LIMERICK, December 4 2018 – The University of Limerick today (4th December) officially launched the first Marie Curie Co-Fund jointly supported by Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland in Advanced Manfacturing and Process Engineering in Ireland. The programme, PROCESS, will attract 26 international researchers to take part in 2 year fellowships involving cutting-edge scientific training with access to the Bernal Institute’s state of the art research infrastructure. In addition, the PROCESS fellows will take part in industrial placements across multinational and SME pharmaceutical and dairy organisations.

Speaking at the launch, Senator Kieran O’Donnell said: ““Investing in innovation requires investing in people with ideas, ideas that anticipate and respond to tomorrow’s challenges. The launch of PROCESS is an important recognition by the Irish government and the EU that Ireland, and particularly Limerick, is ready to lead in priority areas like manufacturing competitiveness in pharmaceutical manufacturing and dairy processing, which are key sectors for the Irish economy.”

The two-year fellowships will expand researchers’ professional networks and raise Ireland’s international profile as a training hub for research and innovation, bringing together global perspectives to global challenges. 
Leading process engineering researcher, Professor Gavin Walker, Bernal Chair of Pharmaceutical Powder Engineering and PROCESS Director outlined the significance of this investment in talent for Irish industry: “PROCESS will harness the research expertise and infrastructure capabilities already at work within UL’s research community and focus efforts toward developing the next generation of innovators.  The process sector requires additional skilled researchers with novel ideas that deliver impact, particularly those that help to narrow the current knowledge gaps that exist in continuous processing.”

The €3.8M programme is co-funded by Irish funding agencies Enterprise Ireland, IDA and Science Foundation Ireland through their respective, world-leading research and technology centres, all based in UL: the Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC), Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC), both funded by Enterprise Ireland, and the SFI funded Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC). The EU, through its prestigious Horizon2020 Marie Curie COFUND initiative, provides matching funding for the five-year programme. 

Call is now open, queries welcome from interested applicants to www.process-cofund.eu
Follow PROCESS on Twitter: #processstartswithyou 

Pictured: Padraig McPhillips, DPTC CEO, Prof. Gavin Walker, PROCESS Director, Senator Kieran O’Donnell, Dr Denise Croker, SSPC GM and Ahmad B. Albadarin, PMTC Interim Director.