Advancing Humanities and Social Sciences Research in Ireland

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of teaching and learning and offer a way in which Ireland can make an important contribution both to achieving the European Union (EU) Lisbon Agenda objective of making the EU the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010 and to meeting the OECD 2004 recommendations on the expansion of Irish research. To evaluate the status of HSS research in Irish higher education today it is useful to look at what may be considered its various strengths and weaknesses. Strengths • Significant investment since 2000 in responsive funding initiatives; specifically the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) and the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS). These initiatives have had a positive impact in stimulating HSS research. • Capital investment channeled through the PRTLI has begun to stimulate the development of a critical mass in selected HSS research areas within the highereducation sector. • Research initiatives funded by IRCHSS support research activities across the broad community of higher-education HSS researchers including postgraduates, post - doctoral fellows and senior research fellows. • The engagement of the HSS research community with the process of international peer review ensures that HSS research meets internationally recognised ‘gold standards’ of quality. • HSS research has been to the fore of encouraging interaction and contact between researchers throughout Ireland, North and South. • HSS degrees continue to attract the greatest proportion of full-time undergraduate new entrants, accounting for 58 per cent of new entrants in 2004/05. • Recent years have seen the emergence of a community of HSS postgraduates with an increase of 92 per cent in the number of HSS postgraduates (full- and parttime) from 2000. • Growth in new postdoctoral career opportunities in HSS research has occurred. xvi
• Enhanced investment in national research networks and growing access to electronic resources such as the IreL (the Irish Research eLibrary) initiative has also occurred. Weaknesses • Investment in HSS research in the higher-education sector lags behind the EU average. • R&D in the HSS is the only field of science, which has experienced a fall in its percentage allocation of public investment in higher-education R&D since 2002. • Expenditure on HSS research from indirect government sources is considerably lower than that in selected comparator countries, notably Finland and Norway. • Investment in HSS R&D in the higher-education sector by EU, foreign and business sources has declined in recent years. • The number of full-time academic staff posts available to HSS researchers has declined. • Given the growing number of researchers who occupy short-term posts the sustainability of the HSS higher-education research community could be at risk. • Insufficient recognition of the transferable skills obtained by HSS graduates has been created outside the academic arena. • Participation in international research collaborations, particularly at EU level, remains low. The capacity of the HSS research community to engage in inter national research collaborations is compromised by very limited funding to support HSS researchers’ participation in travel and exchange programmes (often the first step to forming international R&D collaborations) and a lack of targeted administrative and management supports to assist in the preparation and management of transnational funding proposals. • An inadequate research infrastructure has been identified, with particular needs in respect of investment in the physical infrastructure including libraries, museums and archives, access to fit-for-purpose research space as well as dedicated technical and IT support, data archives and research repositories. • There is no national policy or lead agency to oversee HSS digitisation projects. xvii
Page 1: A D V A N C I N G H U M A N I T I E
Page 4 and 5: 7 HSS RESEARCH AND THE EUROPEAN UNI
Page 6 and 7: Table 11 HERD expenditure on humani
Page 9 and 10: Glossary AAI CONUL COST CSC DES DET
Page 11 and 12: Foreword The Royal Irish Academy (R
Page 13 and 14: Preface This report is the result o
Page 15: 1 Executive summary INTRODUCTION In
Page 19 and 20: Increased investment in HSS researc
Page 21 and 22: • Establish a national research r
Page 23: 2 Introduction Education and resear
Page 26 and 27: • Facilitate cultural exchange in
Page 28 and 29: A LL- ISLAND RESEARCH COLLABORATION
Page 30 and 31: • Identify competing and compleme
Page 32 and 33: educational, entrepreneurial and ma
Page 35 and 36: 4 Strategic planning in the HSS 4.1
Page 38 and 39: teaching, learning and research cap
Page 40 and 41: of research, as part of the new res
Page 42 and 43: ‘PROMOTING THE STUDY OF SCIENCE,
Page 44 and 45: the values? What shapes them? What
Page 47 and 48: 5 The HSS in Ireland: funding profi
Page 49 and 50: 5.1.1 SOURCES OF HERD There are sig
Page 51 and 52: In contrast, the percentage share o
Page 53 and 54: Chart 3—HSS HERD direct-governmen
Page 55 and 56: measured the human resources involv
Page 57 and 58: to Gross National Income (GNI) is u
Page 59 and 60: Table 8—Sources of HERD expenditu
Page 61 and 62: Table 10—Sources of HSS HERD as a
Page 63 and 64: In terms of direct government suppo
Page 65 and 66: 6. Research infrastructures for the
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I RELAND’ S PARTICIPATION IN THE
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• Continuing investment in both t
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6.4 OBSERVATIONS It is important to
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involvement in transnational, parti
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STRENGTHENING IRISH HSS RESEARCH BY
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funding for Research Training Netwo
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Table 14—Summary of participation
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7.2 OBSERVATIONS Given the increasi
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8 Doctoral studies and research car
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The level of funding available to I
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F OSTERING LINKAGES BETWEEN ACADEMI
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While the SSTI acknowledges that a
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européen, the material covered mus
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Participation in European and inter
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8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 and future te
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Appendix I: Membership of the Royal
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Appendix II: Membership of the RIA
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Japan 1.00 0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50
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Japan Chart 8—HERD expenditure on
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put more money into R&D activities
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Norway’s involvement in the EU FP
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References Bric, M.J. 1999 The huma
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SSHERA 2005b Position Paper (PP11):
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Irish Council for Science, Technolo
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Advancing Humanities and Social Sciences Research in Ireland

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