A hard-hitting review of engineering research in Irish universities and its potential for making a contribution to economic development was recently published by the Irish Academy of Engineering. The figures show that in the four years from 2005 to 2009, the last government spent €1.35 billion of public funds on research in our universities, with 85 per cent allocated to the disciplines in sciences, 8 per cent to engineering and 7 per cent to other, mostly arts, disciplines.
If this level and pattern of expenditure is to be continued, it is surely necessary, in the current economic climate, that it is critically evaluated by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn with regard to its contribution to the national economy. In particular, it is important to look at the output we would expect to get from such expenditure of taxpayers’ money.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Time to measure the yield from university research spending - The Irish Times - Sat, Jul 02, 2011
