EU and Irish funded Assistive Technologies research project begins
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has launched an Irish-led EU research programme into autism and intellectual disability. The research is co-funded (€9 million in total) by the EU Marie Curie ASSISTID Cofund and the Irish charity RESPECT.
The programme will 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. ASSISTID is the first structured research programme of its kind in Europe and the most significant investment into assistive technologies research to date.
The ASSISTID programme will fund 40 post-doctoral fellows is co-funded by the European Commission and the charity RESPECT, and is co-ordinated by the DOCTRID Research Institute. The DOCTRID Research Institute includes the Daughters of Charity Disability Support Services, all Irish universities, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), the Tralee Institute of Technology, Michigan State University and the University of Massachusetts. This is the first time all of the universities in Ireland have joined together in an EU-funded research consortium.
At the launch, Geoghegan-Quinn said: “ASSISTID is a unique partnership of Irish and American universities and the disability services which will support research and technologies to improve the quality of life of people with autism and intellectual disabilities. This is the kind of research we will continue to support under Horizon 2020.”
Professor Brian Harvey, Professor of Molecular Medicine at RCSI and Director of Research at DOCTRID, said, “ASSISTID projects will develop and test assistive technologies to improve the quality of life for people with Intellectual Disability and autism through enhanced communication, social inclusiveness and independent living.”
Assistive Technologies refers to practical tools that can support the functional needs of people who experience difficulties associated with disability or ageing. For people with autism or intellectual disabilities, assistive technologies can transform their lives and allow them to complete everyday tasks which could otherwise be impossible.
