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National Centre for Sensor Research STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN 2008 – 2010 Research-Development-Innovation–Education "Inventing Future Sensing Technologies for Economic and Societal Benefit" April 2008 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................3 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................4 3 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT .....................................................................................5 4 VALUES, MISSION AND VISION.....................................................................................7 4.1 VALUE STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................... 7 4.2 MISSION STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 7 4.3 VISION STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................... 7 5 REALISING THE VISION .................................................................................................8 6 CURRENT OPERATING ENVIRONMENT.......................................................................9 6.1 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATION ...................................................................................................... 9 6.2 NCSR ADMINISTRATIVE CORE TEAM .................................................................................................. 10 6.3 RESOURCES AND FINANCING ................................................................................................................ 10 6.4 SCALE OF NCSR ACTIVITY .................................................................................................................. 10 6.5 SPACE................................................................................................................................................... 11 6.6 EQUIPMENT .......................................................................................................................................... 12 6.7 IP AND COMMERCIALISATION .............................................................................................................. 13 6.8 EDUCATION, TRAINING & OUTREACH .................................................................................................. 13 7 LINKAGES AND RELATIONSHIPS...............................................................................14 7.1 INTERNAL DCU RELATIONSHIPS .......................................................................................................... 14 7.2 STRATEGIC ALLIANCES ........................................................................................................................ 15 8 THE NCSR OPERATIONAL MODEL.............................................................................16 8.1 NCSR OPERATIONAL MODEL .............................................................................................................. 16 8.2 REALISATION OF THE OPERATIONAL MODEL ....................................................................................... 17 9 FUTURE PRIORITY RESEARCH AREAS .....................................................................19 9.1 FUNDAMENTAL MATERIALS SCIENCE: NANO-MICRO-BIO MATERIALS CONVERGENCE ...................... 19 9.2 ENVIRONMENTAL (MONITORING) TECHNOLOGIES ............................................................................... 20 9.3 NANOMEDICINE .................................................................................................................................... 21 10 BALANCING RESOURCE SUPPLY AND DEMAND ....................................................23 10.1 OBJECTIVES & DELIVERABLES ............................................................................................................. 23 10.2 RESOURCE SUPPLY OPPORTUNITIES TO MAINTAIN CURRENT LEVELS OF NCSR MEMBERSHIP ............. 24 10.3 INITIATIVES INVOLVING NEW PIS FOR NCSR 2008-2010 ..................................................................... 25 11 THE LONGER TERM FUTURE – 2020 VISION.............................................................26 APPENDICES A. EXISTING PRIORITY AREAS ........................................................................................27 A.1. DIAGNOSTICS ....................................................................................................................................... 27 A.2. (BIO)PROCESS OPTIMISATION .............................................................................................................. 27 A.3. PERSONAL HEALTH .............................................................................................................................. 28 B. ANALYSIS OF EXISTING STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES....................................30 B.1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 30 B.2. MICROSYSTEMS FABRICATION ............................................................................................................. 30 B.3. (NANO)MATERIALS SCIENCE ............................................................................................................... 31 1 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 B.4. BIOMOLECULAR INTERACTIONS ........................................................................................................... 32 B.5. PHOTONICS ........................................................................................................................................... 