Access to world-class facilities announced for Tyndall
12.01.2011
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe, TD has announced that Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has embarked on a further five-year programme to facilitate access for higher education institutions to world-class facilities and experts at Tyndall National Institute, UCC. The
SFI-funded National Access Programme (NAP), an all-island scheme open to all
research staff and post-graduate students in our universities and institutes of
technology, enables eligible researchers to access the know-how, services and
specialised equipment at Tyndall.
The internationally-recognised Institute is
home to leading ICT researchers in ICT and state-of-the-art technologies. To
date, the NAP has provided such access to over 440 researchers around the
country and has advanced 241 ICT research projects in the areas of health,
energy, environment, communications and computation. “The extension of this
programme for a further five years is a particularly significant boost for
current and future members of Ireland’s research community,” Minister O’Keeffe
said.
Director
General of SFI, Mr John Travers, highlighted the value of widespread access to
such facilities, saying “It is vitally important that our research resources
are effectively and easily utilised by the scientific community nationwide.
Such a collaborative environment is of particular benefit to the development of
new technologies and solutions among multi-disciplinary teams across a number
of higher education institutions. NAP is a key driver in fostering a national
sense of partnership in research, in nurturing new talent and in reaffirming
Ireland’s drive to become an innovation hub on the international stage.
International reviewers have been impressed by the breadth and scope of
high-quality work undertaken by NAP and by the resulting infusion of new ideas
and disciplines into Tyndall.”
Commenting
on SFI’s announcement, Roger Whatmore, Tyndall CEO, said “Research projects
undertaken at Tyndall by the nine Universities and seven Institutes of
Technology in Ireland have covered a wide range of areas, from the molecular
modeling of proteins in cancer cells, through the building and measurement of
electronic devices to the development of miniaturized wireless sensor systems
for environmental monitoring. The value of these projects extends far beyond
their scientific excellence, also generating many commercial opportunities
through the leveraging of additional funding from outside Ireland. NAP has
played a critical role in helping our third-level partners to educate the next
generation of Irish innovators.”
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