On November 17, the U.S.-Ireland Research and Development (R&D) Partnership launched a new area of cooperation in agricultural research. In a meeting outside Dublin, the partnership also celebrated two new projects connecting research centers in the United States, Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

The agricultural component of the partnership in its pilot phase will focus on plant-associated microorganisms and plant-microbe interactions; plant-associated insects and nematodes; animal nutrition, reproduction and lactation; and animal health and disease. The expansion of the partnership represents a significant step toward bringing major work in the three areas closer together and in connecting farmers to new technologies and research.

The Partnership also announced the successful launch of its first two “center to center” collaboration activities that capitalize on the expertise of various university-based research centers in the three areas. The first, “Partnership in Continuous Manufacturing for Nano-based Drug Products,” includes collaborators at Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre at the University of Limerick, the Centre of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, and the Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems at Rutgers University and Purdue University. The second project, “Agile Cloud Service Delivery using Integrated Photonics Networking,” features the Irish Photonic Integration Centre, IPIC & Centre for Future Networks and Communications at Dublin City University, the Computer Science Research Institute at Ulster University, and the Center for Integrated Access Networks at the University of Arizona.

The U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership was launched in 2006 to accelerate economic development and cooperation across borders by encouraging trilateral research collaboration in six priority areas: agriculture, health, sensor technology, nanotechnology, telecommunications, and energy and sustainability. To date, the U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership has leveraged nearly $50 million in total research investment resulting in 27 projects.

For more information about the U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership, please visit www.USIrelandResearch.com, U.S.-Ireland R&D Fact Sheet, and (http://nifa.usda.gov/press-release/usda-joins-collaborative-food-and-agriculture-research-initiative-ireland-and-northern ) or contact James Swift (swiftj@state.gov).