As the 2025 Horizon Europe "Roadshow" gets underway, first stop was University of Limerick which hosted National Delegates and National Contact Points covering all the clusters under Pillar 2.
Horizon Europe Ireland - February update
Ireland semi-finalists in the European Prize for Women Innovators and ERC Proof of Concept winners
The 19 semi-finalists in the 2025 European Prize for Women Innovators were recently announced – we’ll be cheering on Ireland of course with two Irish women in the running to pick up a prize.
Congratulations to Rhona Togher, co-founder of Lios, who was nominated in the Women Innovators category and Elizabeth McGloughlin, co-founder and CEO of Tympany Medical, who was nominated in the EIT Women Leadership category. The winners will be revealed at the European Innovation Council Summit on 3 April 2025. You can read more here.
Congratulations are also due to the three Ireland-based researchers from Trinity College and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland who picked up ERC Proof of Concept grants last month. Worth €150k, the grants are intended to help ERC grantees to bridge the gap between the results of their pioneering research and the early phases of its commercialisation. You can read about Ireland’s winners here.
Horizon Europe 2025 Roadshow 2025 kicks off the final three years of the Horizon Europe programme and in a bid to increase awareness of the upcoming opportunities for Irish researchers, the National Support Network team is hitting the road for a national tour of third level institutions and information events. These will take place during February, March and April and the team looks forward to meeting you!
Investing in innovation
In 2019, Carlow-based TelLab secured more than €1 million in Horizon 2020 funding for its H2OMon project to commercialise its core technology and launch Aquamonitrix. Since then, Aquamonitrix has secured Horizon Europe funding for multiple projects – you can find out more about how the funding has supported the company's R&D activity in the latest in our success story series further below.
National Support Network updates In this month's newsletter, National Contact Point for Cluster 1 Health Martha Cahill addresses the hot topic of AI in Horizon Europe, in particular the need to properly address AI in research proposals.
If you missed the afternoon session "Navigating Tech Sovereignty & Civ-Mil Duality in FP10" at the Horizon Europe Impact Conference led by National Delegate Michael Murphy, you can catch up with an overview of the main points and why Ireland needs to up its game to avoid falling behind.
And in a special guest article, senior EU project manager Ben Moore at Carr Communications has top tips for your Horizon Europe project's communication strategy. You can read these three updates further below.
Contact us Find contact details for the individual National Delegates and National Contact Points across the Horizon Europe programme in this directory - questions, comments and feedback are all welcome!
Martha Cahill,National Contact Point for Cluster 1 Health, Enterprise Ireland
Artificial intelligence (AI) is continuing to revolutionise how we communicate, work, learn, analyse and research. Its use and how it’s applied in Horizon Europe, however, must be carefully considered.
This was the focus of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Horizon Europe panel at the Horizon Europe Impact Conference last December. Read this article on the key points discussed.
Michael Murphy,National Delegate for Horizon Europe Cluster 3 - Civil Security for Society, Enterprise Ireland
In recent years, Europe and the world have seen tectonic shifts on both economic and defence fronts. While its implementation is still three years away, many European Union member countries and stakeholders are bracing themselves for the next (10th) Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10) which comes into effect in 2028.
The programme, which is set to replace Horizon Europe, may be open to dual civilian and military use funding. Read more here.
Ben Moore, Senior EU Project Manager, Carr Communications
Communicating a clear message and tailoring it for stakeholders and the general public are some of the crucial components of a communication strategy for Horizon Europe projects. A strategy is necessary for raising awareness and promoting your project's impacts with different audiences.
In this article, communications expert Ben Moore outlines five points that you need to consider which includes 'being flexible' and adapting your approach if you are not achieving the desired results.
“The funding is really critical. It has allowed us to expand and continue our R&D activity. It helps us push the boundaries of innovation and maintain our competitive edge in the market.”
Read more about Carlow-based Aquamonitrix's experience of participating in Horizon Europe funded projects to boost food security - full story here.
Co-funded by Enterprise Ireland and the European Union under Horizon Europe, the €15m Sustain-FIT Programme (2025-2029), will recruit 50 postdoctoral researchers from across the world to collaborate with Irish companies on innovative sustainability-focused research projects.
Ubotica is based at Dublin City University’s research and innovation campus, DCU Alpha and is involved in a Horizon Europe-backed project to develop a scalable multi-mission Earth observation system that can support large-scale data processing. Read this Silicon Republic article here.
The four year EpiSeedLink project will explore new methods to improve how farmed crops can survive prolonged dry spells by harnessing natural processes and utilising renewable marine-based resources, Read the full storyhere.
Orthopaedic implants contract manufacturer Croom Medical has enjoyed a significant boost to its business thanks to its participation in an Additive Manufacturing (AM) project, supported by Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Ireland. Full article here.
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