The research system experienced huge disruption and challenges in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 but came through the year demonstrating its importance and value as a strategic national resource. The establishment of a new government department combining tertiary education and research broke new ground. This overview summarises key developments in research, drawing on the contributions in this year’s chapter.

As we emerge from the last financial crisis, we need to think once again about how best to foster research in this country. The best way to do this is to rebalance funding towards individual researchers and back basic or fundamental research.

Research data is a valuable national asset, and the management and sharing of research data are among the most pressing challenges facing the higher education and research sectors. The acceptance of data as an important strategic asset in responding to Covid-19 is accompanied by greater awareness of the gaps and outstanding issues. The opportunity for transformation needs to be matched with a strategic choice for investment.

Covid-19 has changed our world. Never before in recent times has Ireland so needed to draw on its resources of knowledge to analyse, to better understand, and to make good decisions in uncertain times. We have a valuable and under-utilised resource in the research capacity of our higher education system to contribute to policymaking and evaluation. This article makes suggestions for a systematic and long-term focus on helping the research and policy communities to work together more effectively to address pressing questions.

No one advocates for policy or social programmes with an absence of evidence. However, greater appreciation of the complexities of social policies and programmes presents new demands for the application of scientific evidence to resolve real-world problems.

In 2020, the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) marked its 80th anniversary. It was also the first investment in fundamental research by a new Irish state. This article reflects on DIAS’s history as a case study on the possibilities created through investment in fundamental research, and looks to the importance of fundamental research for the future.

Seen as the ‘third mission’ in higher education, knowledge transfer and the commercialisation of research results offers a complementary channel for dissemination and delivery of economic and societal benefit. This article considers the development of knowledge-transfer policy and practice in Ireland and looks ahead to what the future holds.

This article explores what ‘research impact’ means and the approaches that Irish higher education institutions and funding agencies are using to plan, capture, communicate, and monitor the impact of research on society. In particular it details what UCD has done in response to the research impact challenge.

This article explores how the sudden unanticipated closure of research facilities in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on the research community, especially on early career researchers. It focuses in particular on the effects of reduced mobility.

The school closures period from March to June 2020 was a unique experience in the history of Irish second-level education, forcing new, remote methods of pedagogical delivery. This article explores some key areas of impact – principally changes to teaching and learning approaches and decreases in student engagement and well-being. The continued circulation and virulence of Covid-19 means that disruptions to education remain a strong possibility, requiring robust contingency planning and flexibility.

Putting research evidence into practice is high on the contemporary policy agenda, but we still know relatively little about how best to put research findings into practice – and into policies guiding practice. This article looks at current ideas and approaches in this area and points to future policy directions.