Five University of Ulster research teams have been awarded a total of £7.7m to pursue vital research projects into advanced healthcare technologies, osteoporosis and energy efficiency.
 
Funded by the Department for Employment and Learning under its Cross Border R&D Funding Programme, the research projects will be undertaken in partnership with sister universities in the Republic of Ireland.

The objective of the programme is to support Northern Ireland universities in building additional, sustainable research capacity and capability that will contribute to the  development of an all-island research infrastructure through meaningful, targeted collaboration with leading research teams in the Republic of Ireland.

The five University of Ulster projects are:

Energy storage research (£1.5m): partnering with DIT and NUI Maynooth

Cross-Border Centre for Intelligent Point of Care Sensors: (£1,991,280): partnering with with DCU

Functional Biomaterials Research (£1,389,140): partnering with NUIG

Computational Neuroscience Research (£1,535,807): partnering with TCD

Nutrition and Bone Health Research (£1,242,392): partnering with TCD, UCD and UCC

Welcoming the research awards, Professor Richard Barnett, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ulster, said: “This funding for University of Ulster-led research represents an endorsement and recognition of the  international calibre of the research capacity at Ulster.

“The projects which have been funded are in areas of vital strategic significance to the economic and social development of Northern Ireland. Advances in medical technology, bioengineering, energy efficiency and nutrition touch all our lives, and are at the heart of contemporary society.

“The projects also mark a milestone in our relations with our academic partners in the Republic of Ireland: together, we will bring to bear on these important research themes the most powerful analytical minds on the island."

"This success by research teams on three of our campuses - Coleraine, Jordanstown and Magee is an indication of the strength of research talent across the University, and a demonstration of the University's commitment to the research capacity of Northern Ireland as a whole."
 

ENDS

Notes for Editors
 
The DEL programme allocated £14.5m  to cross border research partnerships. University of  Ulster-led projects received £7.7m, while QUB-led initatives received £6.8m

Energy Storage
The principal aim of this research project, led by Professor Neil Hewitt,  is to assess the extent to which the existing and future built environment can provide local energy storage and virtual bulk thermal and electrical energy storage.

The global energy storage market is currently worth £21 billion per year, and  is set to grow by 55% to £33 billion by 2012.  As the unpredictable nature of wind power currently limits share of supply to the electricity network, storing excess energy for later release enables a smoother, more predictable and therefore a more lucrative electricity supply.  In turn, improved energy storage technologies will reduce the short cycling and standby of fossil fuel electricity generation plant, thereby reducing maintenance and running costs, decreasing the reliance on imported fossil fuels and reducing carbon use.

This project will be carried out in association with DIT and NUI Maynooth.

Cross-Border Centre for Intelligent Point of Care Sensors
This proposal is to develop a sustainable world-class cross border Centre for Intelligent Point of Care Sensors (CIPS) for real-time monitoring and analysis of multiple disease specific markers.

Led by Professors Jim McLaughlin and Chris Nugent (Faculty of Computing and Engineering) the project will create a £2m collaboration between the two main centres on the island of Ireland in Intelligent Sensor Technology - namely the Northern Ireland Bioengineering Centre at the University of Ulster/Computer Science Research Institute (CSRI) at  Ulster, and the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, Dublin City University led by Professor Brian MacCraith.

Functional Biomaterials
Led by Professor Brian Meenan, the new research centre will address key challenges in the areas of medical devices, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Functional biomaterials are materials which, when used in implants,  can deliver active pharmacological agents into the body. Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering focus on the development of techniques to restore, maintain or enhance tissue and organ function in the body. The project will be carried out in association with NUIG.

Computational Neuroscience Research Team (CNRT)
Led by Professor Martin McGinnity, this project will develop accurate computational models of brain regions known to be affected during the course of depression. The CNRT will bring together the skill sets of two prominent and complementary research centres - the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC), at the Magee campus of the University of Ulster and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN), at Trinity College Dublin.  These powerful research units address brain research from traditionally opposite ends of the research spectrum, one from an engineering and computing aspect, the other from a  psychological, neuroscientific and medical approach.

Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance Project: Nutrition and Bone Health
This project, led by Professor Helene McNulty, will establish an expert research capability for the study of nutrition and bone health, aimed at identifying strategies to prevent osteoporosis, a serious public health issue with major health, economic and social consequences. The crippling bone disease costs the UK's NHS over £1.8bn annually. The proposal builds on the University of Ulster's existing cross border research activities, and our existing research collaborations across Ireland.
  

For further information, please contact:

David Young
Telephone: 028 90366074
Email: David Young