| Oct 17, 2011 |
Irish nanoscience institute announces new commercial partnership and GBP 5 million funding
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(Nanowerk News) CRANN, the SFI-funded nanoscience institute based at Trinity College Dublin, today announced a new strategic partnership with UK company Ceram. Ceram is a global expert in materials testing, analysis and consultancy and employs a team of research and product development professionals worldwide.
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The partnership will provide an internationally leading analytical capability to businesses based in Ireland, whilst establishing new industrial and commercial opportunities that will benefit both CRANN and Ceram. It will also allow both organisations to bid together to attract large industrial research projects in the energy, technology, pharmaceutical and other sectors across Europe and internationally.
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The collaboration with Ceram builds on CRANN's successful and extensive collaborative research programme with industry, which has resulted to date in engagements with over 70 companies in Ireland and internationally. Such success can be attributed to the availability of superior research facilities – CRANN's Advanced Microscopy Laboratory – and the quality of its researchers and PhD students, many of whom are recruited by industry partners, such as Intel and Merck Millipore. This success was recently recognised when Intel presented an award to CRANN, for the role its researchers have played in helping Intel to develop advanced technologies.
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CRANN is also celebrating the first anniversary of the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory, jointly funded by the HEA and SFI. In the year since its launch, over 20 companies from the energy, medical devices, biopharma and aeronautical sectors among others, have become regular users of the facility. In addition, 200 researchers from 8 academic institutions across Ireland have been trained across different microscopy instruments. Furthermore, CRANN researchers have been awarded through international competition, €5 million of non-exchequer funding, as a direct result of this infrastructure.
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Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Diarmuid O'Brien, Executive Director CRANN said, "Our new partnership with Ceram strengthens Ireland's position as a leading research hub for companies and highlights our position as a global leader in the nanoscience research domain.
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It will support CRANN in ensuring our research delivers a return on investment to the local economy. Irish nanoscience has the potential to drive growth in key industries like medical devices, energy, pharmaceuticals and ICT and is responsible for enabling 10% of Irish exports."
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He concluded, "CRANN, strengthened by this partnership with Ceram, will continue to allow Ireland to compete globally to win new research funding and foreign direct investment that previously would have been beyond our capability, as well as enriching the quality of our nanoscience research."
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About CRANN
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The Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) is Trinity College Dublin's largest research institute and a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET). CRANN is focused on delivering world leading research and innovation – through extensive proactive collaborations with industry and through commercialisation of intellectual property. Since its foundation, CRANN has obtained €200M of competitive funding from Government, Industry, the European Union and Philanthropy. CRANN is comprised of a team of over 300 researchers, led by 18 Principal Investigators (PIs), each of whom is an internationally recognised expert in their field of research. It is interdisciplinary working in partnership with the Schools of Physics, Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Medicine and Engineering based at Trinity College Dublin as well as the School of Chemistry at University College Cork.
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About Ceram
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Ceram is a global expert in materials testing, analysis and consultancy. Headquartered in Staffordshire, UK, with laboratories and offices around the world, Ceram employs a team of research and product development professionals who apply their expertise to a wide range of sectors including healthcare, electronics and energy and environment.
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