About a decade ago magazines like Physics World published a spate of articles with headlines like “Little to smile about in Ireland” (December 1993 pp57-58). Ireland was languishing near the bottom of international tables of R&D spending, programmes to support basic research were underfunded and oversubscribed, researchers were heavily dependent on funding from the European Union, and grants for PhD students were, according to one physics professor, “completely inadequate – students would be much better off on the dole”.
10 years later all that has changed. Ireland has invested substantial amounts in basic research in universities and the Irish economy has grown faster than any other in Europe. However, contrary to prevailing wisdom, the investment in basic research came after the growth, not before it.
There is general agreement on why the Irish economy has been able to grow so fast – especially in hi-tech areas like information technology and pharmaceuticals – despite the low levels of investment in R&D. First, Ireland’s universities have produced a highly educated workforce. Second, the government offered substantial incentives to attract inward investment from multinational companies. And third, Ireland received significant support for infrastructure from the EU.
While all this growth was going on in the second half of the 1990s, a variety of funding bodies and committees of the great and the good came and went as the Irish government struggled to find a way to support and promote basic research. A Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council was set up in 1994 and a White Paper on science, technology and innovation appeared at the end of 1996. But nothing happened, and in June 1998 the science minister of the time announced that he was going back to square one to set up a working group to examine the future funding arrangements for basic research.
Things finally started to happen at the end of 1998 when the government launched a three-year €200m programme of support for research equipment and infrastructure in third-level institutions. More good news followed: Science Foundation Ireland was set up in 2000 with a budget of €646m over six years to support research in information and communication technology and biotechnology; and in 2001 a new Irish Council for Science, Engineering and Technology was given a budget of about €80m over six years to provide adequate grants for postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers, and support research in universities.
The establishment of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) was crucial in demonstrating that the Irish government was serious about science and technology. And if the government is to be congratulated on finally seeing the scientific light, the Irish physics community is to be applauded for the way that it has responded to the opportunities presented by SFI. Over one-third of the major grants for information and communication technology awarded by the foundation so far have gone to physics departments.
But not everything is rosy in Ireland. Investment in infrastructure has ground to a halt, and, like everywhere else in the world, students of all ages are turning away from the physical sciences. Last year a task force set up to look at the latter problem recommended a strategy that would cost €178m to implement and €66m per year to run (see Physics World June 2002 p9 print edition only ). The government has accepted the report and has started to change curricula, but it does not seem to have the funds to implement the recommendations in full. The task force’s report also echoed calls by the Irish Research Scientists Association for the appointment of a chief science adviser to the government to make sure that science has a voice at the highest levels.
Most alarmingly, the global economy is in recession and Ireland is not immune to this downturn. However, Ireland’s investment in SFI and elsewhere means that it will be in a better position than most to survive the recession – which should give it plenty to smile about in the future.
