Spreading the seed money

Field research: Larry Stapleton and Michael Lehane
Photograph: The Irish Times

A new masterplan for environmental research in Ireland is getting a €100m injection, writes Dick Ahlstrom

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will spend a remarkable €100 million on environmental research over the next seven years. The work will touch all aspects of life in Ireland, from water and air quality to how we dispose of and manage waste.

The EPA's master plan for research is detailed in its ambitious new strategy called Strive (Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for the Environment). The agency issued its first call for research proposals under Strive last month and expects to allocate at least €10 million for environmental research in the next few months, says Larry Stapleton, director of the agency's office of environmental assessment.

The current call provides an opportunity for universities and institutes of technology, individual researchers, companies and bodies such as local authorities to make bids for research support under a number of headings, explains Stapleton, who said the range of topics was "very broad".

THE AGENCY'S INVOLVEMENT in research is nothing new, he pointed out. Only last week it granted its 100th PhD scholarship for environmental research. "We are funding a significant number of new researchers in the environmental area," he says of the PhD scholarship scheme. "It is a programme that is considered very important and is building up environmental research capacity in the country."

The research remit is significant within the agency. "It accounts for just over 20 per cent of the EPA's budget, going on grant aid for research and innovation," says Stapleton. "It is a very significant proportion of our budget."

The call for proposals is the first public outing for the Strive programme, which seeks to build up our capacity to do environmental research, explains Dr Micheál Lehane, the programme manager in the Office of Environmental Assessment.

"What we are trying to do is invest in leading edge research. We take the view that today's research is tomorrow's environmental protection," says Lehane. The EPA also wants to "provide a scientifically based foundation in support of sound decision-making", he adds. Good decisions on the environment require good information, and the EPA's research programmes can provide this.

Strive will involve more than 1,000 researchers and company-based scientists over its seven-year lifetime. It includes three key measures: research in sustainable development; cleaner production and environmental technologies; and maintaining a healthy environment. It also details two support measures, including the creation of an in-house EPA research centre, and also capacity-building via continued investment in MSc and PhD research students and post docs.

STAPLETON ARGUES THAT the actual spend on environmental research will be much higher than the €100 million budgeted for in Strive. As with other research funded by the National Development Plan, the State's contribution is expected to attract matching private sector investments.

Under the new call, proposals are sought under five headings: environmental technologies; waste, resource management and chemicals; sustainable development and environmental socio-economics; environment and health; and environmental research data management.

There is considerable flexibility under the call, with projects attracting from €50,000 to €2 million and from short term to five years in duration, says Stapleton. "It really does depend on the particular project, and we are looking for some big projects."The one thing they will all have in common, however, is that the EPA wants to see "creative ideas", he adds.

Further details are available on the EPA's website at www.epa.ie

• The EPA has also planned a seven-part lecture series on climate change, with the first to take place on Tues, Nov 20. The Science of Climate Change - Facing the Facts will be given by Dr Martin Manning, director of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1 Support Unit and lead author of the IPCC 4th Assessment Report 2007. It takes place at 6pm in the Davenport Hotel, Dublin.
• The second lecture, Time for Action? Options to Address Climate Change will be given by Dr Bert Metz, Environmental Assessment Agency, the Netherlands and co-chair of IPCC Working Group 3. It takes place on Tues, Nov 27 at 6pm in the Davenport Hotel, Dublin

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times