Minister O'Keeffe announces 20 jobs for Tyndall Institute after €8m EU fund win

Twenty new research jobs are to be created in the Tyndall National Institute in University College Cork following the award of €8 million in funding under a European Union competition, according to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD.

The Tyndall Institute topped the Irish performance in the EU Information and Communication Technology (ICT) funding announcement.

Tyndall competitively won 12 major non-exchequer funded European projects.

Seven of these projects will be co-ordinated by Tyndall.

This accounts for half of all projects co-ordinated by Ireland in this funding round.

The projects awarded to Tyndall are at the cutting-edge of telecommunications, nanoelectronics, medical devices and environmental monitoring.

Announcing the move, Minister O'Keeffe said: ‘These technologies are key to the development of our "smart" economy and I want to pay tribute to the Tyndall National Institute for its success in securing the funding.

‘The funding will provide new opportunities to further develop commercially exciting technologies with leading European industry and academic partners.

‘The Tyndall Institite’s success demonstrates that the Government's research and development model is working.

‘We must continue to produce world-class research, increase our numbers of patents and licences and deliver commercialised products through industry collaboration.'

Minister O’Keeffe also announced that the Tyndall Institute and Umicore have signed a licence deal for the joint development of a new material for transparent electronics.

The new material was designed in the Tyndall Institite through computer simulation.

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Bernard Mallee

Special Adviser on Press and Communications

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation

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Dublin 2

Tel: +353 1 631 3944

Fax: +353 1 631 2828

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Email: bernard_mallee@entemp.ie