Speaking at the launch of the report, Professor Whatmore commended the Forfás report on its recognition of the importance of Nanotechnology as a powerful growth engine for the Irish economy. “I welcome the report’s emphasis on the need for Ireland to bring focus to bear on the nanotechnology research areas of More than Moore, Advanced Materials, Beyond CMOS and NanoBiotechnology research – all highlighted as important areas for Ireland’s future. These research fields resonate well with the nanotechnology research fields in Ireland’s academic sector. We were especially delighted to hear a couple of months ago that our research in these areas will be enabled by the award of funding by HEA under PRTLI5, to help establish a new FLEXIFAB at Tyndall. This is directly in-line with the report’s recommendations.”
“I welcome the observation in the report that Ireland ‘consistently features in the top 2-3 nations of the peer group examined’ when it comes to analysing nanotechnology productivity in patents or publications produced per unit of GERD. Ireland has only been investing seriously in research for just over 10 years. This is a remarkable achievement by the Irish academic and industrial sectors in this period. Relative to the comparison counties, Ireland is still in relative infancy with regard to its R&D investment but clearly already delivers world class research. This is in comparison with countries who have invested in nanotechnology R&D for decades”, said Professor Whatmore.
The Report notes that the Government has been investing in establishing a high quality nanotechnology infrastructure, in line with international best practice, and that this is now in place in Ireland. Professor Whatmore concluded “Tyndall identifies with many of the recommendations in the report in terms of infrastructure development, commercialisation, education, research focus and collaborations. These are all very much in line with how much of the academic nanotechnology community in Ireland, including Tyndall, operate. I look forward to being actively involved in the development of this report’s recommendations through participation in the Coordination Group and helping to bring the benefits of the commercialisation of Nanotechnology to the Irish economy.”
Picture: Researcher at Tyndall National Institute, UCC
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