigating techniques for sensing data in the real world, and then combining this data with existing digital information. This project is based in both DCU and UCD.
- CTVR is investigating both low-level and high-level issues that are relevant to the next generation of telecommunications networks. It is based in TCD.
- Lero is investigating techniques for developing dependable software. It is based in UL.
For the complete set of Centres for Science, Engineering & Technology projects see Centres for Science, Engineering & Technology.
Tags: Chris Horn, Clarity, CTVR, DCU, Ireland, ITOBO, Lero, NUIM, Science Foundation Ireland, StratAG, TCD, UCC, UCD, UL
Over the past few years I have attended many international conferences (and even a few in Ireland). These conferences can usually be classified into two different types.
The first type of conference events are the academic type. This are usually of a non-commercial nature, and therefore they have limited budgets. However, the attendees are normally from a younger age group. So the social events at these conferences tend to be cheaper, but also more energetic.
The second type of conference events are the industry type. I have been to many of these where there are a small number of people, but big deals are done during them. It is not unusual (at least during previous better economic times) for the companies selling to spend several thousand euro per head on the social events. These social events are usually very unique opportunities that an individual would not be able to experience. They also tend to be more serious, and they are aimed at an older age group.
Earlier today I read about DomainFest 2009 in Playboy Mansion Party Announced For DomainFest. As the title suggests, the social event is going to be held in the Playboy Mansion!
I think that this is one of the most unusual social events that I have ever seen as part of a conference! It certainly would be an unforgettable experience!
Unfortunately, this conference is outside of my field :(
Tags: DomainFest, Playboy
