€5m potential as IT Carlow allies with China’s Shadong Academy of Sciences

25 Mar 2015

A partnership between IT Carlow and China’s top research institution Shadong Academy of Sciences has the potential to generate €5m in future research and commercial projects.

Shandong Academy of Sciences is the largest science and technology research institution in Shandong province which has a population of over 100m.  The academy incorporates twelve separate research institutions and more than 2,500 research staff. It is located in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, in eastern China.

A Chinese delegation visited IT Carlow this week, led by Professor Chengjian Yu, Vice President, Shandong Academy of Science.  The visit was initiated by Dr. Xuemei Germaine, a Bioscience graduate of IT Carlowwhose campus company, MicroGen Biotech has achieved success in both Ireland and China. 

“The partnership between IT Carlow and Shandong Academy of Sciences will help establish MicroGen Biotech as a major player in soil bioremediation in China and support the company’s research base out of IT Carlow,” Germaine said.

Opening doors

Professor Chengjian Yu, Vice President of Shandong Academy of Science – one of China’s top state research institutions – and Dr. Patricia Mulcahy, President, IT Carlow at the signing of a partnership agreement between the two institutions 

The collaboration with IT Carlow will result in the promotion of PhD and postdoctoral training, researcher exchange and visiting scholar opportunities, according to the Institute.

It will also facilitate international projects out of IT Carlow funded by the Chinese State, Shandong Province and Horizon 2020 programmes and allow for the transfer of relevant technologies from Institute of Technology Carlow to Shandong Academy of Sciences for commercialisation in China.

“This significant collaboration with Shandong Academy of Sciences will open many doors for IT Carlow,” David Dowling, head of School of Science at IT Carlow said.

“It offers important opportunities for the Institute’s enviroCORE research group, both in Europe and in China.  Shandong Academy of Sciences is the largest science and technology research institution in a province with a population of over 100million with twelve separate research institutions and more than 2,500 research staff.”

China education image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com