Horizon Europe newsletter

Out and about
Top: Pictured L-R at this week's National Support Network meeting: Sergio Fernandez-Ceballos, National Delegate, Enterprise Ireland; Claire Whelan, National Contact Point (NCP), Enterprise Ireland; Kevin Fraser, Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR); Stephen O'Reilly, NCP, Enterprise Ireland; Lise-Ann Sheahan, IMR and Barry Jennings, NCP, Enterprise Ireland.
Bottom: Pictured L-R: Health NCP Martha Cahill speaking at Medtech Brew in Galway and NCP Mark Sweeney at the recent Research to Impact Showcase event at MTU Kerry North Campus.

ERC Synergy grant awards for Ireland
Four researchers from University College Dublin (UCD), Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Dublin City University (DCU) have been celebrating in the last week as they join the latest list of ERC Synergy Grant awardees. Congratulations to Shane O'Mara (TCD) and Yvonne Daly (DCU) who are part of the team working on JUSTICE: Joining Unique Strategies Together for Interrogative Coercion Elimination and UCD's Anding Zhu and Bogdan Staszewski who are on the Disrupt project team - both projects have been awarded circa €10m each. You can read all the details here.

National Support Network meeting with Research Offices

Research managers and officers from across Ireland joined the National Support Network team for a meeting in Dublin this week hosted by National Director Kevin Burke. Discussions ranged from EU developments to boosting Ireland's participation in Horizon Europe with a focus on increasing engagement with SMEs and industry - Kevin Fraser from Irish Manufacturing Research and Stephen O'Driscoll from Research Ireland provided interesting overviews on how their work contributes in that area. With just two more years left in the Horizon Europe programme, it's all hands on deck!

Success Stories series

We've published two new articles in our success story series focusing on Ireland-led projects which have been awarded Horizon Europe funding. RootEd is a €2.7m project which aims to be the 'second green revolution' by doubling agricultural output sustainably by 2050. The ReBioCycle project was awarded €10.4m and plans to demonstrate that bioplastics can be recycled effectively and efficiently - one of the barriers to widespread adoption of bioplastics is the perception that they are not readily recyclable. You can read interviews with the coordinators of these projects further below.

National Support Network team updates
In this month's newsletter, David Flood highlights the recent SMART EUREKA Cluster Proposers' Day hosted by Enterprise Ireland and Irish Manufacturing Research with the aim of promoting innovation in advanced manufacturing and generating new project ideas ahead of the next SMART Cluster call deadline in January.

National Delegate for Cluster 1 Health Patricia Clarke focuses on how Ireland has both the opportunity and the responsibility to lead change in the area of women's health research while Sergio Fernandez-Ceballos, National Delegate for Cluster 4 Digital, Industry & Space, provides a comprehensive overview of activity under the Industry heading, including upcoming brokerage and information events.

We'd like to give a big welcome to Claire Whelan who joined the National Support Network team in the last month as a new National Contact Point (NCP) for the Cluster 4 programme area focusing on digital and industry processes. Claire is based at Enterprise Ireland and is also the NCP for the Joint Research Centre as well as the National Representative for the Smart Networks and Services (SNS) Joint Undertaking.

Questions?
Our National Contact Points offer advice and guidance on all aspects of Horizon Europe - you'll find contact details in our Horizon Europe directory or you can email horizonsupport@enterprise-ireland.com for further information.

Pictured at the Horizon Europe National Support Network meeting with Research Offices:

Top row, L-R: Eric Kilmartin and David Barrett, Department of Enterprise, Tourism & Employment; Edward Casey, AMBER, Claire McKenna, AMBER and Claire Whelan, Enterprise Ireland; Stephen O’Reilly, Enterprise Ireland and David Fitzpatrick, CONNECT Centre.
Bottom row, L-R: Niamh O’Dowd, RCSI, Imelda Doolan, University of Limerick and Maria Nash, Research Ireland; Paola Saporita, UCC and Blanca Suarez-Bilbao, IUA; Ridhdhi Rathore and Evelyn Zuniga, Teagasc.

Sergio Fernandez-Ceballos National Delegate and National Contact Point (NCP) for Horizon Europe Cluster 4 - Industry

The upcoming 2026–27 Work Programme for Cluster 4 ‘Industry’ sets an ambitious path for Europe’s twin green and digital transition. Sergio outlines how the programme supports the Clean Industrial Deal and aims to position the EU as a global leader in advanced materials, sustainable manufacturing, and circular economy solutions.

Read more here.

Upcoming events:

12th Nov - European Big Data Value Forum. Details here.
2nd Dec - Battery Innovation Days. Details here.
2nd Dec - Water Knowledge Europe. Details here.
3rd Dec - EFECS (European Forum for Electronic Components and Systems) 2025. Details here.
10 Dec - Info Day - Work Programmes 2026 - 2027: Marine and Maritime Related Topics. Details here.
15-17th Dec - EU Agri-Food Days 2025. Details here.
10th Feb - RTR 2026 Results from Road Transport Research - Details here.