Research Newsletter - Issue 107: Funding Opportunities

TORA deadline:  16 October 2025

Call deadline: 5:00 Thursday 23 October 2025

The Charlemont Grants scheme which is funded directly by the Royal Irish Academy is open to early career researchers who wish to undertake short international visits from Ireland for the conduct of primary research in any subject area. 

In 2025, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has allocated additional funding to facilitate an Ireland-Wales strand of the scheme to support early career researchers exploring collaborations between Ireland and Wales in line with the new Ireland Wales Shared Statement 2030. 

The Charlemont scheme speaks to one of the RIA’s fundamental missions to identify and encourage excellence in research and scholarship, and to support the development of international links and collaborations by early career researchers. 

Applications for between €1,000 and €2,500 are invited. Applicants are asked to read the guidelines for applicants carefully before submitting an application.

The deadline for applications is 5:00 on Thursday 23 October 2025 and further details can be found here. 

For queries, please contact: kieran.odwyer@dcu.ie

TORA deadline:  31 October 2025

Call deadline: 07 November 2025 (for events up to 31 March 2026)

The Our Shared Ocean – Mobility and Travel Grants 2025 programme, a collaboration between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Marine Institute, supports research, knowledge exchange, and capacity building with Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The programme aims to address ocean, climate, and sustainable blue economy challenges faced by SIDS.

The grant support is available in the following categories:

• Research Conferences and Workshops: €500 to €2,000
• Training Courses: €500 to €2,000
• Research Visits: Up to €6,000

Submission Deadlines: 07 November 2025 (for events up to 31 March 2026)

For queries, please contact: tauseef.ahmad@dcu.ie

TORA deadline:  13 November 2025 (1:00 PM)

Call deadline: 20 November 2025 (3:00 PM)

The Wellcome Career Development Awards are for mid-career researchers from any discipline who have the potential to become international research leaders. The award provides funding for researchers to develop their research capabilities and drive innovative research.

There is no fixed funding limit for the award. Applicants are encouraged to request the resources they need. However, annual expenditure is typically below £250,000 (excluding the applicant's salary).

Application Deadline: The next deadline for applications is 20 November 2025, at 3:00 pm GMT.

Eligibility: This award is for mid-career researchers who are ready to lead a substantial research programme. The administering organisation must be in the UK, Republic of Ireland, or a low- or middle-income country (excluding India and mainland China).

Time Commitment: Applicants must be able to dedicate at least 80% of their research time to the award.

Further Information: More details are available on the Wellcome website.

For queries, please contact: tauseef.ahmad@dcu.ie

TORA deadline:  07 November 2025

Call deadline:  

Pre-proposal submission deadline - 17 November 2025

Full-proposal submission deadline - 17 June 2026

The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP), supported by the European Commission, is a network of research and innovation funders across Europe and beyond committed to advancing a resilient and sustainable blue economy. The Partnership connects researchers, industry, and policymakers to ensure that transformative marine and maritime projects receive the support needed to deliver lasting impact. SBEP is now launching its third joint transnational call (JTC) for proposals on “Digitalisation and Innovation for Resilient Marine Ecosystems, Businesses, and Communities to Strengthen the EU Blue Economy’s Competitiveness.” In total, 38 funding organisations across 28 countries are participating in this call with an available budget of over €44.3M (approximately).

There are four priority areas:

• Priority area 1: Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs) at sub-basin scale
• Priority area 3: Climate-Smart Planning and managing sea-uses at the regional level
• Priority area 4: Blue Bioresources: sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and new bio-based products
• Priority area 5: Resilient Coastal Communities and Businesses

Awarded projects will have a duration of up to 36 months. For applicants based in Ireland, Research Ireland will provide the following funding for projects: 

1. Up to a maximum of €330,000 direct costs per award for Irish applicants as Partner on transnational proposals.
2. Up to a maximum of €405,000 direct costs per award for Irish applicants as Coordinator on transnational proposals.

To be eligible, each consortium must be composed of eligible partners from at least three different countries participating in the call and requesting financial support from at least three different funding organisations participating in the call. The call will be implemented in two stages, i.e. a pre- and a full-proposal phase.

