Research Ireland – Defence Innovation Challenge

Challenge funding is a solution-focused approach to address complex problems via research. It focuses on finding the most innovative and impactful solutions using competitive processes to direct research activities. Research Ireland’s approach to challenge funding places strong emphasis on:

• Inter and Transdisciplinary Teams, reflecting the need to bring together experts and innovators from different disciplines to address complex challenges
• Engagement & Validation with stakeholders to understand the nature of specific problems, to test assumptions and to co-create solutions;
• Impact Pathways demonstrating efficient adaptation of approaches that will lead to socially and economically relevant change.

A brief overview of each Challenge Area is provided below. Further details can be found in the Call Document.

Challenge Area 1: Advancing Situational Awareness and Security through Space-Based Systems seeks to support novel solutions that enable Ireland to respond to opportunities and challenges arising from rapidly evolving space-based and geospatial systems. Applicants are invited to propose innovative approaches that will leverage space-enabled and geospatial capabilities to strengthen monitoring, analysis and service resilience for defence and civil contexts.

Challenge Area 2: Strengthening Land-Based Defence and Emergency Responses seeks innovative solutions to strengthen Defence’s operational capabilities in land-based settings, with a particular focus on supporting national-level emergency responses. Applicants are invited to submit proposals under one of the following two strands: (a) Operational capabilities for emergency response within Defence; or (b) Safe extraction of individuals from complex or high-risk environments.

Challenge Area 3: Enhancing Defence Capability Development seeks innovative approaches that strengthen Defence capability development as an integrated, evidence-informed and adaptive process. Applicants are invited to propose novel methods, tools, frameworks or systems that improve the ability of decision-makers to identify future capability needs, evaluate options, assess risks and opportunities, and support effective capability planning and delivery.

Challenge Area 4: Building Public Trust and Preparedness for National Emergencies seeks to support solutions that strengthen public trust, enhance societal resilience and improve communication between authorities and communities before, during and after major emergencies, including how Defence support to civil authorities is understood and experienced across society. Applicants are invited to propose novel approaches that enhance societal preparedness, strengthen trusted communication, and support effective engagement between authorities and communities in the context of major emergencies and security-related crises.

Challenge Area 5: Disruptive Ideas welcomes proposals that include innovative ideas that may not align directly with the Challenge areas 1-4. In such cases, applicants are invited to consider broader areas of interest to Defence (see Section 2 of the Call Document) and, through engagement with Defence stakeholders and the relevant civil, community, policy, enterprise or public-sector users, submit proposals for disruptive, radical or novel approaches to address specific challenges in these areas.

Applicants intending to submit a proposal under the Disruptive Ideas Challenge must email challenges@researchireland.ie by 17:00 on 15 September 2026 to notify their intention to apply. This notification should include the information outlined in call document. This step will enable the Programme Team to assess the availability of a Defence Subject Matter Expert to support both the pre-application engagement stage and, if awarded, the project. The intention to apply will not be assessed as part of the application review process.

The Research Ireland-Defence Innovation Challenge comprises three phases: Concept, Seed and Prize Award (Figure 1). Applications to the programme can request up to €220,000 in total direct costs over a duration of 13-months. Further information on eligible costs and funding levels is available in the Call Document.

From application review, 10 teams progress to:

Phase 1: Concept

• 4 months duration
• Awarde amount up to €20,000
• Includes team formation; validation of challenge and solution concept; impact pathway

Phase 2: Seed

• 9 months duration
• Award amount up to €200,000
• Includes team development; initial prototyping; deployment prep

Phase 3: Prize

• 12 months duration
• Award amount up to €1 million
• Includes advance prototyping; solution deployment plan; impact assessment

The Research Ireland-Defence Innovation Challenge is intended to support interdisciplinary and collaborative research teams, committed to developing transformative and sustainable solutions aligned with the challenge areas outlined in the Call Document. Applications to the programme will be accepted from applicant teams comprising two researchers who are either members of academic staff or contract researchers at an Eligible Research Body and hold a PhD. Further details on eligibility criteria are available in the Call Document.

Applications to the Research Ireland-Defence Innovation Challenge must identify a core applicant/leadership team comprising:
• Team Lead (Lead Applicant) will have responsibility for managing the activities of the team, will provide research leadership and have overall responsibility for delivery of research programme objectives.
• Team Co-Lead (Co-lead Applicant) will provide leadership as part of the research programme and should bring complementary technical/disciplinary expertise to that of the Team Lead.

Following successful application, a Defence Liaison from a branch of the Defence Forces will be assigned to work with the team lead and co-lead. The Defence Liaison will be integral to the team and will work as part of the team to provide insights as well as organisational, operational or mission context to support the team in understanding and validating problems, and the development of a solution.

Successful teams will have an opportunity to build a broader challenge team as the development of their solution(s) require.

Applications must be submitted through Research Ireland’s Grants Management System SESAME. SESAME will be open for applications from 29th July 2025.

Applicants must use the templates provided and adhere to all guidelines provided in the Call Document.

The Team Lead and Team Co-Lead must all use the CV Template provided and adhere to Narrative CV Guidelines.

An Information Webinar will take place on 20th August 2026.

Registration link will be added soon.

A recording of the webinar will be available in this space.