23/06/2005

Queen's opens £9 million physics centre

A £9 million state-of-the-art facility, which will act as a centre for world-class international physics research, has been officially opened by Queen's University.

The International Research Centre for Experimental Physics (IRCEP) will ensure that essential research can be carried out in developing the concepts, tools and skilled personnel for next generation technologies, its Director Professor Bill Graham said.

"It will provide local hi-tech companies with access to the highest quality research and facilities and allow young people studying physics in Northern Ireland to have access to world class facilities,” Professor Graham said. “It will also enable the School of Mathematics and Physics, which achieved a grade 5 in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) to maintain its international profile.”

The Centre has been funded under the SPUR initiative (Support Programme for University Research), through a public-private partnership programme between the Department for Employment and Learning and Atlantic Philanthropies over a four-year period.

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