Some 21 months into his new role as Executive Director of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Professor Philip Nolan is very reassured by the talent in Irish science, but is concerned about his funding approach and strategic priorities. I am equally convinced of the need to rebalance.
He believes we need more support for basic science, the pursuit of knowledge in its purest form. The process by which we develop new theories and begin to explain what we do not understand. He says this is to ensure that scientists are available to address the issues facing Ireland.
Nolan also favors coordinating the successful merging of SFI research centers to address three specific challenges: digital transition, green transition, and aging.
The former chancellor of Maynooth University rose to fame during the coronavirus outbreak after appearing on television to outline the latest developments in the virus. Results of advanced modeling of scenarios.
His office on Hatch Street overlooks the National Concert Hall (formerly UCD). His scientific career began here, and he studied physiology and then medicine. The adjacent Iveagh Gardens are a paradise of biodiversity and one of the carbon stores of Dublin city centre. These are all good conversation topics. The current state of science in Ireland and how best to respond to a world facing climate change and nature loss.
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He has no illusions about what’s to come. In a recent address to the Royal Irish Academy, he said: “During the pandemic, I often sat at my desk thinking about how to understand, explain and manage appropriate technical and social responses to new developments, so it is difficult to escape from this situation. I thought, “If this is so difficult, how can we better deal with the climate and biodiversity crisis?”
After 20 years of leadership experience in secondary education, he says he entered this role with a strong understanding of how investment in research can be transformative for our nation’s higher education system. about education within that system and the nature and quality of the graduates it produces. ” This also applies to wider society, in the form of professional commentary by researchers, and in the form of “scientific engagement, literacy, interests, and talents.”
“There is real value in preserving that and pushing as a society to make more use of it,” he added. “Ireland has had talented scientists and academics for over a century, but in terms of the country seriously investing in research, it’s only 2000 It started at the turn of the decade.”
The main impetus was the establishment of SFI and the Irish Tertiary Institute Research Programme. “We have achieved a truly extraordinary sum in a very short period of time and with a significant but modest investment by global standards.”
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He heads an organization of 105 people that invests around €240 million a year in research on behalf of the country. His appointment coincides with Simon Harris, Minister for Further Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and the department developing Ireland’s new research strategy, Impact 2030. Under its mandate, a new research and innovation funding agency will be launched next year and merged with SFI. and the Irish Research Council (IRC), which Nolan directs.
Although we are a sophisticated, influential and wealthy country, he says: “Our country is severely under-invested in science… It’s a cliché to say that lack of investment is a weakness, but it’s part of the answer.” We need to make some serious investments to take a leadership position within Europe. ”
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He says the country is weak in three areas. Firstly, to support researchers throughout their careers so that they can be truly productive and to ensure that the investment in our PhD students is at the right level.
There is clearly a lack of basic, curiosity-driven research. “If you want to get good PhDs into cutting-edge industry, they need to be working on the fundamentals so that when they get into industry they are well-versed in the roles and policy roles. They have a fundamental understanding of how things work and can apply it to any situation in which they operate.”
The second is to genuinely participate in European and global conversations about how to solve real challenges. “If we invest in our people and the expertise they develop in their fundamental work processes, we will discover breakthroughs. But it is a global effort. And as a small country, we , we’re always going to play a small role in the next big breakthrough. But it’s true that we’re part of that effort.”
This is also about supporting efforts in the innovation sector by funding initiatives that identify challenges and provide solutions with partners through the National Challenges Fund. €69 million, 90 projects. “Each has a transformative impact on the teams and organizations working on the problem.”
Through this mechanism, collaborative research increasingly extends to business and public services. He added that teams tend to stay put and continue to work together.
The third area for investment is connecting the talent base across industries. “When we think about the digital and green transition, it means wider engagement with public services and society.” Although specialized SFI research centers have been successful, many of them in a global context , “We don’t have large centers because there are three big challenges we face as a country: digital transition, green transition, and aging,” he points out.
“It is a concern that we as a society are unprepared. It is also a concern for enterprise development agencies, who believe that all the manufacturing that takes place in Ireland will be We believe that we either have to go through a digital and green transition or we are not going to survive.”
“We need a major national center for digital transition, green transition, healthy aging, and maybe one or two other spaces. For example, advanced manufacturing.”
He rejects suggestions that the SFI center is elitist and disadvantageous to other research. It’s about balancing your investments, he says. “A research center, by definition, is something that enables focused investment in a particular theme pursued by a particular team, enabling research at scale and producing highly impactful results. is.”
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In particular, we have successfully established partnerships with industrial partners on issues related to wireless networks, data governance and renewable energy.
He said his colleagues are concerned about balancing funding for SFI centers with “investing in the basic research and talent that will prepare us for what we need to do 10, 15 years from now.” thinking.
He believes this is a global problem and not the Center’s fault. After extensive consultation, including with the Centre, SFI said the rebalancing will result in “some less investment in the Centre, but it in no way diminishes the importance of the Centre”.
Mr Nolan says the merger of SFI and IRC is the biggest policy shift in the Irish research system in the last 20 years. “This is not simply two national institutions working together. This is about a major step forward in how we invest in research.”
This idea was born from looking at the challenges facing society as a whole and government as a whole. “So why would we need to divide research efforts across multiple institutions?”
“The big opportunity here is that the future of science is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary and involved…bringing people together from different disciplines and working with interested stakeholders to understand how we It’s about identifying what problems you’re addressing and what solutions you’re trying to provide to society.”
The new organization will integrate two different cultures and put all disciplines on an equal footing. “Science, engineering, social sciences and humanities are equally valuable to society. So we invest in them and [in] This is a major shift in interdisciplinary research. ”
SFI has always been a strong supporter of cooperation with the UK. That will continue despite Brexit, he acknowledged. A “collaborative center” on climate and sustainable food systems is being planned and is being funded by the government through SFI. Government of Northern Ireland. British research and innovation.
“It is important to invest significantly more in climate change mitigation, implementing solutions to energy and the green transition, and addressing biodiversity loss. If we could invest the whole island in climate and biodiversity. , that would be a really important step forward,” Nolan said. “It is clear that there is not enough expertise, talent and activity on the ‘island’ to support government and society through some of the really important decisions and transitions that we need to make.”
But, he says, “until we roll up our sleeves and sit down with people in our communities, in our organizations, in our spaces, and say, ‘How can we successfully transition to a new way of doing things?'” . What is the way of existence and new ways of working? ”