October 2009 NUI Galway Receives Award under US-Ireland Research Programme

Dr Brian Ward from NUI Galway's School of Physics has been recognised for his success under the US-Ireland Research & Development Partnership Programme at an event hosted by the US Ambassador to Ireland in Dublin. The event saw Minister for Labour Affairs Dara Calleary gather with Northern Ireland Minister for Employment and Learning Sir Reg Empey and US Ambassador Dan Rooney to announce the partnerships on behalf of the US-Ireland R&D Partnership. The US-Ireland R & D Partnership was established to develop innovations leading to economic development and improvements in health promotion and disease prevention by bringing together expertise from academic institutes in the US, Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is led by a steering group of senior representatives from each jurisdiction, with InterTrade Ireland providing the secretariat for the group on the island of Ireland. Dr Ward's award for €463,058, the first under this initiative, was funded along with collaborators from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from Massachussetts and Queens University Belfast. The partnership project is entitled Development of a Greenhouse Gas Ocean-Atmosphere Flux Sensor with MEMS-based Photoacoustic Technology. It will develop sensor technology to improve quantification of oceanic uptake of greenhouse gases, which is one of the biggest issues surrounding global climate change. US Ambassador Dan Rooney welcomed these partnerships, saying: "These successful projects have come through a US review process that is the international gold standard for research excellence. This clearly demonstrates the high quality of advanced research across the island of Ireland and adds greatly to its reputation as a centre of innovation that can compete on an international stage". Minister for Labour Affairs, Dara Calleary said: "We see the US-Ireland R&D Partnership as an important mechanism for achieving high growth and helping bring about the economic regeneration of the island". The partners from Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the US received funding respectively from Science Foundation Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland, and the National Science Foundation. Details of the other projects supported to date can be found at www.usirelandresearch.com -ends-