National Framework on the Transition to an Open Research Environment

There is a fundamental shift across Europe towards making research more transparent, collaborative, accessible and efficient. Ireland already has a strong research reputation with a proven track record of collaborating and competing successfully in Europe and beyond. We recognise the importance of collaborating at a national level also to better support research and researchers in the key areas of open access publications, FAIR research data, infrastructure, skills and competencies, and incentives and rewards.

Open research requires system-thinking and a change in research culture and behaviour. The National Open Research Forum (NORF) is leading a critical and informed approach to framing open research in Ireland. It is a great example of how collaborative working at a national level can help to reach agreement on difficult choices which support our common purpose of delivering excellence, talent and impact across the Irish research system

New research reveals households on low incomes need to spend up to 1/3 of take home income to afford a healthy food basket

Research highlights challenges facing low-income households in balancing the expense of a basic, acceptable and nutritious food basket while meeting other weekly household expenses.

New research by safefood has revealed some families on low income need to spend up to one third (33%) of their take home income to afford a basic food basket that is acceptable and meets nutritional needs. In general, households on a low-income tend to eat less well, have poorer health outcomes with higher levels of excess weight and its complications.

Healthy Workplace Framework consultation report launched

A CONSULTATION report on developing a Healthy Workplace Framework has been published by the Department of Health (ROI).

The report was prepared for the Department of Health by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH).

IPH facilitated the online consultation and hosted events in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Sligo which invited stakeholders to share their views and experience on creating a healthy workplace.

The consultation report will now be considered by the Department to inform the development of the Healthy Workplace Framework, which is expected to be published later in 2019.

The aim of the Framework is to recognise and enhance existing initiatives, to facilitate the sharing of experience and learning, and also provide the necessary supports and tools for organisations or companies who haven’t yet developed their own resources. 

The Framework sits under Healthy Ireland and is intended to provide a supportive, flexible, evidence-based structure that can be applied across all workplaces in Ireland regardless of their sector or size. 

IPH is continuing to support the Department with this important Framework in the areas of policy design, implementation and monitoring

Plan S Briefing Session

The National Open Research Forum (NORF) in conjunction with the Royal Irish Academy, will host a meeting on Tuesday 22 January 2018 about Plan S - an EU wide initiative to make open access publishing a reality.

The session will raise awareness of Science Europe’s “Plan S” and its implications for Irish researchers seeking European Union funding post 1 January 2020. It will brief the research community on the work of the National Open Research Forum and IReL in positioning Ireland to engage with open research and the open access agenda. It will also invite researchers’ views to inform the development of Ireland’s national response to the Plan S consultation, and to inform next steps nationally.

Speakers:

• Dr. Gemma Irvine, Head of Policy and Strategic Planning, HEA, will chair this event and give an overview of the issues at hand.
• Cathal McCauley, Maynooth University, will discuss IReL and the need for change in scholarly publishing.
• Dr. Patricia Clarke, HRB, will give the national policy context for the introduction of Plan S and the options being considered.
• Marion Boland, SFI, will outline the benefits of engaging with Plan S.
• Prof. Luke Drury, MRIA, will discuss the ALLEA (All European Academies) response to Plan S and perspectives of the European research community.

Spaces are limited so please email policy@ria.ie now to reserve your place at this session.