€8.2 million available for Environmental Research in the EPA Research Call for 2017 to help tackle major societal challenges

The EPA has today launched its Annual Research Call seeking proposals to help identify solutions to emerging and complex environmental problems.  The 2017 Research Calls have a particular focus on the importance of a clean, protected environment for our health, our wellbeing and our quality of life, in line with the current EPA Strategic Plan, Our Environment, Our Wellbeing. 

With up to €8.2 million available for new research projects, the Research Calls are divided into three main research strands:

• Water
• Climate
• Sustainability.

The EPA Green Enterprise Call is also opening today.

Dr Alice Wemaere, EPA Research Manager, said,

“The EPA Research Programme funds research that addresses knowledge gaps and provides the evidence base to inform policy-making by government.  As part of the 2017 Research Call we anticipate receiving research proposals addressing a wide range of topics, for example, emerging contaminants, antimicrobial resistance, human biomonitoring, or linkages between health and our environment including projects on air quality, noise, odour and climate.

“The Research Call process for environmental proposals is competitive and we expect to be assessing many high quality submissions from the research community. We are also particularly pleased to be bringing in changes to the EPA’s research application process and funding rules, reflecting the current national drive on research integrity, research impacts and gender equality. The EPA is committed to supporting Irish researchers and to building their capacity to enable them to compete for European research funds.”

The EPA has been funding research in Ireland since 1994 and is currently funding more than 200 on-going research projects.
Further details about the 2017 EPA Research Calls are available on the EPA website.