The Hamilton Institute was established in November 2001 under the first round of funding,[1][2] by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

It was officially opened by Bill Harris, SFI Director-General with the inaugural lecture being given by Kevin Warwick.

[5] Since its founding, the institute has won a number of research grants, in addition to the original seed funding grant from SFI, including the €4.7M National Communications Network Research Centre,[6] a €2.5M Systems Biology initiative,[7][8] the €2.7M Next Generation Internet project,[9] the National Biophotonics Platform[10] and the €2.2M Network Mathematics initiative.

[14][15] It hosts Maynooth University's students for the SFI Centre for Research Training in Data Analytics[16][17] and Damien Wood's DNA computing group.

[18] The Hamilton Institute's stated aim is to provide a bridge between mathematics and its applications in ICT and biology.