Before submission of the proposal, you must give a brief notification of your intent to submit a pre-proposal through email to eu-cofund@researchireland.ie before the submission deadline. Within the notification, you must include the following information: 

• List of project partners Irish Host institution
• Total budget request to Research Ireland
• Whether you intend to apply as a coordinating or non-coordinating partner

A match making event is currently taking place up until 13 November, further information can be found here. 

Further information on the call can be found on the Research Ireland page and the Blue Partnership page. 

For queries, please contact: martin.odonoghue@dcu.ie

TORA deadline: 17 November 2025

Call deadline: 25 November 2025, 4:00pm (Irish time)

The MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025 call is now open. These are competitive doctoral programmes that respond to knowledge gaps and well-identified needs in various R&I areas across all disciplines, expose doctoral researchers to the academic and non-academic sectors via inter-sectoral mobility and offer training in research-related, as well as transferable skills and competences to ensure long-term employability and enhanced career perspectives of doctoral graduates. 

Who can apply?

Doctoral Networks are open to international consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and other non-academic organisations. They should include:

• at least three independent legal entities, each established in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and with at least one of them established in an EU Member State
• on top of this minimum, other organisations from any country in the world can also join
• specific conditions apply to Industrial and Joint Doctorates

Please note that as from 2022, resubmission restrictions will apply for applications that received a score below 80% the previous year.

All areas of research may be funded and Doctoral Networks can last for up to 4 years (up to 5 years in the case of Joint Doctorate projects). The duration of each fellowship is between 3 and 36 months (between 3 and 48 months in the case of Joint Doctorate fellowships). Each beneficiary must recruit at least one doctoral candidate and can also organise secondments for them anywhere in the world. 

For queries, please contact: ecaterina.mcdonagh@dcu.ie and martin.odonoghue@dcu.ie 

TORA deadline:  20 November 2025

Call deadline: 27 November 2025

The HRB Summer Student Scholarships (SS) 2026 are designed to give undergraduate students in health or social care-related fields hands-on research experience. The scholarship supports a short research project during the summer.

The award is for €3,200, paid as a weekly stipend of €400.

Important Information:

• Eligibility: Applicants must be undergraduate students at a third-level institution in Ireland, studying a relevant discipline. Students in their first or final year of an NFQ Level 8 degree course are not eligible.
• Duration: 6-8 weeks, on a full-time basis.
• Application Process: Applications must be submitted through the HRB Grant Electronic Management System (GEMS).

More details are available on the HRB website.

For queries, please contact: tauseef.ahmad@dcu.ie

TORA deadline:  27 November 2025

Call deadline: 05 December 2025

The QuantERA programme, supported by the European Commission, forms a network of Research Funding Organisations across Europe and beyond dedicated to advancing high-quality research and innovation in the field of Quantum Technologies (QT). The QuantERA programme unites researchers, funding agencies and policymakers to support cutting-edge quantum projects at the forefront of discovery. The Call is a joint transnational Call for research proposals which must be aligned to either Quantum Phenomena and Resources (QPR) or Applied Quantum Science (AQS).

Awarded projects will have a duration of up to 36 months. For applicants based in Ireland, Research Ireland will provide the following funding for projects: 

• Up to a maximum of €330,000 in direct costs, €405,000 including overheads, per award for Irish-based applicants applying as a project partner.
• Up to a maximum of €405,000 in direct costs, €530,000 including overheads, per award for Irish-based applicants applying as a project coordinator.

The project consortia must be composed of at least 3 partners eligible to receive funding from three or more different countries participating in the Call.

The call is a one-step submission, so there are no separate pre-proposal or full-proposal stages.

Please note that you must give a brief notification of your intent to submit a proposal through email to eu-cofund@researchireland.ie before the submission deadline. Within the notification, you must include the following information: 

• List of project partners Irish Host institution [Please note it is also the responsibility of the applicant to notify the Research Office of their Host Institution of their intention to submit a pre-proposal.
• Total budget request to Research Ireland.
• Whether you intend to apply as a coordinating or non-coordinating partner.

Further information can be found on Research Ireland’s call page and the main call page.

For queries, please contact: martin.odonoghue@dcu.ie

Call deadline: 01 December 2025

Accelerating ICT Research into Real-World Impact

DCU researchers are invited to apply for Cohort 2 of the ARC Hub for ICT – a new national programme aiming to accelerate world-class ICT research into high-impact start-ups and licensed technologies.

