The ASSISTID programme which will fund 40 post-doctoral fellows is co-funded by the European Commission and the charity RESPECT, and is coordinated by the DOCTRID Research Institute. The DOCTRID Research Institute includes the Daughters of Charity Disability Support Services, all of the universities on the island of Ireland, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and the US universities Michigan State University and the University of Massachusetts. This is the first time that all of the universities on the island of Ireland have joined together in an EU funded research consortium.Through DOCTRID and the EU Marie Curie ASSISTID programme, Ireland will become a major international hub for assistive technology research and its applications for people with intellectual disability or autism.