THE HEALTH RESEARCH BOARD

Their core work

The Health Research Board (HRB) is Ireland's national agency responsible for funding and coordinating health research. Within H2020, HRB acts as a funding body that co-finances transnational research calls across major disease areas — rare diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and antimicrobial resistance. Their role is to align Ireland's national health research priorities with European programmes through ERA-NET co-fund mechanisms, ensuring Irish researchers can access and contribute to pan-European health research initiatives.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2016–2019), HRB focused on building foundational transnational funding mechanisms — aligning national research plans, establishing ERA-NET co-fund structures, and supporting rare disease data sharing with FAIR principles. From 2020 onward, their portfolio expanded into more specific disease areas (cancer via TRANSCAN-3, antimicrobial resistance via JPIAMR-ACTION) and added an international dimension with China cooperation on personalised medicine. The COVID-19 pandemic also drew them into population health data infrastructure through PHIRI.

HRB is broadening from general funding coordination into disease-specific ERA-NETs (cancer, AMR, neuroscience), suggesting future partners should approach them with concrete disease-area proposals rather than generic health research ideas.

How they like to work

HRB never coordinates H2020 projects — they participate as a national funding agency contributing to large ERA-NET consortia. Their 238 unique partners across 41 countries reflect the massive, multi-country nature of these funding networks rather than deep bilateral relationships. Working with HRB means accessing Ireland's national health research funding stream as part of a transnational call mechanism.

With 238 consortium partners across 41 countries, HRB operates within some of the largest funding coordination networks in European health research. This exceptionally wide geographic spread reflects their role in ERA-NETs, which by design bring together funding agencies from across Europe and beyond.

What sets them apart

HRB is not a research performer — they are a national funding gatekeeper. This makes them uniquely valuable for consortium builders because partnering with HRB means gaining access to Ireland's dedicated health research budget for co-funded transnational calls. For anyone building an ERA-NET or joint programme in health, HRB is the Irish entry point with proven experience across rare diseases, cancer, neuroscience, and AMR.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EJP RD
  Their largest single project (EUR 331K) and the flagship European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases — demonstrates HRB's deepest commitment in terms of funding and scope.
• TRANSCAN-3
  Second-largest funding (EUR 242K), focused on sustained transnational cancer research collaboration — represents their expansion into oncology-focused funding networks.
• PHIRI
  Their only third-party role, and a COVID-19 response project on population health data infrastructure — shows adaptability to emerging health crises.