The ITOPF R&D Award provides financial support for projects which have the potential to improve our knowledge and understanding of issues related to accidental marine pollution from ships.

Up to £60,000 is available for short-term projects (1-2 years) and up to £40,000 for PhD projects plus a student stipend and university fees.

The purpose of this initiative is to encourage and facilitate organisations worldwide to develop ideas that can potentially provide solutions to some of the challenges faced by the spill response community.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) though Ireland’s development cooperation programme, Irish Aid, and the Marine Institute (MI) have established a new programme called ‘Our Shared Ocean’ to support research, knowledge exchange and capacity building in partnership with Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The programme will run from January 2022 to December 2026 with a total investment of €3.8 million funded by the DFA, and administered by the MI.