Information Webinar

US-Ireland Research and Development

Partnership Call in Agriculture 2017

26 April 2017

Noel Collins, DAFM.

Presentation Outline

• Introduction to US-Ireland R&D Pship

• Information on US-Ireland R&D Pship Call in

Agriculture

• Overview of Relevant Strategies

Intro to US-Ireland R&D Pship

• Tri-jurisdictional alliance between Ireland, Northern Ireland

and the United States

• In Place since 2006

• Aim to promote collaborative innovative research projects

which create value above and beyond individual efforts

• InterTradeIreland provides support, and facilitates

arrangements between the various funding partners

About the US-Ireland R&D Pship

• The scope of the Partnership to date covers the following

six thematic areas:

– Agriculture

– Health

– Nanoscale Science & Engineering

– Sensors & Sensor Networks

– Telecommunications

– Energy & Sustainability

• To date 35 projects have been successfully funded under

the partnership

US-Irl R&D Partnership Agri Call

• Agriculture was added as a new Thematic Areas in the

US-Ireland Call for the first time in 2016 on a pilot basis

• Relevant Funders in Agri:

– United States: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture

(NIFA) in the USDA

– Northern Ireland: The Department of Agriculture, Environment and

Rural Affairs (DEARA)

– Republic of Ireland: The Department of Agriculture, Food and the

Marine (DAFM)

• Relevant US Programme: NIFA’s Agricultural and Food

Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundation Programme

Request for Applications (RFA)

US-Irl R&D Partnership Agri Call

• Three Priority Areas in the AFRI Foundation Programme

eligible to ROI/NI based applicants:

– Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems;

– Animal nutrition, growth, and lactation; and

– Animal health and disease

• ROI/NI Applicants must obtain pre-approval from

DAFM/DAERA respectively in advance of formal

submission by US PI to AFRI RFA

• Separate Application Forms must be used by ROI/NI

applicants to DAFM/DAERA respectively

• Submission deadline to DAFM/DAERA 4 weeks in

advance of the stated AFRI deadline for the priority area

Latest Submission Dates

Thematic Area in AFRI 2017 RFA DAFM/DAERA

Deadline

AFRI

Deadline

Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural

Production Systems

14 June 2017 12 July 2017

Animal nutrition, growth, and lactation 18 May 2017 15 June 2017

Animal health and disease 18 May 2017 15 June 2017

RoI applicants must demonstrate:

• Close alignment with either the Sustainable Healthy

Agri-Food Research Plan (SHARP) or Forest Research

Ireland (FORI) – the relevant Strategic Research and

Innovation Agendas for the agri-food and forestry

sectors.

• Alignment with relevant national policy documents

including Food Wise 2025 and Innovation 2020

Food Wise notes that ‘Research, Development and Innovation

(RDI) are key drivers of competitiveness’ – Selection of some of

Food Wise RDI specific actions captures overarching themes:e.g. ‘DAFM, through its research funding

programmes (Stimulus, FIRM and

CoFoRD), to continue to support the

development of the new thought and

technology leaders for the agri-food sector

through supporting agri-food Masters and

PhD students on suitable scientific and

impactful research projects’

e.g. ‘At producer level prioritise research

and innovation investment in processes

and technologies which improve

productivity and sustainability of

production’

e.g.: ‘Prioritise research to ensure the

development of state of the art

methodologies to identify and assess the

risks with biological and chemical

contamination of food and develop the

controls to mitigate against these risks’

e.g.: ‘Agri-food research funding to

prioritise research which provides

evidence base to quantify the economic,

social and environmental sustainability of

Irish food production systems and to

assess the vulnerability of these systems

to climate change’

‘SHARP’ Strategic Agenda - Structure

Animal Production

Grass, Clover, Forage, Crops &

Food Horticulture

Sustainable Managmentof Natural

Resources , Climate

Change & Trans-

boundary Gases

Food Processing Technology

& Engineering

Food Product

Development

Formulation & Sensory

Science

Food Chain Integrity &

Safety

Functional Foods & Health

Nutrition, Health &

Diet-related Diseases

Cross-Cutting Issues

Underpinning Infrastructures & Skills

Main priorities in SHARP

• Enhance sustainability across entire food chain.

• Validate the green credentials of Irish foods.

• Maximise benefit of pasture based production

• Improve animal & plant production, breeding & health.

• Underpin food safety & integrity.

• Drive innovation via technology transfer, etc.

• Build Agri-Food Informatics to exploit vast data from myriad sources.

• Improve profitability & competitiveness at all levels.

• Exploit convergence .... Agri-food + ICT/Pharma/etc.

• Improve human nutrition & health .... exploit databases

• Provide evidence to inform policy development

Northern Ireland

May 2016 – DAERA formed

Our research is guided by two significant strategy

documents;

Department’s Evidence and Innovation Strategy

(2015-2017)

Agri-Food Strategy Board Report – “Going for

Growth”

E&I Strategy (2015-2017)

Goal 1

Goal 2

Goal 3

Goal 4

To help the agri-food industry prepare for future market

opportunities and economic challenges.

To improve the lives of farmers and other rural dwellers

targeting resources where they are most needed.

To enhance animal, fish and plant health and animal

welfare on an all Ireland basis.

To help deliver improved sustainable environment

outcomes.

www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/evidence-and-innovation-strategy

updated-2015-17.

“Going for Growth – Investing in Success”

Growing a sustainable, profitable and integrated

Agri-food supply chain focused on delivering

the needs of the market”.

www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/dard/going-for-

growth.pdf

NI/ROI Eligibility Requirements

• Address one of the 3 stated AFRI programme areas

• Be an Eligible Research Organisation

• Have a min. of one Principal Investigator based in a Research

organisation in each of the three jurisdictions

• Total grant request for the Research Organisations in each

jurisdiction must account for at least 15% of the overall combined

grant request from NIFA/DAFM/DAERA

• Avoid duplication of recent research work already undertaken or

ongoing

• Be strategically aligned with ROI/NI needs

• Incomplete documents will be returned without review

DAERA/DAFM Review Process

- Eligibility check (aligns strategically/ meets financial and

administrative requirements)

- Scientific Review mainly undertaken in NIFA review process

- DAERA/DAFM will communicate eligibility decision at least 2

weeks in advance of stated AFRI RFA deadline.

- If pass eligibility checks, DAERA/DAFM issue a ‘Letter of

Support’ to applicant

- A copy of the DAERA/DAFM Letters of Support will be

submitted directly to NIFA

Submission and Review of Tripartite Application

- ‘Single proposal - single review’ mechanism facilitated by

NIFA

- Tripartite submission to the AFRI RFA must include ‘Letters

of Support’ from both DAFM and DAERA

- Responsibility of US PI to submit the tripartite application

- Copy of final tripartite submission to the AFRI RFA must be

sent to DAERA and DAFM along with NIFA assigned unique

application number

- Tripartite proposals evaluated alongside other applications to

the selected AFRI programme area

- Evaluation as per standard NIFA application review criteria

Funding Available to applicants

• DAFM: Up to €350,000

• DAERA: Up to £250,000

• NIFA: Up to $500,000

• Each jurisdiction has its own set of funding rules which

must be complied with.

Thank you

For more information from DAERA contact Claire McAllister @

collaborative.research@daera-ni.gov.uk or click on

https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/us-ireland-research-and-development-partnership-call-

agriculture-2017

For more information from DAFM contact Noel Collins @

noeld.collins@agriculture.gov.ie or click on

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/research/