Minister Lawless announces €17.7 million research infrastructure investment

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, has today announced a €17.7 million investment in nine research infrastructure projects through Research Ireland’s Research Infrastructure Programme. The awards will contribute to the advancement of high-quality and high-impact research activities across Ireland.

Announcing the funding, Minister Lawless commented: “This targeted investment in research infrastructure will help to future-proof the conducting of high-quality research endeavours across our higher education institutions and in a wide range of disciplines. It is important for researchers to be equipped with innovative tools and conducive environments that can help deliver research excellence and impact.”

In welcoming the announcement, Celine Fitzgerald, Interim Chief Executive of Research Ireland, said: “The Research Infrastructure Programme supports the research community in building and sustaining cutting-edge infrastructure to accomplish high-quality, impactful, and innovative research. The programme encourages partnerships and collaboration between different cohorts of researchers in Ireland, across academia and enterprise.”

The nine funded projects are: 

• Coastal & Offshore ASV (Autonomous Surface Vehicle), University of Limerick, led by Prof. Gerard Dooly, aims to acquire a coastal and offshore autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) with a length of 9 meters and a range of 2500 nautical miles. This will enhance Ireland's marine science capabilities, bridge data gaps, and improve our understanding of ocean habitats. (€1,851,784)
• Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit National Platform, University College Dublin, led by Prof. Oliver Blacque, will establish a cryo-EM unit for high-resolution 3D visualisation of biological structures, aiding various biomedical research applications. (€3,749,322)
• NMR Centre of Expertise, Trinity College Dublin, led by Prof. Mathias Senge, will provide advanced NMR techniques for chemistry research, including a multi-channel 600MHz NMR and a 400MHz instrument for high-throughput analyses. (€2,649,497)
• Photon Counting CT for Cardiovascular and Oncology Research, Trinity College Dublin, led by Prof. James Meaney, will expand imaging capabilities with a Photon-counting CT scanner for advanced medical imaging in oncology and cardiovascular research. (€2,721,339)
• National Enteric Methane Mitigation Testbed, Teagasc, led by Dr Stephen Butler, will develop strategies to reduce methane emissions from ruminant animals, contributing to climate change mitigation. (€1,983,502)
• Characterising Earth Materials using Multi-Sensor Core Logger Analysis (Earth SCAn), University College Dublin, led by Prof. Peter Haughton, will advance the characterisation of Earth materials for interdisciplinary research into climate change, energy, and geohazards. (€600,113)
• Advanced Material Characterisation and Imaging Platform, Dublin City University, led by Dr Karsten Fleischer, will enhance material analysis capabilities with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for various applications in ICT, energy, and medical devices. (€2,251,897)
• C-Trap: A Dynamic Single-Molecule Platform for Chemical Biology and Biophysics, Dublin City University, led by Prof. Andrew Kellett, will enable single-molecule analysis for understanding molecular mechanisms of diseases, aiding biopharmaceutical and therapeutic research. (€948,901)
• Automated X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), University College Dublin, led by Prof. Eoin Casey, will replace ageing XPS equipment to enhance surface analysis capabilities for various research and industry applications. (€986,952)

The awardees are from the following research bodies: University of Limerick, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Teagasc, and Dublin City University.