Minister Heydon opens the 2024 US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership in Agriculture
- Published on: 26 March 2024
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Research and Innovation, Martin Heydon has today announced the opening of the 2024 Call for Proposals in Agriculture under the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership.
The 2024 Call aims to support Irish, Northern Irish and American researchers to collaborate on projects across thirteen areas important to agriculture.
Making the announcement, Minister Heydon said:
“I am delighted to announce the opening of the 2024 US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership in Agriculture. This important Partnership between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the USA provides an essential mechanism for the collaboration and sharing of expertise and resources between researchers from across the three jurisdictions.”
Minister Heydon continued:
“Ireland is ranked third globally for the quality of its agricultural science and animal and dairy science, which makes us an attractive collaborator for research in these fields. The US – Ireland R&D Partnership brings together our best scientists with those in Northern Ireland and the US, which enables more rapid progress in areas such as climate, animal breeding, the bioeconomy, sustainable agroecosystems and mitigating antimicrobial resistance.”
Notes
The call invites eligible Research Performing Organisations (RPO’s) from the Republic of Ireland to submit joint research proposals, with collaborating partners from the USA and Northern Ireland, under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
The submission deadline for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland is four weeks in advance of the stated AFRI deadline for the respective Programme Area Priority in AFRI’s Foundation Competitive Grant Programme.
The thirteen research areas in the Call and the respective DAFM/DAERA and AFRI deadlines in 2024 are:
| Programme Area Priority in AFRI 2024 RFA | DAFM/DAERA Deadline | AFRI Deadline |
| Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems (A1112) | 22/08/2024 | 19/09/2024 |
| Animal Nutrition, Growth, and Lactation (A1231) | 11/07/2024 | 08/08/2024 |
| Welfare of Agricultural Animals (A1251) | 11/07/2024 | 08/08/2024 |
| Diseases of Agricultural Animals (A1221) | 11/07/2024 | 08/08/2024 |
| Animal Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics (A1201) | 11/07/2024 | 08/08/2024 |
| Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance Across the Food Chain (A1366) | 22/08/2024 | 19/09/2024 |
| Soil Health (A1401) | 15/08/2024 | 12/09/2024 |
| Sustainable Bioeconomy through Biobased Products (A1414) | 08/08/2024 | 05/09/2024 |
| Sustainable Agroecosystems: Health, Functions, Processes and Management (A1451) | 15/08/2024 | 12/09/2024 |
| Biorefining and Biomanufacturing (A1531) | 05/09/2024 | 03/10/2024 |
| Agricultural Microbiomes in Plant Systems and Natural Resources (A1402) | 05/09/2024 | 03/10/2024 |
| Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems (DSFAS) (A1541) | 17/10/2024 | 14/11/2024 |
| Inter-Disciplinary Engagement in Animal Systems (IDEAS) (A1261) | 05/09/2024 | 03/10/2024 |
The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the leading competitive grants program for agricultural sciences in the US. Since 2016, the scope of the partnership has included agriculture whereby researchers in eligible institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland can link with a US-based researcher to submit research funding applications to annual calls launched by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
The department’s funding of successful projects under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Calls comes from the department’s competitive Research Programme.