The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has announced funding for three international research projects, as well as Irish participation in upcoming European research calls.

Under the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership 2024 Research Call, two projects with Irish research partners have been selected for funding.

The US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership is a tri-jurisdictional alliance between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US, which was officially launched in 2006.

This will see an award of €349,500 to Dr. Anne Parle-McDermott at Dublin City University, for a project entitled ‘Environmental RNA-based Assessment of Fish Health (eRNA-Fish)’.

A similar award is being made of €345,541 to Dr. Grace McCormack at the University of Galway for a project entitled ‘Sustainable Ways to Advance Reproductive Management in Honey Bees (SWARM)’.

Minister of State with responsibility for research and innovation at DAFM, Noel Grealish said the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership in agriculture is an "important vehicle for facilitating research collaboration between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US".

"I want to commend the two successful projects that have secured funding from the 2024 research call in the areas of fish health and biodiversity," he said.

Meanwhile, one project with an Irish partner has been awarded funding from a call run by the European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare.

This will see €142,000 awarded to Dr. Siobhan Mullanin of University College Dublin for a project titled ‘HoliWell: Towards a Holistic Assessment of Animal Welfare using Emotion and Deep Learning’.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon said the announcement of funding for research projects "shows the diverse range of areas that my department supports as part of the public research ecosystem".

"I am particularly impressed at the international collaborations being forged, which will be built on through our participation in new European research calls in the areas of animal health and welfare and diets and nutrition," he added.

European research calls 

Minister Grealish has also highlighted Irish support for two new European research calls.

He said the department is extending financial support to enable Irish researchers to apply to two upcoming European research calls.

"This will be the second call under the European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare and the Knowledge Hub research call from the Healthy Diet Healthy Life EU Research Initiative related to food processing and human health," he explained.

"I would encourage researchers to consider both opportunities."