Research Newsletter - Issue 115: Funding Opportunities
TORA deadline: TBC, Call opens June 2026
Call deadline: TBC
Synopsis of the Call Scope and Value:
This bilateral initiative between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in Ireland and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in New Zealand launches a jointly funded call to strengthen research collaboration and tackle shared challenges in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant livestock systems. Targeting high and medium-intensity grassland livestock systems, the call focuses on developing practical, farm-level strategies, tools, and technologies that reduce agricultural emissions while maintaining farm productivity and competitiveness. Proposals must address a specific mission: to understand, quantify, and evaluate the cumulative impact, interactions, and implementation potential of greenhouse gas mitigation (including bundled or stacked mitigation approaches) in a pastoral bovine system over a full production cycle. Projects should deliver clear added value from the cross-border collaboration and, where possible, offer environmental co-benefits like improved water quality, soil health, and biodiversity. Value: Funded jointly by MPI and DAFM, projects should target an indicative funding split of approximately 50:50 between Irish and New Zealand partners, with no single partner exceeding 70% of the total budget.
Important Information (Eligibility):
- Eligible Organisations: All Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) that qualify to receive funding from either DAFM or MPI are eligible to apply.
- Consortium Structure: Projects must be jointly led, requiring one designated lead partner in Ireland and one lead partner in New Zealand. A balanced collaboration between both countries should be proposed in so far as is practical.
- Associated Partners: Partners who are ineligible for funding may participate on a self-funded or in-kind basis, but they cannot receive grant funds, cannot act as project coordinators, and do not count toward minimum consortium requirements.
- Evaluation: A single-step submission process will be evaluated by two expert panels, one judging policy relevance and expected outcomes/impact, and the other assessing the scientific excellence of the work programme.
Links to Further Information:
- Monitor the official DAFM Research Open Calls Page for the full call launch documents. Link to initial communication (PDF).
- Applicants are encouraged to have early discussions with national contact points via email: Contact John Harrison (DAFM) or William Aitkenhead (MPI).
Research Development and Support contacts:
- Research Development Officer
- Call Manager: Dr Tauseef Ahmad
TORA deadline: 07 July 2026
Call deadline: 14 July 2026
- Synopsis of Call Scope and Value: This global health challenge award funds multi-disciplinary research teams developing actionable interventions that leverage physical activity or circadian/sleep rhythms to reduce anxiety and depression in young people. Value covers full salary recovery, operational research costs, and essential equipment maintenance plans. Projects are expected to range in value from approximately £1–4 million, with an anticipated duration of 3–4 years.
- Important Information: Higher Education Institutions are fully eligible to lead. Co-applicants holding fixed-term academic contracts require formal institutional underwriting to guarantee post-award space and infrastructure continuity.
- Links to Further Information: Download application packets from the Wellcome Trust Mental Health Funding Framework.
Contact:
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Call Manager: Dr Tauseef Ahmad
TORA deadline: 08 Jul 2026
Call deadline: 15 Jul 2026
The John Templeton Foundation offers over $60 million in funding for research across six major funding areas:
- Mathematical & Physical Sciences (prioritising physics beyond the Standard Model and technosignatures utilising advanced AI/ML)
- Life Sciences (focusing on genetics and emergent properties like agency and consciousness)
- Public Engagement
- Character Virtue Development
- Individual Freedom & Free Markets
- Religion, Science, & Society
A major highlight for this cycle is a foundation-wide Intelligence Venture, which specifically seeks projects that explore the nature of intelligence across biological, synthetic, and artificial systems. The application process follows a strict two-stage review, beginning with a required Online Funding Inquiry (OFI). Based on the volume and quality of requests, the Templeton Foundation may decide to close the application window early. The Foundation is expecting a large volume of requests in 2026 and have therefore recommends applicants submit their OFI well in advance of the July 15th deadline. The deadline to submit the initial OFI is 15 July 2026, after which competitive projects will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Research Development and Support contacts:
- Research Development Officer
- Call Manager: Hannah Leonard
TORA deadline: 30 September 2026
Call deadline: 08 October 2026, 1:00pm
Research Ireland, alongside the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), is participating in the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP). CETP supports Irish researchers to develop and strengthen transnational collaborations and accelerate the energy transition towards achieving the EU’s goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. CETP is a European Partnership co-funded by the European Commission under Horizon Europe, enabling regional and national funders and organisations to pool resources, leverage knowledge and experience, and strategically align priorities to drive a unified response to shared challenges and to meet the ambitious objectives required to transform the energy system across all its dimensions.
