Ireland Joins International Research Collective ELIXIR

Ireland has become the 19th member of the international research organisation for Life Sciences, ELIXIR.

ELIXIR, the European Life-science Infrastructure for Biological Information, is creating an infrastructure that integrates research data from across Europe and ensures that it is easily accessible to members.

Announcing Ireland's membership, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, said: "My department has invested significantly and consistently over many years, through our agencies, in the life sciences; as a consequence, Ireland now has world-leading capability in this field. Membership of ELIXIR will allow us to capitalise on this accomplishment, to develop it further and to strengthen our international research collaboration in the Life Sciences.

"Joining ELIXIR delivers one of the key actions in Innovation 2020, our national strategy for research and development, science and technology."

Minister for Training, Skills and Innovation, John Halligan, added: "ELIXIR's success in securing funding from Horizon 2020, underscores its strategic importance for the EU. I particularly welcome the fact that a key part of ELIXIR's mission is supporting industry and stimulating innovation, and that a core objective of the ELIXIR Industry strategy is to support SMEs. Companies in Ireland will now benefit from this EU infrastructure by availing of the services that ELIXIR provides."

(MH/LM)