Senator Aisling Dolan - Strong Voice, New Vision.
NUIG One of Five World-Leading SFI Research Centres To Share in €193 Million Investment
Senator for Roscommon-Galway Aisling Dolan has said an investment of €46,372,380 in a research centre at NUI Galway is significant. CÚRAM – the SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices led by NUI Galway, is one of five Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres that is set to share in an investment of €193 million over six years as announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD. The five centres will carry out research into smart medical devices, e-health, telecommunications networks, cybersecurity, smart cities, artificial intelligence, ethics and data privacy, as well as applied geosciences, energy security and marine resources.
This investment by Science Foundation Ireland will support approximately 1,060 Postgraduate and Post-Doctoral students and Research Fellows employed by the Centres. The investment is further backed by significant industry support from 200 industry partners committing over €91 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
The investment is set to benefit the whole country with 17 Higher Education Institutions across the country partnering in Centres, including Athlone Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Limerick Institute of Technology, Maynooth University, Munster Technological University, NUI Galway, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Teagasc, Technological University of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Limerick, and Waterford Institute of Technology.
Senator for Roscommon-Galway Aisling Dolan, Fine Gael spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Research said the funding was significant for Galway and the west of Ireland.
“From my previous roles working in SFI, I worked on the Research Centres of Excellence funding programme and I have also worked with Professor Abhay Pandit and his impressive team at NUI Galway. I am absolutely delighted to see CÚRAM – the Centre for Medical Devices win this multi-million euro award for the next five years. It is testament to the leadership, the quality of research at NUI Galway and the achievements with industry and clinical partners over the last five years. With a team of Co-Directors and PIs at NUI Galway that include Professor Tim O’Brien, Professor Martin O’Halloran, Dr Adrienne O’Gorman, Professor David Finn, Professor Laoise McNamara, Dr Karen Doyle and Professor Matthew Griffin.
The work that went into this application and the review process would have taken over a year – it is absolutely incredible as it was in no way guaranteed.”
Senator Dolan continued: “SFI Research Centres are reviewed by international experts around the world. The awards funded here speak to the excellence in these research areas in Ireland which are world-class. The CÚRAM Research Centre for Medical Devices is a partnership of third level institutes with Principal Investigators and teams working together across Ireland including at Athlone IT. This investment equals hundreds of jobs for hundreds of researchers who are part of CÚRAM and they are training the postgrads and postdocs in science and engineering in niche areas of biomaterials, drug delivery, device design, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and glycoscience. CÚRAM are making smart medical devices and implants for chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes.
“With over 50 industry partners from start-ups, to SMEs & Multi-Nationals – CÚRAM is a foundation to Medtech industry not only in the West of Ireland but across the world. Congratulations to all the Directors, Principal Investigators and researchers as well as NUI Galway and the partner institutes and industry across the country who have made CÚRAM a success and to the next five years!”
The five SFI Research Centres receiving this second phase of funding are:
• ADAPT - ADAPT, the SFI Research Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology, led by Trinity College Dublin
• CONNECT - the SFI Research Centre for Future Networks and Communications, led by Trinity College Dublin
• CÚRAM - the SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices led by NUI Galway
• iCRAG - the SFI Research Centre in Applied Geosciences led by University College Dublin
• Lero - the SFI Research Centre for Software, led by University of Limerick.
Other partners include the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT), Geological Survey Ireland (GSI), Teagasc, Telecommunications Software and Systems Group (TSSG), Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Dublin City Council and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