The main goals of this joint funded call are:
- Renewable energy technology development, demonstration and integration (for fuels, carbon capture and storage, power, heating, and cooling) and system change (e.g. energy infrastructures)
- Innovation ecosystem fostering capacity building, faster market diffusion, upscaling, replication and enabling of the clean energy transition.
Eligibility:
- Applicants must hold a PhD or equivalent qualification for at least 3 years by the pre-proposal deadline. The official date is defined as the day, month and year that the degree was conferred i.e., the month and year printed on the official PhD certificate. They must also be a member of the academic staff of an eligible Research Body (permanent or with an active contract that covers the period of the grant).
- Applicants must be an author on at least three international peer-reviewed articles. Only original research publications, and not review articles or other secondary research literature, are acceptable.
- Consortia must consist of at least 3 beneficiaries from three different member countries. At least two Beneficiary Partners shall be from EU Member States or HE Associated Countries.
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A Q&A session shall take place on 9th September 2026.
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There is a pre-proposal submission deadline on 8th of October, which is submitted by the consortium’s coordinator. The full application deadline is March 2027. Further information can be found on the CET partnership webpage.
Research Development and Support contacts:
- Research Development Officer
- Call Manager: Martin O’Donoghue
TORA deadline: 16 November 2026
Call deadline: 24 November 2026, 4:00pm (IST)
The MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 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.
This year, in addition to the regular MSCA Doctoral Networks call, there will be a new RAISE Doctoral Networks for AI in Science call which is a pilot initiative. This new initiative offers additional funding opportunities for projects integrating artificial intelligence in scientific research, as well as for those developing advanced AI tools, systems and methodologies.
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 have been applied 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 four years (up to five years in the case of Joint Doctorate projects). The duration of each fellowship is between three and 36 months (between three 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.
An information webinar for the MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 call has been recorded by the NCP based in Research Ireland and can be found on their YouTube Channel.
If you are a partner on an application, you should submit on TORA 5 working days before the deadline set by the consortium lead.
Research Development and Support contacts:
- Research Development Officer
- Call Manager: Martin O’Donoghue
TORA deadline: Applications for this call should not be submitted through TORA
Call deadline: 30 November 2026
Researchers from ECIU members can submit proposals for the two actions of the Seed Programme to initiate new or strengthen existing research collaborations.
The Seed Programme has two action lines:
Seed Programme 1 (SP1): Blended Mobility to Create Networks.
(SP1) promotes inter-institutional collaboration through the blended exchange of research and innovation staff to create new networks or leverage existing networks in the five strategic research fields.
Seed Programme 2 (SP2): Seed Projects for Existing Consortia.
(SP2) focuses on existing consortia that wish to set up new or strengthen existing R&I projects linked to shared challenges in the regional ecosystems involved. For this action, ECIU University invites researchers to apply the challenge-based approach.
The Programme currently focused on 7 research fields:
- Circular Economy
- Citizen Science
- Digital Transformation
- Energy and Sustainability
- Transport and Mobility
- Health and Wellbeing
- Resilient Communities
The DCU Funding per action, per project is:
SP1: €6,000
SP2: €11,000
The budget can cover the following cost categories:
SP1
- Travel & subsistence costs
- Training course fees
- Conference fees
- Events organisation (goods & services)
- Cost for PhD students
SP2
- Travel & subsistence costs
- Consumables (incl. for lab work)
- Events organisation
- Conference fees
- Open science related costs
- Other goods and services
- Cost for PhD students
Visit the ECIU webpage for submission details.
Research Development and Support contact:
- Interdisciplinary and European Research Development Office: Markos Papadopulos
TORA deadline: TBC
Call deadline: TBC
It is our expectation that caps will be put in place on certain calls in the Erasmus+ 2027 programme. With the increasing volume of applications being submitted under Erasmus+ calls by PIs at DCU, we wish to pre-empt any internal selection that may become necessary and avoid wasted effort on the part of PIs.
Therefore it is essential if you are considering working towards an application under one of these calls that you make contact with the Research Development and Support team before proceeding.
The 2027 calls will be launched in November. Full details have not yet been released, but based on this year's programme, we expect caps to be imposed on the numbers of applications per institution in the following calls:
Capacity Building in Higher Education
Cooperation Partnerships in the fields of School Education, Adult Education, Vocational Education and Training, and Youth
Depending on levels of interest, a selection process might need to be put in place. Advanced knowledge of expected submissions will allow for a more informed selection process.
Research Development and Support contacts:
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Senior Erasmus+ Development Officer Dr Sophie Ball