Science Foundation Ireland Grants

science
finance
How are Science Foundation Grants distributed in Ireland?
Author

Cole Baril

Published

February 24, 2026

Load Libraries

require(pacman)
p_load(tidytuesdayR, magick, tidyverse, janitor, trashpanda, treemapify)

Load Data

tuesdata <- tidytuesdayR::tt_load('2026-02-24')
sfi_grants <- tuesdata$sfi_grants

Tree Map

treemap_data <- sfi_grants |>
  filter(!is.na(programme_name),
         !is.na(research_body)) |>
  group_by(programme_name, research_body) |>
  summarise(
    total_funding = sum(current_total_commitment, na.rm = TRUE),
    .groups = "drop") |>
  filter(total_funding > 0) |>
  mutate(
    programme_name = fct_lump(programme_name, n = 10, w = total_funding),
    research_body  = fct_lump(research_body, n = 15, w = total_funding))

plot <- ggplot(
  treemap_data,
  aes(
    area = total_funding,
    fill = programme_name,
    subgroup = programme_name)) +
  geom_treemap(color = "white", size = 0.3) +
  geom_treemap_subgroup_border(
    colour = "black",
    size = 1.5) +
  labs(
    title = "Science Foundation Ireland Grant Funding",
    subtitle = "Funding distribution by programme",
    fill = "Programme") +
  scale_cwb(name = "Programme", type = "d", palette = "discrete_21", aesthetics = "fill", guide = guide_legend(nrow = 3)) +
  theme_void() +
  theme(legend.position = "top",
        legend.text = element_text(size = 20),
        legend.title = element_text(size = 22),
        legend.key.size = unit(1, "cm"),
        plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5, size = 35, face = "bold"),
        plot.subtitle = element_text(hjust = 0.5, size = 30))

# Save and display images
current_dir <- dirname(knitr::current_input())
plot_name <- "funding_dist.png"

ggsave(plot = plot, 
       dpi = "screen",
       width = 25,
       height = 20,
       device = ragg::agg_png,
       filename = file.path(current_dir, plot_name))


# Read the big plot
img <- image_read(file.path(current_dir, plot_name))

# Force 16:9 aspect ratio with minimal padding
# Target size: 1200x675 px (16:9)
img_card <- image_scale(img, "1200x675")           # scale to fit inside 16:9
img_card <- image_extent(
  img_card,
  geometry = "1200x675",
  gravity = "center"
)

# Save as card preview
image_write(img_card, path = file.path(current_dir, "preview.png"))

knitr::include_graphics(
  file.path(current_dir, plot_name)
)

References

cite_packages(format = "rmd")

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