Dear Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless,

We, the undersigned, are writing to express deep concern about the priorities within Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland’s recently published 2026-2030 strategy and programme plan that will guide the distribution of over €4.55 billion in public funds over the next five years. The new strategy is structurally, rhetorically and materially focused on commercially translatable research and economic impact rather than supporting bedrock, fundamental, discovery research and research for the public good. The disproportionate focus on industry interests instead of discovery research and the public interest marginalises the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) and the fundamental sciences, and minimises research for social good and research that is truly innovative and ground-breaking.

Despite a 2023 letter signed by over 2,500 scientists calling for balance between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and AHSS (Arts, Humanities, Social Science) in Ireland's research funding which was sent to then Minister Simon Harris, this new strategy is an assault on Ireland’s research ecosystem. The imbalance in funding weakens academic freedom and its strong private-sector bias is a threat to democratic processes.

We are particularly concerned about:

(1) The lack of participatory process and the absence of evidence-based decision-making in developing the strategy. Research Ireland failed to engage in a meaningful way with a broad range of key constituents within Ireland’s research community in developing and refining the new strategy. While there were events characterised as consultation, it is clear that Research Ireland has not heard or listened to the voices of active researchers across the disciplines they are legally required to serve. The strategy also ignores all the international evidence that shows a balanced research funding ecosystem is vital to produce the best fundamental and translational (applied) research. The lack of a truly participatory process is not only an attack on academic freedom but it is an attack on democracy itself.

(2) The industry-centred, commercially-focused, profit-seeking priorities of the research strategy marginalises Arts, Humanities and Social Science (AHSS) and fundamental science and minimises the value of curiosity-driven research. Addressing societal challenges and making fundamental scientific breakthroughs requires both translational (applied) research and discovery research.

(3) The dismantling of the current PhD scholarship and post-doctoral fellowship programmes. The proposed restructuring requiring higher education institutions to distribute PhD scholarship and post-doctoral fellowship funds internally has multiple negative effects: (a) It undermines the notion of funding excellence in ideas and people regardless of discipline or institution by concentrating awards into institutional priorities. Concentrating research in areas deemed strategically important will have an effect of stifling innovation in the long term; (b) It undermines truly independent, impartial, international, fair and comparable review across all institutions by placing the review process in institutional hands. Given the institutionally-based allocation of funds on past performance, it will exacerbate and reinforce disparities within and among institutions. Moreover, the translational aspect will further marginalise AHSS and fundamental scientific research; (c) Removing the prestigious centralised scholarships/fellowships removes the external signal of excellence and reputation that attracts high-calibre researchers. This essentially dismantles the excellent programmes that were offered by the Irish Research Council and weakens Ireland’s research capacity. During the pre-legislative scrutiny and legislative processes, the research community and Government were explicitly told this would not happen.

We ask the Minister of Further and Higher Education to urgently intervene and reclaim the public-good mission of Ireland’s research agency. We call on Research Ireland to:

(i) Reverse the decision to dismantle the centralised national model of funding for PhD scholarships and post-doc fellowships;

(ii) Recommit to curiosity-driven, principal-investigator-led research instead of prioritising industry-led research. Ireland’s research ecosystem must include support for fundamental inquiry across all disciplines, not as a gesture, but as a structural priority.

(iii) Remove the requirement that non-applied research must demonstrate its future economic utility to qualify for funding.

(iv) Establish an Irish Research Council as a subcommittee of the Board of Research Ireland as promised during the development of the legislation and provided for in Section 19(2)(b) of the Research and Innovation Act 2024.

(v) Prioritise research for the public good. Ireland faces profound societal challenges that commercialised, profit-oriented research cannot address. During this time of societal upheaval, it is irresponsible to promote profit-oriented research that can add to destructive social and environmental processes, while undermining research that helps to understand the challenges facing Irish society. Research on economic inequities, democratic participation, mental health, housing injustices, climate justice, education, and the full range of human experiences and societal processes must be valued on its own terms, not subordinated to industry-led agendas or quantified through economic metrics.

(vi) Include social scientists, non-commercially-oriented researchers, as well as senior leadership of Irish higher education institutions, in all future strategy development and in the governance of Research Ireland. The current strategy must be reopened for genuine co-design with Ireland's research community, including those whose disciplines are most marginalised by its current framing. Open discussion must be respected without fear of retaliation or retribution. Critical voices must be welcomed and protected in line with the principles of academic freedom. Participatory co-design must be embedded in future strategy cycles as a non-negotiable requirement.

(vii) Establish a Social Sciences, Humanities and Community Research Fund with ring-fenced, recurring investment. This fund should be governed with active input from discipline representatives and civil society, and explicitly designed to support research that may not produce a commercial output but will enrich Irish public life, policy, and democratic culture.

(viii) Demonstrate that evidence-based and participatory policy is embedded in Research Ireland's own governance. Research Ireland must include and give equal weight to input from scholars across all domains into its strategic decision-making. As a public body and steward of public funds, Research Ireland must publish clear and transparent accounts of how its strategic decisions are made, what evidence is used, whose voices are included, and how conflicts of interest with corporate and enterprise partners are managed. Research Ireland must openly acknowledge the societal risks of harmful corporate interference in research and must prevent corporate capture of Ireland’s public research ecosystem.

We respectfully request a response at your earliest convenience.