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The National Center for Sensor Research at Dublin
City University.
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courtesy of
Dublin City University
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Dublin City University (DCU) located on the northside of Ireland's capital city is the country's youngest university. Since its inception, DCU has been "designed to be different" from the very applied nature of its undergraduate program - the INtegrated TRAining (INTRA) program - which provides industrial placements for all undergraduates, through to the high level and extent of industrial research collaborations.
The Irish economy faces both great opportunities and great risks as the government seeks to develop an economy that will be "internationally renowned for the excellence of its research, and will be to the forefront in generating and using new knowledge for economic and social progress, within an innovation driven culture." DCU's current strategy reaffirms its determination to be radical and innovative and to drive economic and social development in Ireland.
DCU was the leading university in terms of research expenditure per academic in Ireland in 2007. Its research success is largely driven through the four national Centers of Excellence based on campus; The National Center for Sensor Research, The National Center for Plasma Science and Technology, National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology, and the Research Institute in Networks and Communications Engineering. A number of recent innovative research programs in the bio-science and health fields have emerged from the Centers of Excellence. For example:
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Sensor research at DCU.
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Photo by CRISPIN RODWELL |
• Science Foundation Ireland Biomedical Diagnostics Institute is developing next-generation, self-diagnostic devices to provide early warning of illnesses such as cancer and diabetes in collaboration with six industrial partners (Inverness Medical Innovations, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Enfer, Hospira, Analog Devices and Amic) with a total investment of €24 million ($38 million US). The research team also includes researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons, NUI Galway and University College Cork.
• DCU is also engaged in a €15 million investment to establish a groundbreaking collaboration, the Bristol Myers Squibb Center for Bio-analytical Science, between DCU, NUI Galway and New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb. The project is significant in its ambition to develop new technologies and methods for biopharmaceutical products and processes that could generate annual savings of €40-70 million in a medium to large biopharma production line.
• The National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology is leading a four-year multi-million Euro collaborative research program between the NICB and Wyeth Biotech scientists at Grange Castle, Dublin and at Andover, Mass., in the United States, focused on the development of novel methods to reduce the cost of developing and manufacturing biopharmaceutical products.
DCU has just completed a Foresight Exercise that depicts a number of future scenarios for Irish society and the economy that will allow the university to make reasoned judgments in order to remain successful and innovative into the future.
For more information, please visit www.dcu.ie