Seven new research centres spanning advanced therapies, artificial intelligence, energy, medical devices, pharma and biopharma, quantum science and semiconductors have been launched by Research Ireland.
Involving a Government investment of €460 million, the new centres will operate as part of an enhanced national research network known as Rinn – the Irish word for a point, tip or headland. The centres will leverage additional funding of €500 million from industry and other sources, including more than 100 multinational corporations and almost 100 Irish SMEs.
According to Siobhán Roche, director of research for the economy with Research Ireland, the new unified network reflects a step change in the scale and breadth of collaboration, governance, and funding, to support a more co-ordinated and internationally engaged research system with the aim of delivering national and international impact.
“The seven Rinn centres will support 577 research positions, deliver over 800 PhDs and involve 17 research-performing organisations in a co-ordinated, collaborative national effort of unprecedented scale,” she says.
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The new network will build on the success of existing Research Ireland centres. “The research centres have been transformative by turning excellent research into real-world impact over the past 13 years,” says Roche. “We have learned from the success of that model and are building on it. The Rinn centres will support the development of world-class talent, strengthen industry partnerships, help to attract foreign direct investment, support indigenous industry growth, promote regional development and enable Ireland to remain internationally competitive.”
The new centres are:
Rinn Semiconductors
Rinn Semiconductors aims to lead Ireland’s response to the end of Moore’s Law scaling, the point where traditional improvements in computer chips slows down or ends, by pioneering modular integrated circuit-based (chiplet-based) semiconductor design and integration. With deep expertise in the areas of heterogeneous integration and advanced packaging, the Rinn Semiconductors team proposes to enable transformative advances in these technologies and to apply them in the three main application areas of future internet; sustainable energy and environment; and digital healthcare.
Rinn Pharma & Biopharma
Rinn Pharma & Biopharma proposes a transdisciplinary research programme focusing on two core challenges in drug development. The first is the creation of patient-centred medicines that meet the needs of diverse patient groups, including the development and manufacture of advanced formulations that improve drug effectiveness, acceptability, and dosing. The second is the integration of sustainability into all stages of drug development and manufacturing, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of pharmaceutical processes across synthesis, bioprocessing and formulation.
Rinn Artificial Intelligence
Rinn Artificial Intelligence is designed to serve as a national hub for research and innovation in data science and AI. The programme has two overarching goals: to advance foundational cutting-edge research in data science and AI, and to pursue open, international and transdisciplinary research aimed at studying, designing and implementing strategies to address societal challenges.
Rinn Advanced Therapies
Rinn Advanced Therapies is focused on the development and manufacturing of personalised advanced cellular immune therapeutics (ACITs). ACITs have a variety of defined disease-specific uses within the field of cancer therapies, as well as for other non-cancer conditions, such as autoimmune diseases. The centre is patient and society focused and aims to enable personalised quality by design, delivering the right therapy, at the right dose, to the right patient, at the right time.
Rinn Medical Devices
Rinn Medical Devices is focused on supporting healthy ageing by developing medical device innovations that tackle the chronic conditions most likely to affect people as they age, from heart and kidney disease to neurological conditions, cancer and beyond. The centre’s work is guided by three core research areas, or clinical pillars: cardiovascular-renal-metabolic health, neurological health, and cancer and inflammatory conditions, reflecting health challenges that matter most to older individuals and the people who care for them. To translate research into real devices that reach patients, these pillars are supported by three cutting-edge technology themes: host responsive devices, detection systems and the technology drivers that make it possible.
Rinn Energy
Rinn Energy will drive energy system decarbonisation by delivering an ambitious, world-leading and scientifically excellent research programme. It consolidates expertise from 10 institutions and integrates expertise across science, engineering, economics, policy and social sciences to take a whole system approach from renewable energy supply and smart grids to end-use in transport, industry and communities. The research programme is focused across eight thematic areas addressing technological innovation, offshore renewable energy, smart grids, power-to-X solutions, energy economics, policy development and societal engagement.
Rinn Quantum
Rinn Quantum aims to establish Ireland as a global leader in quantum science by uniting eight top Irish institutions in a multidisciplinary effort spanning six strategic themes: quantum foundations, networks, control and energetics, computation and simulation, high performance computing integration and societal impact. Rinn Quantum will bridge fundamental research and real-world applications, addressing challenges in secure communication, future materials, and sustainable quantum technologies.
The network effect will be of critical importance, says Roche, the Research Ireland director of research for the economy. “The Rinn network will bring researchers, industry, Government and wider stakeholders together to create a unique research and innovation ecosystem of international significance and scale,” she says. “There is an increased focus on collaboration between the different centres. Each Rinn centre will tackle some of the most pressing societal and economic challenges, and if researchers in one centre want to access expertise in AI in another to apply it to a pharmaceutical, energy system or another problem, they will be able to do so. By leveraging the power of the network, the centres will help to position Ireland as a leader in the global knowledge economy.”
