Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment Mary Harney launched the sixth EU Framework Programme (FP6) at Dublin Castle on Friday.
The programme will run from 2003 to 2006 and will allocate over €16 billion for research activities over a wide range of areas.
The Tanaiste also announced that Enterprise Ireland had set up a dedicated unit to prove a national information and support service to potential participants in the programme.
Ms Harney said the EU programmes has been a crucial source of funding to Irish research, particularly in the third-level education sector.
