News Release Page Title

4 April 2000

INGRAM WELCOMES MAJOR RESEARCH AWARD FOR UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER

Minister of State, Adam Ingram MP, this morning congratulated the University of Ulster on their success in winning a major research infrastructure award which will enable them to build a new fire safety research facility at their Jordanstown Campus.

The funding, announced in London today, was awarded by the Joint Infrastructure Fund, a partnership established by Government and the Wellcome Trust to develop the scientific research infrastructure of universities throughout the UK. The University of Ulster's bid for funds faced intense competition from the best research universities across the UK.

Commenting on the award Mr Ingram said: "Top quality research in our universities is essential for the economic prosperity of Northern Ireland.

"The winning of this award is not only a major boost for the research capability of the University of Ulster, but it is also a clear signal that the quality of the research being undertaken in our universities is second to none."

The award will enable the University of Ulster to move its Fire Safety Engineering Research Facility from their present inadequate accommodation in Carrickfergus to new state of the art laboratories on the University's Jordanstown Campus.

The Minister added: "This new facility will become one of the premier academic centres for fire safety in the world. That is a striking endorsement of the University of Ulster and something of which Northern Ireland as a whole can be proud."

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

  1. The Office of Science and Technology (OST) today announced that the University Of Ulster was among 27 projects from 21 universities in the UK to be awarded nearly £130 million under the third round of the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF).
  2. The JIF was established in 1998 with the commitment of £300m each by Government and the Wellcome Trust with the aim of improving the scientific research infrastructure in UK universities. It was later augmented by a £150m contribution from the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
  3. The JIF has five competitive bidding rounds with three rounds having been completed to date. Over the three rounds the JIF has received some 570 applications valued at nearly £3 billion. Including this latest third round, awards to the value of £600m have been made to 100 projects.
  4. The University of Ulster's winning bid for a new Fire Safety Engineering Research Facility is the first major Northern Ireland success for JIF funds (Queen's University had previously been successful in obtaining a part award valued at £400,000 in Round 1). The OST will now negotiate the exact amount of the award with the University of Ulster.
  5. The University's bid was very highly rated by the EPSRC which highlighted the excellence of the research undertaken by the University of Ulster's research team led by Professor T J Shields. The EPSRC concluded that the new facility would enable the University to become one of the premier centres for fire safety research in the world.

For further information please contact Simon Burrowes on 01232 257831 or 0850 976067.