33 B.6. INFORMATICS ....................................................................................................................................... 33 B.7. COMMUNICATIONS AND POWER ........................................................................................................... 34 B.8. REFERENCE AND CHARACTERISATION METHODS ................................................................................ 35 B.9. SEPARATION SCIENCE AND MICROSYSTEMS ........................................................................................ 36 B.10. DETECTORS AND (BIO)SENSORS........................................................................................................... 36 C. NCSR SWOT ANALYSIS ...............................................................................................38 2 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 1 INTRODUCTION The National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR) is one of the most successful research entities in Ireland today, in terms of the numbers of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers involved, the amount of research income generated, and the quality and volume of research outputs generated, such as papers published in international peer reviewed journals, and invitations for associated staff to speak at international conferences. It is a national asset, and it has played a leading role in a number of very high-profile successes in recent years that have attracted significant investment by state agencies and industry partners in research initiatives. This has been achieved through the efforts of individuals and teams largely in an autonomous manner. In terms of status within DCU, NCSR is recognised as a university unit, and receives funding to provide a degree of administrative, technical and managerial support for its research groups, although it does not organise and deliver its own degree courses. Members are affiliates of constituent schools and all postgraduate students are registered to schools. In essence, the NCSR provides an integrated environment comprising both infrastructure (laboratory and office space, key equipment items) and services (managerial, technical, administrative) that supports the growth of high quality research in targeted areas related to fundamental and applied sensor science. At this point in its evolution, the NCSR is a complex aggregation of multiple entities, including several large-scale centres/institutes, as well as other smaller scale research teams and groups based around one or more lead academics. As the NCSR cannot, under its current mode of operation, resource research staff or research activity directly, there is no real means to develop a strong core of research officers and specialist technicians, or to 'buy-out' research leaders from their constituent schools (e.g. for internal sabbaticals). Consequently, the NCSR has developed as a confederation of like-minded individuals who have worked together to realise a common vision – to make the NCSR a globally recognised centre of excellence in sensor related research. The NCSR now faces difficult challenges – how to consolidate this success, and build an operational model that will drive the NCSR to new levels of success in a rapidly changing world, where priorities come and go, and increasing levels of investment are required in order to remain competitive. What is the appropriate model for success? Does the centre need a strong core or should it remain as a loose alliance? Is there a middle ground that has elements of both? How will the NCSR deal with success in planned initiatives over the next three years that will see the numbers of researchers rise from the present 260 to over 400 by 2010? Where will the new supervisors come from to manage this increase in numbers? What priority areas of sensor research will drive this growth? Where will these researchers be housed? Will the required space be provided through further expansion of the current location, a new build on DCU campus, or an off-campus initiative? How will this significant infrastructural investment be resourced? In this strategic plan, we attempt to answer these and other related questions. Some of the answers are largely within our own power to deliver; others will involve decisions made external to the NCSR. Our task in the coming months and years is therefore to work together to deliver what we can directly, and seek to influence external decision making in a positive manner for the future development of the NCSR. Prof. Dermot Diamond NCSR Centre Director 10 February 2008 3 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR) is a world renowned, large-scale, multidisciplinary research facility focused on the science and applications of chemical sensors and biosensors (http://www.ncsr.ie). The NCSR is the largest research unit in DCU, and one of the most successful research centres in Ireland today. Moreover, to quote from a report generated by the World Technology Evaluation Centre (WTEC)1 panel following a visit to the NCSR in March 2003 '….NCSR is now world class, with one of the strongest overall sensor research efforts worldwide.' Since the WTEC assessment, the NCSR has grown and developed, and the signs are that the coming years will be even more dynamic. This plan seeks to summarise the context that has led to the current status of the NCSR, and perhaps more importantly, identify the strategic sources of resource supply and demand that must be matched and sequenced, if further change and development is to be achieved. In terms of activity focus, the NCSR will continue to support existing