The head of Science Foundation Ireland has said the State will continue to fund outstanding young researchers, despite a shift in funding policy in favour of areas that will have the greatest impact.
Dr Mark Ferguson said he accepted criticism from the European Research Council that Ireland needed to improve its performance in drawing down ERC funds.
Just four Irish projects made the grade in the latest round of ERC funding.
Dr Ferguson said the SFI was developing policies that would encourage and support young researchers applying for ERC funding.
Some prominent Irish scientists have criticised what they say is a shift away from supporting basic or frontier research in favour of projects with a more immediate commercial application.
In response, Dr Ferguson said SFI would focus its funding on areas where it thought the impact would be greatest.
However, everything in those areas, from applied research to basic, would be eligible for funding.
Attending a major science conference in July, the head of the ERC was critical of the level of Ireland's performance in relation to ERC funding.
Helga Nowotny said Irish institutions needed to be more open and international and needed to do more to support young scientists engaged in frontier research.
