In 1998, the country set up the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI), aimed at transforming the research landscape via interdisciplinary and inter-institute research and other measures.

In 2004, PRTLI received international endorsement for playing the leading role in ushering in a new research environment in Ireland, which is today rated as one of the world's most competitive. Irish education officials told me that the Irish economy, dubbed the "Celtic Tiger" due to its impressive economic performance, is now entering a key transitional period after a decade and a half of high growth.

It's called a paradigm shift - from an investment-driven economy towards an innovation-driven one in which the concept of "unique value" is more important than that of "efficiency". In other words, higher education, especially at the university (third-level institutions) and post-doctoral levels, as well as research and development (R&D), have become the new factors of success, superseding previous favourable factors such as low tax rates or low wages.

According to the Higher Education Authority (HEA), participation in higher education in Ireland, which currently has a population of 4.5 million, has grown from 44 per cent in 1998 to 54 per cent in 2003.

Ireland's spending on R&D as a ratio of its GDP is now about 1.5 per cent, compared to slightly over 2 per cent for Singapore or the US.

The national goal is to nurture a society where social development, quality of life and personal growth are enhanced through innovation in the thriving economy that evolved from recent achievements, in which foreign direct investment and imported technology have been the main driving force.

As one of the key national research mechanisms, PRTLI has invested a total of ¤600 million (Bt28.6 billion) into infrastructure and research programmes since 1999, with public funding provided to a total of 1,600 post-graduate and post-doctoral researchers. When completed, PRTLI will have helped create a total of 33 research centres, including multi-site collaborative centres at Ireland's leading universities for science, engineering and technology.

The efforts are intended to promote a critical mass of indigenous innovations via collaboration with multinational corporations and individuals.

Within a relatively short period of time, a range of world-class research facilities and commercialisation units are now operational on campuses of several higher educational institutes such as Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork (UCC) and University College Dublin (UCD).

At UCD, for example, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre or NovaUCD was set up in 2003 jointly by the public and private sectors, including six corporate sponsors who have equity stakes in companies located at NovaUCD.

Miceal Whelan, the project manager, said the centre helps identify, protect and commercialise intellectual property arising from UCD research while supporting the growth of entrepreneurs, campus companies and other knowledge-based ventures.

One of the project's recent successes is the licensing of the technology for the production of diagnostic test kits for BSE or mad cow disease - developed by Professor Mark Rogers of UCD. Enfer Scientific Ltd, the licensee, now has an annual sales turnover of ¤20 million, while the university earns about ¤2 million in royalties.

Other significant NovaUCD companies include BiancaMed (sleep medicine and cardiology), Celticcatalysts (chiral catalysts), and Lightwaves Technologies.

Overall, UCD has provided assistance to 150 companies since the 1990s, several of which are now attracting outside capital investment, amounting to a combined $150 million. To create awareness and foster an entrepreneurial culture, NovaUCD also organises regular workshops, courses, clinics and other events aimed at researchers, staff, and post-graduate students.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com