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SFI International facilitates global research cooperation between Irish researchers and the best from academia and industry worldwide in addition to reinforcing Ireland’s standing as a top-class research-performing nation.

SFI’s international strategy is delivered through five key pillars:

Partnerships

Creating new impactful international partnerships and deepening exiting alliances for Irish researchers with strategic partners from industry, philanthropy and academia.

Co-investment opportunities

Generating co-investment opportunities with other national funders with the aim of bolstering national influence through international opportunities.

Recruitment

Identifying and facilitating the recruitment of star researchers to Ireland.

Researcher mobility

Stimulating the mobility of researchers internationally for the purpose of enriching the career development of Irish-based scientists.

Promotion of SFI and Irish Science

Enhancing SFI's influence and image at home and abroad and raising awareness of the contribution and impact of SFI and Irish Science and technology.

Brexit

SFI has joint funding schemes with several UK funders, and we will strengthen our collaborations with the UK and Northern Ireland with the aim of ensuring that the Irish research community are well-positioned for the post Brexit scenario, where Britain will continue to be a world-leader for innovation and R&D.

With the onset of Brexit some researchers may be considering relocating to another European country. SFI have appropriate recruitment schemes to facilitate researchers to relocate their research operations to Irish universities. SFI is particularly keen in attracting globally-renowned researchers to relocate and so offer these researchers certain access to EU funding. This can take the form of either internationally-based researchers co-locating to Ireland and the UK and holding a joint-professorship appointment or can involve a UK-based researcher re-locating all or part of their research operation to Ireland.

SFI and the national support structure for Horizon Europe will also support Irish researchers to diversify their alliances with other EU-based researchers. We will help scope medium and long-term opportunities for Ireland and Irish researchers with an emphasis on identifying EU consortia where opportunities arise for integration of an Irish research group.