Irish research at Trinity College supported through 2.3 million Euro investment by Nokia & SFI
The materials science institute AMBER, headquartered at Trinity College in Dublin, will continue its cooperation with Nokia Bell Labs and the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) for another 4 years. Both Institutions will invest a total of 2.3 million Euro to make future research projects possible. The sum will be divided, as Nokia plans to provide 1.1 million, in cash as well as in-kind, while the Science Foundation Ireland will found 1.2 million. A number of Nokia Bell Labs researchers are integrated in the work of research groups at AMBER.
AMBER, which is the abbreviation for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research, has already been cooperating with Nokia Bell Labs for four years in research about novel energy storage technologies and advanced thermal management systems to allow extreme integration of optoelectronics devices. While Nokia provides the scientific and industrial Know-How, AMBER allocates fundamental materials science expertise and the facilities. The company was originally founded by one of the contributors of the investment, the Science Foundation Ireland.
Past projects between AMBER and Nokia Bell Labs already showed success and numerous possibilities for the growth of the research sector. For example, the number of common projects has increased from 2 to 4, allowing 7 full-time postdoctoral researchers to work on projects; 6 of them at Nokia Bell Labs Projects. The researchers were already able to introduce a new type of electrode for lithium ion batteries with high storage capacity as well as non-corrosive and magnetic shielding materials for Nokia’s technologies.
The joint research partnership was introduced during a visit of John Halligan, Minister of State with responsibility for Training and Skills, at Trinity’s Advanced Microscopy Laboratory on the 18th of October. The Minister was delighted about the news: “We have a wealth of high quality researchers in our academic institutes and my Department, through Science Foundation Ireland, will continue to support industrial partnerships that promote research commercialisation and job growth.”
Furthermore, he welcomed collaborations with big companies like Nokia as a “testament” as well as a “commitment” to the important role of Ireland’s scientific research.
The Director of AMBER, Prof. Michael Morris, declared that the institute would be continuously looking for further European funding for the research projects.
Julie Byrne, Executive Director Nokia Bell Labs in Ireland, added: “Our joint research projects in the area of energy storage, energy harvesting and energy efficiency will provide key technologies to enable Nokia’s Future X Network vision, which will transform human existence through the digitization and connection of everything.” She spoke about the cooperation bringing together “world class researchers” from both Nokia Bell Labs and AMBER.
Journalist Isabel Riedel
