Charles Parsons Energy Research Awards

I am reminded of the words of the energy guru Amory Lovins, who said:
“If you ask the wrong question, of course, you get the wrong answer. We find it’s much more important and difficult to ask the right question. Once you do that, the right answer becomes obvious.”

This initiative, which I launched late last September, is designed to commit resources to ‘asking’, and so, in time, ‘answering’, the right questions relating to our energy future.

These awards are the first initiative of the recently established the Irish Energy Research Council which advises me on the prioritisation of energy research.

This initiative is very much in line with the Government plan to double the output of PhDs by 2013.

It is a key objective of the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation.

The Awards provide an important support to the priority research areas indicated in the Energy Green Paper, which I recently published.

The expansion of Irish energy research will provide vital knowledge and skilled individuals that are so important to the development of Irish energy-related industry.

The Awards will significantly increase Irish energy research capacity by providing funding to the third level institutions.

This helps them to build sustainable research teams comprising senior researchers, PhD studentships and undergraduate summer placements.

There are a number of novel features, including the provision of 7-year funding for research positions.

I am confident that this funding will attract and give recognition to research career positions.

It is the first time that such extended early-stage researcher funding has been provided in Ireland and probably throughout the EU.

We currently have a critical shortage of appropriately skilled people to meet our energy research needs.

So this initiative will, hopefully, attract a greater number of engineering students into research careers.

This is relevant, as engineering is a very appropriate background for many priority energy areas.

I am also happy to see that there is a North-South dimension to the Awards and that institutions from Northern Ireland are represented among the recipients of today’s Awards.

This All-Ireland involvement is very important and will result in enhanced research collaboration on this island.

These are prestigious Awards, and I have asked that appropriate action is taken to raise the International profile of the scheme.

This will help to attract international, young, mobile researchers to Ireland and raise the awareness of Ireland as a good location to carry out research.

So, today, I have the honour of bestowing Charles Parsons Energy Research Awards to 4 universities in the Republic of Ireland and 2 universities in Northern Ireland.

In all, 22 proposals were received from 11 third level institutions. The applications were evaluated with the assistance of an international peer review panel.

A total of 208 researchers and students will be supported over the 7-year period of the Awards, thanks to the funding worth €20 million.
I congratulate those who have received Awards. The International panel were impressed by the quality of your applications and you have been selected in the face of tough competition.

When these Awards were established, it was agreed that we would use them to remember one of Ireland’s great engineers-Charles Parsons.

Parsons was an innovative Irish engineer who invented the steam turbine - the energy conversion device which made electricity widely available.

He was, therefore, exactly the kind of role model for the creativity and achievement which the Awards that bear his name are intended to produce.

Looking at the quality of the submissions, I have no doubt that there are those of you among the winning groups who will match, if not exceed, what Charles achieved in terms of making a valuable contribution to energy.

I wish every success to all the researchers and students and will now present certificates to each of the successful institutions. Barry McSweeney will announce each team in turn.

Ends