The ARC Hub for ICT, hosted at TU Dublin, is backed by a €32 million investment from the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021–2027. In collaboration with 11 leading Irish institutions – including DCU – the Hub is dedicated to translating cutting-edge research into practical, real-world solutions.

Access to all guidelines, application forms and the submission portal can be found here.

TORA deadline:  05 December 2025

Call deadline: 12 December 2025

The Investigator-Led Clinical Trials (ILCT) Programme 2025 provides funding for investigator-led clinical trials that address important questions for the improvement of patient care, public health, and health services in Ireland. The programme supports high-quality, methodologically robust trials that have the potential to change practice and are of major importance to health and social care.

The programme offers funding for two distinct types of studies:

1. Definitive Intervention Studies: Up to €1,300,000 for large-scale trials designed to provide a definitive answer on the effectiveness of an intervention.

2. Feasibility Studies: Up to €430,000 for smaller, preparatory studies to assess the feasibility of a future definitive trial (e.g., testing recruitment, retention, and trial procedures).

A dedicated stream with a budget of €3 million is available for cancer-related trials within this programme.

Programme Aims:

• To support investigator-led trials that address critical, unanswered questions relevant to Irish healthcare.

• To improve health outcomes and inform health policy and practice by funding high-quality clinical research.

• To build capacity in Ireland for conducting world-class clinical trials.

Eligibility and Team Structure:

• The Lead Applicant must be a mid-stage or senior researcher with a proven track record in conducting intervention studies.

• The research team must be multidisciplinary and include expertise in all relevant areas of the proposed trial, such as clinical expertise, trial methodology, statistics, health economics, and patient and public involvement (PPI).

Scope of Research:

• The programme is open to a wide range of interventions, including but not limited to preventative, diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative interventions.

• Proposals must clearly demonstrate the importance of the research question, the appropriateness and rigor of the trial design, and a clear potential for benefit to patients and the healthcare system.

Application Process:

• Applications are submitted through the HRB's Grant Electronic Management System (GEMS).

• Applicants must select the correct stream (Feasibility or Definitive Intervention).

• The application process is a single-stage review to expedite funding decisions.

For queries, please contact: tauseef.ahmad@dcu.ie

TORA deadline:  10 December 2025

Call deadline: 17 December 2025

The Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellowships Programme (CPFP) 2026 is a strategic initiative designed to build research capacity and capability in applied health and social care. The programme funds a team of postdoctoral researchers, led by an experienced academic, to work in collaboration with a non-academic partner (such as a public sector or not-for-profit organisation). The core aim is to foster skilled researchers who can address real-world health challenges and bridge the gap between academic research and its practical application in policy and practice.

The award provides €950,000 in direct costs to support a team of three postdoctoral fellows.

Duration: The programme has a total duration of 42 months, which supports three individual 36-month postdoctoral fellowships.

Programme Aims:

• To develop the capacity of academic researchers to tackle pressing, applied health and social care challenges.
• To foster meaningful and sustained collaborations between academic researchers and non-academic partners to ensure research is relevant and impactful.
• To enhance the career development of postdoctoral fellows by providing them with skills in applied research, knowledge translation, and collaboration outside of traditional academia.
• To generate research findings that can directly inform and improve health policy, practice, and service delivery.

Eligibility and Team Structure:

• The application must be led by an Academic Lead with a strong track record in applied health and social care research, who will act as the mentor and supervisor for the fellows.
• A Non-Academic Partner from the public or non-profit sector must be centrally involved in the co-design and co-delivery of the research programme.
• The research team will consist of three postdoctoral fellows, recruited after the award is made, who will work collaboratively on the research programme.

Scope of Research:

• The proposed research must address an applied health or social care challenge that is a priority for the non-academic partner.
• The programme should be interdisciplinary and demonstrate a clear pathway to impact, outlining how the research will be used to create positive change.

Further Information:

The HRB will host a webinar on CPFP 2026 on Tuesday, 21 October 2025 at 01:00pm. To register for the webinar please click here.

Full details, including comprehensive guidance notes and FAQs, can be found on the HRB website's grant page.

For queries, please contact: tauseef.ahmad@dcu.ie