THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY IS IRELAND'S LEADING BODY OF EXPERTS IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann champions research. We identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. We support scholarship and promote awareness of how science and the humanities enrich our lives and benefit society. We believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated. The Academy is run by a Council of its members. Membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.

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Grants

The Royal Irish Academy made grants to over 40 projects in 2019, spanning disciplines from Archaeology to Pharmacy.

Royal Irish Academy Grants funding – COVID 19 statement

The Royal Irish Academy is fully aware that the current situation regarding the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is having a significant impact on the work of academic and research communities in Ireland and internationally. We know that the implications of the current situation on Grant schemes and funded projects will be felt over the next weeks and months, and project timelines and plans may be unavoidably affected as a result of steps taken to contain the virus. We are focused on anticipating and alleviating the pressures caused by this situation on Grants schemes insofar as is practicable. To this end we are addressing the needs of individual Grant schemes and projects on a case-by-case basis.

Please keep an eye on our Grants section of the RIA website where any announcements or changes will be communicated and also sign up to our public newsletter highlighting ‘Grants’ as an area of interest. 

If you have any queries or concerns in relation to a particular Grant scheme or funded project please contact grants@ria.ie.

In line with its aims and remit the RIA has a long history of promoting, supporting and communicating research. The Academy began providing research grants in 1876, and this legacy of supporting academic researchers in Ireland continues today. Through the vehicle of its various grants schemes world class researchers are identified and recognised throughout their careers.

The Charlemont travel grants scheme, for example provides much-needed support for early-career researchers to develop their international networks and encourages the completion of a succinct piece of work which often leads to longer-term collaboration.

The Archaeological research excavation grants are a unique vehicle for funding independent research excavations undertaken by established and often highly renowned Archaeologists. Indeed RIA funding has played a formative part in several pivotal Archaeological excavations, including those at Knowth, and elsewhere in Brú na Boinne.

In working with a number of partners, such as the National Monuments Service, and identifying shared interests the RIA champions research on a national and international level.

Latest News

R.J. Hunter Research Bursaries Awarded
19 February 2021

The Royal Irish Academy is pleased to announce that three research bursaries have been funded this year under the R.J. Hunter Research Bursary scheme which provides support for the direct costs of research on aspects of Ulster History during the period 1500-1800.

Grants and Awards

Grants 

Grant scheme supporting post-excavation research for Archaeological Research Excavations which were previously funded by the Royal Irish Academy and whose RIA excavation funding ended at least five years ago.

Archaeology Legacy Grants Scheme »

The R. J. Hunter Grants Scheme was established in 2014 using funding generously made available by his daughter, Ms Laura Hunter Houghton, through the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.

R.J. Hunter Research Bursary Scheme »

The Royal Irish Academy’s Charlemont Grants Scheme was established in 2007 (formerly known as the RIA Mobility Grant Scheme). It is a high-impact travel grants scheme aimed at early-career postdoctoral researchers.

Charlemont Grants »

The Royal Irish Academy-Royal Society International Exchange Cost Share Programme is designed to enable international collaboration by providing the marginal costs of research i.e. travel, subsistence and research expenses.

Royal Irish Academy-Royal Society International Exchange Cost Share Programme »

The Academy has a long association with the funding of archaeological excavation and field research in Ireland. Since 1970 the RIA Standing Committee for Archaeology (previously the Academy Committee for Archaeology) has administered an annual fund provided by the National Monuments Service (Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht).

Archaeology Research Excavation Grants »

The Royal Irish Academy runs an annual Archaeology Research Grants Scheme in partnership with the National Monuments Service (Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht). The objective of this scheme is to fund research projects in Irish archaeology, which provide a significant and original contribution to archaeological knowledge.

Archaeology Research Grants »

The scheme aims to expand the range of digitised historical sources available through open and free access to researchers. 

Nowlan Digitisation Grants »

Prager Grants for fieldwork in natural history

Praeger Grants »

The bursary fund, established in memory of the genealogist and newspaper columnist Eoin (‘the Pope’) O’Mahony, provides support for candidates engaged in historical research on subjects of Irish interest.

Eoin O'Mahony Bursary in Irish History »

The Royal Irish Academy in association with Queen's University Belfast offers radiocarbon dating for up to twelve applicants per annum to be used for the purposes of archaeological research in Ireland.

Archaeology C14 Radiocarbon Dates Scheme »

This fellowship scheme, established in memory of the Ulster Plantation historian, R.J. Hunter, aims to encourage research on the history of the Ulster Plantation (c.1550–1750) and other cognate areas, including patterns of migration from and to Britain and North America.

R.J. Hunter Postdoctoral Fellowship »

The National Monuments Service (NMS) of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has allocated a fund for directed research into the archaeology of the Brú na Bóinne and Skellig Michíl World Heritage Sites and also those sites on Ireland’s Tentative List for which a Technical Evaluation has been satisfactorily concluded.

Directed Archaeological Research for World Heritage Sites »