Trinity participates in establishment of the National Institute for Bioprocessing, Research and Training

Posted on: 01 September 2005

Trinity College is co-operating with UCD, DCU and Sligo IT to create a National Institute for Bioprocessing, Research and Training (NIBRT). Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin TD announced that the Government has approved a proposal from IDA Ireland to fund the establishment of this new State-of-the-Art Institute.

Based at the UCD Industry Park, the NIBRT will receive in excess of €72m funding from Government over the next seven years to establish the Institute, its world class research and training programmes and a 9,000 sq. metre facility with a substantial scale up capacity.

In July 2004, IDA Ireland issued an invitation for proposals to establish this new Institute. Following an extensive independent international review and negotiation, the submission from a consortium led by UCD in partnership with TCD, DCU and Sligo IT was accepted and submitted to Government for funding through IDA Ireland.
The Institute, which will be only one of a small number of its kind in the world, will be a centre of excellence in bioprocessing and biomanufacturing technology training and research to support the rapidly growing biopharmaceutical industry in Ireland. A key element will be the substantial investment in a scale up capability within which the training and research can take place. This relatively unique capability will make the training and research carried out at the Institute highly relevant to the needs of the Biopharmaceutical industry in Ireland and throughout the world.

Through the involvement of the academic partners, the new Institute will provide a substantial output of people across the spectrum of the bioprocessing skills, from PhD’s to technicians educated in industry best practices and a real time environment. It will also build up a substantial research team to undertake significant collaborative research between academia and industry to address the major technology issues of the bioprocessing industry. The Institute will give Ireland a competitive advantage and act as a magnet of attraction for major biopharmaceuticals investments from both overseas and indigenous companies.