About ARC Hubs
The ARC Hub Programme: Driving regional innovation by accelerating the commercialisation of cutting-edge research to create new products, processes, and services while aligning with regional priorities and Ireland’s National Smart Specialisation Strategy for Innovation 2022-2027.
Intermediate Body:
Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland is a new, competitive research and innovation funding agency in Ireland. The establishment of the agency was a key action of Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy.
Research Ireland was established on 1st August 2024, following an amalgamation of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC).
Research Ireland announced the ARC (Accelerating Research to Commercialisation) Hub Programme which aims to establish a new model for regional innovation and entrepreneurial training, that will catalyse a step-change in the translation of cutting-edge publicly-funded research toward impact at a regional level. The SFI ARC Hub Programme will enhance and accelerate the commercialisation of research to create new products, processes and services. The realisation of the ARC Hub Programme will be through the establishment of up to three regional SFI ARC Hubs focused on specific thematic areas that will be aligned with the respective regional strategic priorities and the ‘National Smart Specialisation Strategy for Innovation 2022-2027’ (S3). The SFI ARC Hub Programme is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union under two European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Regional Programmes – the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027 and the Northern and Western Regional Programme 2021-2027.
Applications must be submitted within the specified deadlines for consideration.
Objective:
Eligibility of Applications:
Prior to peer-review, each application will be assessed by SFI to ensure it is eligible in terms of both the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) criteria as well as SFI eligibility criteria. Full details on the programme eligibility are available in the SFI ARC Hubs call document. The criteria set out by SFI for the Lead Applicant and Co-Applicants in terms of employment status, qualifications and general experience is outlined below. In summary, the Lead Applicant (Hub Director) and Co-Applicants must:
A contract researcher with a contract that covers the period of the grant, who is recognised by the Research Body as an independent investigator and will have an independent office and research space at the host Research Body for which the researcher will be fully responsible for at least the duration of the SFI grant,
An individual who will be recognised by the Research Body upon receipt of the SFI grant as a member of the academic staff or as a contract researcher as defined above. The applicant does not necessarily need to be employed by the Research Body at the time of proposal submission.
Total Amount of Support:
The total budget for this initiative is €99.33 million, available through the ERDF Northern and Western Regional Programme 2021-2027 (€34.66 million) and the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021-27 (€64.66 million). The initiative will enable up to three hubs to be funded at an average total cost of approximately €33 million each over a period of 5 years. The total funding that can be requested from this Programme is dependent on the location of the host Research Body for the ARC Hub. Further information can be found within the programme call document.
Key Dates:
Application Process:
Applicant groups intending to submit a full proposal application to the SFI ARC Hub call must submit an abstract to arc@sfi.ie no later than the 21st July 2023, 13:00 Dublin Local Time.
More Information:
View the full details of the funding call SFI website.
