New €26m geoscience research centre at UCD now open
Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD officially launched yesterday (Wednesday) the newly established Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre, iCRAG. The new centre at University College Dublin (UCD) will focus on the discovery, de-risking and sourcing of raw materials, water and energy resources that are critical to our economy, as well as educating and informing the public on geoscience issues.
100 highly skilled research positions will be supported by the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG), and 55 industry partners, including Tullow Oil and Geoscience Ireland, will work in collaboration with the new centre.
The facility will receive funding of €18 million from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) Research Centres Programme, with an additional €8 million coming from the industry partners.
Prof Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland explained :
“The launch of this new Science Foundation Ireland Research centre, iCRAG, is a key development in Ireland’s Geoscience research. Ireland is home to Europe’s largest zinc mine, untapped hydrocarbon resources in challenging North East Atlantic deep water environments, and diverse geological formations. The iCRAG centre will carry out research to find and harness these resources whilst protecting the environment.”
iCRAG is a joint initiative between University College Dublin (UCD), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Cork (UCC), National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM), the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and Teagasc.
