Top innovators arrive in Lisburn to share their experience in applying for and receiving Horizon Europe funding in the hope of encouraging more successful bids 
Researchers, scientists and businesses based in Northern Ireland get the opportunity to network with potential collaboration partners and receive advice for their Horizon Europe applications.  
UK Government pushes more innovators from Northern Ireland to apply for Horizon Europe funding and realise their research ambitions – from new treatments to improved digital infrastructure. 

The best of Northern Ireland’s R&D sector will be on display in Lisburn today (Thursday 24 October), as top researchers, scientists and businesses gather under one roof to exchange ideas and network with potential partners for the next successful bids for Horizon Europe funding. 

Horizon Europe is the largest research collaboration programme in the world, worth over £80 billion. Through the UK’s association, researchers, innovators and businesses from up and down Northern Ireland can apply for funding grants that will help researchers fund projects across all sectors from health, to clean energy, to digital infrastructure.  

Getting backing for their ideas could put the UK at the forefront of the next generation of technologies, which will be the foundations of the jobs and businesses of the future. Over £81 million was awarded to projects in Northern Ireland through its predecessor, Horizon 2020, so we know the opportunities are there. 

The roadshow gives researchers and innovative businesses at all stages of their career from Northern Ireland the chance to speak to those who have been through the process of bidding for Horizon funding, gain support for their applications, and connect with likeminded innovators. This will highlight the opportunities available to both public and private sectors wanting to realise their research ambitions.  

UK Science Minister, Lord Vallance said:  

The discoveries and innovations on display in Lisburn today demonstrate the potential that researchers in Northern Ireland have to make the most of the UK’s association to Horizon. Their ideas are already attracting investment, driving  partnerships between some of the brightest minds from Europe, New Zealand, Canada and more.  

With more successful bids for Horizon funding, researchers from the public and private sector in Northern Ireland could come up with the solutions we need to kickstart economic growth and improve living standards.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Chris Johnson said:

Having made Northern Ireland my home and working at one of its great universities, I know what the brilliant minds here are capable of, and I am pleased to be here today to hear of the ambitious projects that have already been brought to life thanks to funding from Horizon. This roadshow is a great opportunity for researchers, scientists and businesses in the region to hear from innovators who have been through the application process and succeeded.  

We want more researchers based in Northern Ireland to seize the benefits of Horizon Europe, to accelerate the discoveries that will boost our economy, and deliver new technologies that will improve all our lives.

A litany of Northern Irish R&D projects received backing through Horizon’s predecessor, Horizon 2020. One example is the EYE-RISK project, a collaborative effort between a group of researchers based at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and several leading research centres around Europe to find a cure for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). AMD is a progressive and currently incurable disease leading to declining sight that progresses to the irreversible loss of vision. 

The EYE-RISK team published many milestone papers and reviews, and the project is still considered as a flagship programme in Ophthalmology which focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. The researchers developed a computational model of potential risks, physiological activities, hazards, and the impact of aging on patients with AMD which can serve as the basis for future research initiatives. 

Imre Lengyel and Tunde Peto, project leaders for EYE-RISK:

The EYE-RISK project embedded the QUB ophthalmology cluster amongst the leading teams in Europe and gave us a leading edge worldwide. The academics and the early career scientists involved in this project have been given an excellent opportunity to be involved in breakthrough research and develop professional and personal friendships.

An array of speakers from across government, including the Chief Scientific Advisors from both the UK Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and from the Northern Ireland Executive, are attending the roadshow. The roadshow which has been brought together in a collaboration between DSIT, Innovate UK, the Northern Ireland Government and Enterprise Northern Ireland.  

Northern Ireland is already playing a big role in tackling the challenges facing the UK today, from driving cybersecurity through to seizing the opportunities of our push towards net zero. Queen’s University Belfast’s Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy is looking at ways we can build the UK as a net zero superpower, supported by £4.5 million from the Northern Ireland Executive. Grants awarded through the Horizon Europe programme could allow researchers to discover more in this area and ultimately help us protect our planet. 

Innovative companies are increasingly making Northern Ireland their home. Recently, ASOS set up a £14 million tech hub that will create over 180 jobs in the coming years.  

The roadshow in Northern Ireland is the latest event in a series of roadshows, following 2 previous sessions in Birmingham and Glasgow, building on a range of campaign efforts to get more businesses, researchers and academics to make the most of the benefits we can grasp from our association to the world-leading programme. 

Backing the science and technology sectors is a central if we are to achieve the missions of this new government. The discoveries and solutions that researchers bidding for Horizon funding can produce will help us improve the daily lives of people across the UK – from transforming our NHS and transport systems so that they are fit for the future to securing more funding that will help us rebuild our economy.  

We know from recent history that the UK can be a leader in this area. We have 4 of the top 10 universities in the world, and the second-highest number of Nobel prize winners. A quarter of projects in which the UK participated, funded through Horizon’s predecessor, were UK led. 

Further information, including practical support on how to apply, is available on Innovate UK’s website and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) also host regular events that help guide businesses and researchers through the opportunities on offer and the application process. 

Potential applicants can find Horizon Europe calls (funding opportunities) open to UK-based applicants using the European Commission’s funding and tender opportunities portal. They can apply for Horizon Europe funding through the European Commission’s funding and tenders portal, where the original funding call is found. More information on how to submit applications are available on the European Commission’s website. 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

The EYE-RISK project aimed to pinpoint who is at risk of developing the condition, and why loss of vision progresses in patients with the disease. This understanding is an important first step towards better diagnosis and treatment of the condition.