The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced new €6.5 million funding for environmental and climate research in Ireland.

The funding awarded is for 24 new research projects, which cover a range of areas including peatlands, water courses and methane.

The EPA said that these projects will address key knowledge gaps, and will support the development of research capacity and expertise in strategically important areas.

The EPA Research Programme has a focus on policy-relevant research, addressing identified knowledge gaps relevant to environmental and climate policy.

The agency said that the outcomes of its research call in 2025 will contribute to the evidence base for environmental policy in Ireland, strengthen connections between the research and policy communities, and "deliver positive environmental outcomes".

The projects that will receive this new funding cover several areas, including:

Assessing impacts of national policies on climate targets;
Use of technology in peatland monitoring;
Impacts of dams and barriers on rivers and lakes;
Streamlining strategic environmental assessment (SEA) through the use of artificial intelligence (AI);
Greening of laboratory analysis protocols;
Greater understanding of sources and sinks of methane.

The EPA said the latest funding is significant in terms of further building environmental research capacity in Ireland.

It will support 148 research staff across 10 higher education institutions and will have a wider reach through 34 collaborating organisations across the public and private sectors in three different countries.

The EPA is also working in partnership with Met Éireann and the Office of Public Works to co-fund a number of projects in areas including flood probability, flow statistics for rivers, and climate modelling.

Commenting on the funding announcement, EPA deputy director general Dr. Eimear Cotter, said: "We face complex challenges in becoming a resilient, competitive and sustainable society. Research, such as that funded through the EPA research call, will play a vital role in supporting robust policy and decision-making while ensuring the protection of our environment and climate.

"The projects announced today will support targeted, policy‑relevant research and build connections with policy-makers and practitioners, and ultimately support more effective action.

"I congratulate the successful teams and look forward to seeing the positive impacts of their work," Dr. Cotter said.

Aengus Parsons, (acting) vice-president for research and innovation at the University of Galway (which received the highest number of successful research awards) said: "Our researchers are to be commended for their vision and dedication to addressing the urgent environmental challenges of our times.

"I look forward to seeing these projects progress to impacts across climate policy, coastal risk, air quality, emissions reduction, peatland resilience, the bioeconomy, and water quality," Parsons said.