AMBER, the SFI Research Centre for Advanced Materials and Bio-Engineering Research headquartered at Trinity College Dublin, has today launched its second phase of the centre which will see 350 new research positions created directly between 2019 and 2025.
The second phase is being delivered via €40 million in funding over the next six years through Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) Research Centres Programme, coupled with €77 million in cash and in-kind contributions which AMBER will raise in investment from industry and non-exchequer sources through their collaborative and international research activities.
With a total employment of 1116 staff, during the first phase of the centre (2013-2019), AMBER generated 14,279 jobs nationwide in sectors such as biomedicine, pharmaceutical, energy and ICT. During this time, for every €1 invested, AMBER has helped the Irish economy to grow by €5. The AMBER centre has partnered with over 40 companies from SME’s to Multinational Companies and attracted over €40 million in international research funding.
New investment from government, industry and international research funding during phase two (2019-2025) will grow the Centre’s academic and industry orientated materials science research in critical and emerging sectors of the economy, such as ICT, MedTech, manufacturing technologies and energy.
Between 2019 and 2025 AMBER will bring together research clusters to address current gaps in knowledge, drive advances in materials science and engineering, and translate research excellence into new sustainable products and technologies for society and solutions for industry.
Speaking today, Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan said, "I congratulate AMBER on all of its success as it move to the next phase. SFI Research Centres such as AMBER provide the basis for Ireland to move towards becoming an innovation leader, by providing new thinking and new solutions. We have many opportunities, including those I set out in the recently published National Space Strategy for Enterprise, it is important that we invest in excellent research to allow us to take full competitive advantage and deliver this potential."
Provost of Trinity, Dr Patrick Prendergast added, "AMBER has played a leading role in consolidating Ireland’s reputation for materials and bioengineering science research and this announcement highlights the ongoing ambition of the centre to create high-quality, high-tech employment opportunities for the future. AMBER has been a successful model for linking industry and academia, underpinned with fundamental research, and will continue to positively contribute to economy and society. Trinity is committed to fundamental research and generating close links between industry and academia which AMBER will continue to forge and that will create new business opportunities for the future."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
