Funding for Industrial Projects
The PMBRC has attracted over €530,000 since 2008 for collaborations with Irish companies. Funding has come from national and European sources and from industry itself. Some of the schemes available to companies include:
Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers
For small companies (<50 employees and <€10m turnover), the innovation voucher scheme is a great way to get involved with a research centre. Enterprise Ireland issues the voucher for up to €5000 and the company can use this to hire a knowledge provider (such as the PMBRC) to help solve a problem or develop a product. The PMBRC have successfully completed a number of innovation vouchers and are currently working on two such projects with SMEs in the south east. See the innovation voucher website at http://www.innovationvouchers.ie/default.aspx
Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnerships
For larger companies or more extensive projects, the Enterprise Ireland innovation partnership scheme can provide significant funding for companies to engage in industrial research. Projects are typically of a 6 – 18 month duration. Grant levels range from 40 – 80% depending on the size of the company, the nature of the research and the ownership of intellectual property resulting from the partnership. The PMBRC have successfully completed an innovation partnership with Merck Sharp and Dohme and are currently working on a project with Genzyme Ireland Ltd. See the innovation partnership website at http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Funding-Supports/Company/Esetablish-SME-Funding/Innovation-Partnerships.html
IRCSET Enterprise Partnership Scheme
The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) run an enterprise partnership scheme which funds postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers to conduct industrial research in collaboration with a company. The company pays one third of the salary costs of the researcher. See the scheme website at http://www.ircset.ie/tabid/58/default.aspx
European funding
The EU run a number of funding schemes through the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The PMBRC have recently submitted a proposal with SMEs in Ireland and Wales along with Cardiff University on the development of a drug delivery platform. See the FP7 website at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html
R&D tax credits
Ireland has a 25% R&D tax credit scheme in addition to a tax deduction of 12.5% for R&D expenditure. See http://www.idaireland.com/why-ireland/tax/