Research Funding Schemes

Research Promotion Grant Scheme

Our Research Promotion Scheme helps us deliver high-quality research on disability in Ireland. This scheme runs every two years depending on the budget availability at the time.

NDA Research Promotion Scheme 2025-26

The theme for 2025-26 Research Promotion Scheme is ‘Disability in Marginalised Groups and Communities".

The NDA was open to proposals for research examining the relationship between disability and any marginalised groups but in particular with Traveller and/or Roma communities. We have awarded funding to the following three research projects:

1. Pavee Point: Dr Lynsey Kavanagh (Pavee Point) and Dr Lucy Michael (Lucy Michael Research, Training and Consultancy) with their team, will explore the lived experiences of disabled Travellers in accessing disability and related services, and to identify barriers, facilitators, and culturally appropriate solutions that can inform inclusive policy and practice.
2. Munster Technological University: Dr Michelle O’Keefe and her team will investigate how housing conditions shape the health and wellbeing of disabled Travellers in Ireland, while situating these experiences within the wider Traveller community and to co-create actionable recommendations that ensure inclusive and culturally appropriate housing and health policy.
3. Simon Communities of Ireland: Ber Grogan and Julia Cory (Simon Communities), with Dr Brídín Carroll (University of Galway), will explore the lived experiences of older adults with disabilities who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness and identify barriers and facilitators to accessing housing and homelessness services, how services can be adapted to better meet need, and critically examine how aging, disability, and homelessness interact to shape accessibility needs over time in order to develop evidence-based recommendations.

NDA Research Promotion Scheme 2023-24

The theme for 2023/2024 Research Promotion Scheme was ‘Disability in Marginalised Groups and Communities’.

We have awarded funding to the following two research projects:

1. Trinity College Dublin: Dr Julie Broderick and her team will investigate the scale and impact of physical disability in people experiencing long term homelessness in Ireland. The report is available to read on our dedicated webpage.

1. University of Galway: Professor Eilionóir Flynn and her team examined the experiences of disabled candidates who identified as holding intersecting identities and stood in the 2024 local and European elections. The report is available to read on our dedicated webpage.

NDA Research Promotion Scheme 2021-22

The theme for the 2021/22 Research Promotion Scheme was ‘Assistive Products and Consumer Products that Support Choice and Control for Persons with Disabilities’.

We awarded funding to the following two research projects:

1. University College Cork and Dublin City University: "A User-Centred Exploration of the Assistive Potential of Digital Voice Assistants for People with Disabilities in Ireland".
   

2. The National University of Ireland, Galway: "Assistive and Consumer Products for as Supplementary Reading Instruction for Children with Disabilities: Current Status & Potential for Application in Practice".

• Take a look at the full range of disability related research projects we have supported since 2008.