Máire Geoghegan-Quinn launches ASSISTID COFUND

European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has said she was “delighted” to be present at the launch of the EU Marie Curie ASSISTID (Assistive Technologies for people with Autism and Intellectual Disability) COFUND.

Speaking at St Joseph’s Centre in Dublin, Ireland, Geoghegan-Quinn said: “For the next five years, the programme will provide 40 fellowships to experienced researchers in the field of assistive technologies and behavioural sciences, applied to autism and intellectual disability.”

ASSISTID aims to promote research into the development and application of assistive technologies to enhance the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities and autism, their carers, and families.

The event was attended by all DOCTRID university partners represented, as well as US representatives from Michigan State University and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Centre at University of Massachusetts Medical School.

The commissioner said the programme would “be part of an even bigger research landscape, the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions,” adding that under Horizon 2020, “the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions have been streamlined and the co-funding principle has been extended to support doctoral programmes”.