University College Cork's international reputation for excellence in
research will be further enhanced with the official opening of the
Environmental Research Institute building by Mr Dick Roche TD, Minister
for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government today (Friday 23
June 2006) at the Lee Road, Cork.
The Environmental Research Institute was established in 2000 to support
and further develop environmental research and education within
UCC. The Institute is comprised of researchers from over 15
academic departments drawing from the disciplines of science,
engineering, mathematics, commerce, law, social science, medicine and
health and incorporates five centres of excellence:
- Aquaculture & Fisheries Development Centre
- Coastal and Marine Research Centre
- Aquatic Services Unit
- Cleaner Production Promotion Unit
- Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Engineering
A cross-disciplinary, holistic approach is particularly crucial in the
area of environmental research in order to study, and solve, many of
the complex environmental challenges we face today as a society.
The Environmental Research Institute provides the location and
opportunity for the different scientific and engineering disciplines to
work together in a synergistic manner.
According to UCC's President Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, "The opening
of Environmental Research Institute building marks another milestone in
UCC's research strategy of establishing inter-disciplinary institutes
with a critical mass of world-class researchers in prioritised research
areas. UCC has selected the environmental sciences as a priority
research area based our traditional research strengths in the sciences
and engineering but also on the need at national level for sound
science to guide Ireland into an era of sustainable development."
The construction of the Environmental Research Institute building was
funded through the Higher Education Authority Programme for Research in
Third Level Institutions Cycle 2. When fully occupied, the
building will be capable of accommodating up to 100 researchers.
It is comprised of 3000 sq. metre of customised laboratories, pilot
trial space, environmental control rooms, office space and seminar
rooms. The building has "break-out" areas that are designed to
encourage the researchers from the different disciplines to socialise
and share information and ideas with each other.
The building is especially appropriate for environmental research as it
is a "green" building that has been designed and constructed to the
highest standards of sustainable design and energy efficiency as part
of Cork County Council's "Sustainable City" project. Sustainable
Energy Ireland (SEI) funded many of the sustainable energy features of
the building such as the solar panels, geothermal heat pumps and heat
recovery systems. The building itself is part of an exciting "living
experiment" research project, also part-funded by SEI, being conducted
by the College's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering that
studies not only the way green buildings are designed, but how they
perform and the methods used to assess this.
Commenting on the launch, David Taylor, CEO of SEI, said "We are
delighted to be involved in such an innovative building project.
Through incorporating energy efficient technologies and monitoring
their ongoing performance, the Environmental Research Institute
building is an excellent showcase of how quality construction and
modern services can help reduce related Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions
while tracking energy performance results."
Research at the Institute ranges from "blue skies" research aimed at
new knowledge creation, to focused and applied research designed to
generate solutions to specific environmental challenges through to
contract-based work for industry and Government bodies. In a
statement the new Head of Science of Science, Engineering and Food
Science, Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, said that: "One of the most
important aspects of UCC’s work in the environmental sciences is in
educating the public about the environment and in the attraction of a
new generation of young scientists from our secondary schools. The
science of the environment appeals to the natural altruism of young
people, as the environmental science project entries in the Young
Scientist Competition demonstrate every year. We need to harness that
enthusiasm and the Environmental Research Institute has a key role to
play in the promotion and public understanding of science and the
attraction of the best Irish and international students to
undergraduate studies in UCC. Of course the Institute will also
continue to attract top-class PhD students and postdoctoral scientists
from Ireland and abroad, and will contribute greatly to the development
of Fourth Level studies at UCC. This Institute represents the
best that UCC can offer in meeting the challenges of the environment
into the 21st century. Our aim is to make it the best that
Ireland can offer.”
Research collaboration within the Environmental Research Institute is
not restricted to UCC's researchers. The Institute is linked to the
Environmental Change Institute at the National University of Ireland,
Galway and the Centre for Environmental Research at the University of
Limerick through the Atlantic Universities Alliance. All three
are research centres within the Institute for Environmental Studies, a
co-operative initiative within the Atlantic Universities Alliance that
aims to promote environmental research on a national and international
stage and support interaction and collaboration in complementary
research areas.
The Director of the Institute is Professor Alan Dobson. The Manager of
Institute is Dr Paul Bolger. The Environmental Research Institute
building will be officially opened at 12.00 noon on Friday, 23 June,
Lee Road (adjacent to the Cork City Council's Waterworks).
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