Irish Research Council(IRC)

Name

Irish Research Council(IRC)

Legal name

Irish Research Council

Website

https://research.ie

Company type

Public

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Research Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research Administration & Compliance (Sponsored Programs, IRB/REB) (EDADAKAH), Science, Technology & Innovation Administration (National R&D Policy) (BPAIAAAK)

Keywords

• Research funding
• Government grants
• Postgraduate scholarships
• Laureate awards
• Enterprise partnership

Headquarters

HQ city

Ballsbridge

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Funding Distribution: The Irish Research Council distributes public funding to researchers across Ireland. As a government agency, it receives allocation from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and disburses this funding through competitive grant programmes to researchers at various career stages.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Irish Research Council is Ireland's national competitive research funding agency that distributes public grant funding to researchers across all disciplines and career stages — from postgraduate and postdoctoral scholars through to principal investigators. It manages a portfolio of inter-linked funding schemes including Laureate Awards, Enterprise Partnership Schemes, New Foundations, and international MSCA COFUND programmes, supporting frontier basic research and collaborations between academia, enterprise, government and civic society. As of August 2024, the IRC's activities have been amalgamated with Science Foundation Ireland to form Research Ireland (Taighde Éireann).

Product overview

The Irish Research Council (IRC) is Ireland's national competitive research funding agency, offering a suite of inter-linked funding schemes supporting researchers across all career stages from postgraduate to principal investigator level. The portfolio includes core academic funding programmes (Postgraduate, Postdoctoral, Principal Investigator-led), enterprise partnership schemes linking academia with industry, prestigious Laureate Awards for frontier research, and specialized initiatives like the DOROTHY MSCA COFUND programme for public health research. Following the establishment of Research Ireland on 1st August 2024, the IRC's activities are now integrated into this unified national agency alongside the former Science Foundation Ireland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Postgraduate Funding

Quantifiable outcome

• €40 million invested in frontier basic research across researcher career spectrum
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) - Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 March 2020ESRC-IRC UK/Ireland Networking Grants programme fostering long-term relationships between British and Irish social science researchers. Up to 20 projects funded with values ranging from €6,454 to €11,800 EUR per Irish component. Projects commenced December 2020 and completed by February 2023.
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) - Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 October 2019UK-Ireland Collaboration in the Digital Humanities programme. In the UK, supported by £4million of funding secured by AHRC through UKRI Fund for International Collaboration. Ireland-based component supported by IRC. Includes networking awards and research grants. Inaugural workshop held in Dublin 22nd-23rd October 2019.
• Department of the Taoiseach - Shared Island UnitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShared Island New Foundations programme bringing researchers North and South together to examine political, economic, civic and social cooperation on the island of Ireland. Funded by Shared Island unit in Department of the Taoiseach.
• National Monuments ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerINSTAR+ archaeological research programme. Second round funding of €1.2 million for up to 5 collaborative projects under the IRC COALESCE Programme. Succeeds the Irish National Strategic Archaeological Research (INSTAR) Programme (2008-2014).
• Heritage CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in INSTAR+ archaeological research programme alongside National Monuments Service.
• Irish AidminorStrategic or Co-development Partner'A Better World' strand funding for global north-south research partnerships under New Foundations programme.
• Irish Marie Skłodowska-Curie Office (IMSCO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership with Irish Universities Association providing support for MSCA and ERC funding applicants. IMSCO is funded by the Irish Research Council. Hosts joint events like the career pathways event in April 2023.
• Higher Education Authority (HEA)coreOthersThe IRC operates under the Higher Education Authority which handles Freedom of Information requests and complies with Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations.
• GENDER-NET Plus ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-Fund under Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society strand. 16 international partners across 13 countries. To date, 13 projects awarded funding, 7 with Irish university partners. Focus on integrating gender in research proposals addressing societal challenges.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI): UK's national research and innovation funding agency that brings together nine research councils. Direct partnership counterparty for the IRC's ESRC and AHRC collaboration programmes and the closest structural analogue as a unified national funder, though substantially larger in budget and scope.
• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): Germany's largest independent research funding organization supporting all disciplines from bottom-up proposals. Closest European model of a discipline-agnostic national funder and a key benchmark for IRC's horizontal coverage mandate.
• National Science Foundation (NSF): US federal agency supporting fundamental research across all non-medical fields. Comparable in its broad discipline mandate and competitive grant model, though vastly larger in budget, and a structural model for national competitive research funding agencies.

Direct peers

• Science Foundation Ireland (SFI): Ireland's STEM-focused research funding agency that merged with the IRC in August 2024 to form Research Ireland. Was the most direct counterpart for science and engineering research funding in Ireland with overlapping mandate in the research ecosystem.
• European Research Council (ERC): Pan-European competitive research funding agency that the IRC explicitly feeds into through its Laureate Awards. The IRC's ERC conversion track record (including Ireland's first Synergy Grant) makes ERC the most relevant upstream peer for researcher career progression.
• Irish Research Council / Research Ireland (Taighde Éireann): The successor entity formed from the August 2024 amalgamation of IRC and SFI. Most direct peer as the continuation and consolidation of the IRC's mandate within a unified national agency.
• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC): UK Research and Innovation council part of UKRI that partnered directly with IRC on UK/Ireland Networking Grants. Directly comparable as a social sciences funder that interfaces with IRC through formal partnership programmes.
• Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC): UKRI council for arts and humanities research that partnered with IRC on the UK-Ireland Collaboration in Digital Humanities programme. Directly comparable as a humanities funder in formal partnership with IRC.

Regional players

• Health Research Board (HRB) Ireland: Ireland's health-specific research funding agency operating under the same Department as the IRC. Regional peer covering a domain (health) that is partially within IRC's broader mandate, particularly relevant for IRC's health-relevant Laureate and Enterprise Partnership awards.
• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF): Switzerland's national research funding agency supporting all scientific disciplines. Comparable in supporting bottom-up frontier research across all fields and a natural model for the IRC's discipline-agnostic mandate in a smaller national context.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IrishResearch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@researchireland
• Facebookfacebook.com/2180715
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/irishresearchcouncil

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Irish Research Council(IRC)