Ever increasing computing power and potent simulation algorithms have brought the world to the threshold of a scientific revolution in computational science. The scientific importance of computational modelling was envisaged over 40 years ago with the formation of CECAM as a pan European consortium computational science between European national research foundations and organisations.
Since 2015, Irish membership of CECAM is funded by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, through the Irish Universities Association. Irish membership of CECAM has been instrumental in over in three H2020 consortia awards co-ordinated by Irish based scientists with a total value of some 18 M€ to date, and a growing portfolio of Irish IP. CECAM-IRL’s scientists come from all of the universities in the republic of Ireland: DCU, NUIG, NUIM, TCD, UCC, UCD, UL; QUB in Northern Ireland, and National Institutes/Research Centres DIAS, ICHEC, and TNI.
CECAM-IRL works in both the national context and that of its sister-nodes across Europe to further the impact of the computational science, with a special focus on industrially-relevant research in five sectors: Material genomics/Advanced Materials; Pharma; BioPharma; Food & Health; and Data Science which forms the computational and modelling backbone inter-connecting all sectors. It does this by enhancing training, research collaboration, grant-seeking in the EU and within Ireland; industry connections; advanced simulation methods and software development. This is achieved by running research tutorials and workshops, code sharing, H2020 input & lobbying, organisation and collaborative application and linking with industry inside and outside of Ireland in research sectors relevant to the industrial application areas above.