“Cycle 4 has funded the formation of Molecular Medicine Ireland, an ex­pansion of the PRTLI enabled Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (DMMC) which was, in 2007, suc­cessful in attracting Wellcome Trust funding for the establishment of a Clinical Research Centre in Dublin. A particularly exciting development under Cycle 4 is the establishment of the first new Clinician Scientist Fellowship Programme to train the next generation of academic medical leaders in Ireland. This received funding of €10million from the PRTLI Cycle 4 and will be organised on a national basis by Molecular Medicine Ireland. This will comprise at least 22 Fellows competitively selected from medical graduates at registrar level who wish to undertake PhD training and will help to address a national need identified in the HEA/Forfas Research Infrastructure Review and in the ASC report on Health Research in Ireland.”

In June 2006 the Government adopted a 7-year Strategy for Science and Technology. The SSTI constitutes one of the principal pillars of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 (NDP). Over its lifetime the Strategy aims to realise the following goal: Ireland in 2013 will be internationally renowned for the excellence of its research and at the forefront in generating and using new knowledge for economic and social progress, within an innovation driven culture.

The full report can be downloaded as a PDF document (1.37 MB) from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment website: http://www.entemp.ie/publications/science/2008/firstreportonSSTI.pdf

For further information on the MMI Clinician Scientist Fellowship Programme, please click here