Large-Scale Research Initiatives (LSRIs) such as the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI), the Centre for Bioanalytical Sciences (CBAS) and the Adaptive Information Cluster (AIC)/Clarity, as well as a wide range of smaller research groupings through the provision of space and access to supporting services and equipment. A key objective will be to develop several new LSRIs in: • The Convergence of fundamental NanoMicroBio (NMB) materials science, • Nanomedicine and • Environmental (monitoring) technologies. NCSR aims to grow the number of project/team leaders by 60% to 36 through the recruitment of additional existing faculty and leaders at senior level in strategic areas such as microfluidics, nanomedicine, (bio) environmental monitoring and micro-nano-bio materials science, and through new career development programmes for young research leaders. This growth in research leadership will be matched by an equivalent expansion in the number of PhD research students by 60% to ca. 190 by 2010. In parallel, the NCSR will enhance its status nationally and internationally, and will demonstrate the scale and quality of its research performance through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which will be tracked for its research leaders (publications, h-index, expenditure, numbers of researchers etc.). The NCSR will also drive the development of a 4th level graduate school in Bioanalytical Science and Technology, which will be a key component in the move to a structured PhD programme, and the provision of career development and training courses for postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers. In order to achieve these ambitious aims, the NCSR will require: • An increase2 of the current space footprint to 5450 m2 (ca. 1850 m2 additional space); • A significant upgrading of key facilities and equipment; 1 WTEC is funded by the US Government to generate reports that assess research capability world-wide in strategically important areas of science and technology; see http://www.stormingmedia.us/corpauthors/WORLD_TECHNOLOGY_EVALUATION_CENTER_INC_BALTIMORE _MD.html 2 Assumes a 13m2 allocation per member, a membership of 400 and an additional space requirement of ca.250 2 th m for 4 level Graduate Education Programme 4 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 • A recurrent budget that enables appropriate technical and administrative support for research activities, as well as support for enhanced research supervision through buy-out of academic time from schools, and seed funding for emerging researchers. To enable an appropriate level of support for its research portfolio, the recurrent budget should constitute ca. 30% of the total operating budget. The realisation of the core objectives of this plan will deliver a substantial national asset that will play a leading role in educating and training emerging research leaders for the next stage of national economic development. However, this will require very substantial continuing investment in terms of capital infrastructure and recurrent spending. It is therefore critical that: • The NCSR is centrally involved in capital intensive initiatives such as PRTLI V, and; • There is a substantial increase in the recurrent budget from state agencies through new funding measures that recognise the importance of the NCSR as a National asset. 3 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT Sensor research at DCU can be traced back to the mid 1980s (see Fig. 1), when several researchers started collaborating on areas of mutual interest. This partnership became the Sensors Research Centre (1989), whose members began to build the sensor research effort at DCU through project funding obtained from the EU, the Irish Science and Technology Agency, Forbairt, and industry. In 1995, with funding from the International Fund for Ireland, the Biomedical and Environmental Sensors Technology (BEST) Centre was established. In the initial phase of implementation of DCU's Strategic Research Plan in 1997, the SRC/BEST team widened its remit to become STIPAC (Sensor Technology, Instrumentation and Process Analysis Centre) and was awarded University Designated Research Centre (UDRC) status. The NCSR was established in 1999 with funding of €12 m from the Higher Education Authority (PRTLI Cycle 1), most of which was for infrastructural development (buildings and equipment). This provided the space and equipment necessary for hosting large-scale projects, and was a significant factor in the subsequent successes of NCSR researchers in attracting very substantial external funding. Examples include the Adaptive Information Cluster (AIC), which was established in 2003 with €5.6m in funding from Science Foundation Ireland (www.adaptiveinformation.ie)3, and the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI), which was established in October 2005 through an award of €16.5m under the Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) programme from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) along with an additional €6.5m contribution from industry partners 3 CLARITY CSET which developed from AIC, has been awarded ca. €12 million + industry contributions with a total budget ca. €16.5 million 5 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 (www.bdi.ie). Also in 2005, the Centre for Bioanalytical Sciences (CBAS) was established with €10.6 m support from the IDA and Bristol-Myers Squibb (www.cbas.ie). In addition to a large number of smaller successes by NCSR staff, there have been recent notable awards in the environmental area (e.g. Smartcoast, 2004 and Beaufort, 2007 awards, €3.5 m in total, funded by Marine Institute and EPA) and in photonics (€5.5 m, as part of the National Biophotonics & Imaging Platform (NBIP) HEA PRTLI IV, 2007). Evolution of Sensor Research Activity at DCU 500 No. of NCSR Members 450 C 400 B B A A D 350 S S I C I 1 300 T I N 2 250 Sensor B Research E P C 3 200 S S A S Group R C R 150 T C 100 50 0 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Sensor Research Group = Collaboration between individual research groups; SRC = Sensor Research Centre; BEST = Biomedical and Environmental Sensors Technology; STIPAC = Sensor Technology, Instrumentation and Process Analysis Centre; NCSR = National Centre for Sensor Research; AIC = Adaptive Information Cluster; BDI = Biomedical Diagnostics Institute and CBAS = Centre for Bioanalytical Sciences. Fig. 1: Evolution of Sensor Research at DCU with key milestones highlighted4 4 Note that the three superimposed lines post 2008, represent the possibilities with respect to membership. Scenario 1, NCSR receives increased recurrent budget and expands membership; Scenario 2 NCSR does not receive an increase in recurrent budget, remains at steady state, has individual success but is at increasing risk relative to other equivalent research centres; Scenario 3, NCSR membership decreases due to spin-off activity or failure to secure funding for LSRIs. 6 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 4 VALUES, MISSION AND VISION 4.1 Value Statement NCSR will be guided by the following values and priorities in all its activities: • Integrity and commitment to excellence in every activity • Innovation and prioritization of research for societal benefit • Fairness and support for personal and professional development • Commitment to collaborative relationships, internally, nationally and internationally, involving both academia and industry 4.2 Mission Statement The mission statement for the NCSR shall be: Research - Development - Innovation – Education: Inventing Future Sensing Technologies for Economic and Societal Benefit 4.3 Vision Statement The NCSR will have consolidated its position as a leading global centre of excellence in Sensor R & D by 2010. This will be benchmarked using the following KPIs and strategic objectives (SOs) as highlighted in the following sections: Key Performance Indicators • Publication of at least 100 peer reviewed papers per year. • 10 invention disclosures and 7 patent applications filed per year. • 2 licenses for NCSR developed technology per year. • 40 PhD graduations per year5. • Increase in the number of PhD students by 60% from the 2007 baseline of 120 to 190. • Increase in the number of PIs by 60% to 366. • Generation external funding for at least 20% of the core team budget. Strategic Objectives • Prioritisation of three new research initiatives of very significant scale in the areas of fundamental Materials Science, Environmental Monitoring and Nanomedicine to complement existing initiatives. • Leadership in at least one major strategic national initiative with a significant off-campus component. 5 Assuming steady state of 20 graduates annually from BioSTEP Graduate Research Education Programme 6 It is important to note that a 60% growth in the Number of PIs and PGs from 2007 to 2010 (in line with SSTI recommendations for a doubling of the number of PhDs by 2013 (www.entemp.ie/publications/science/2006/sciencestrategy.pdf) will require an expansion of the current NCSR space envelope. 7 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 • Development of a research-based career structure encompassing postgraduate education and postdoctoral development, personal and professional career development for emerging and established research leaders. • Growth and long-term sustainability of its research activity and international profile through a continuous flow of public and private investments in the Centre. • Creation and implementation of a new research and innovation model that clusters indigenous SMEs with MNCs and research centers in cooperative strategic ventures focused on capitalizing on the commercial potential of research outputs. • Creation of a graduate school in (bio)-sensing/analytical science and technology. • Prioritisation of publication in high-impact journals (top 10% of ranked journals in priority areas). 5 REALISING THE VISION NCSR's current scale of success has been achieved through timely identification of major funding opportunities arising from external competitive calls by funding agencies in research areas related to sensors, assembling a strong team to form the core of a large-scale application, and identifying strategic partners who provide the complementary skills and expertise required to win the funding. Uniquely in DCU, the NCSR has used this approach successfully on a number of occasions, and the scale of the success in terms of finance and team size now places the NCSR as one of the largest sensor research efforts in existence worldwide. In the next phase of NCSR's development, this strategy will continue, through prioritised initiatives in areas outlined in Section 9. This 'top-down' strategy will be vital for realising very large-scale funding opportunities, such as the PRTLI infrastructure programme and the SFI-CSET/SRC programme, and will be prioritised for support by the NCSR. This will be achieved by: • Identifying the key leaders in the priority areas through track record and KPIs • Forming research teams around these leaders to provide demonstrable breadth and depth of research capability in these areas • Identifying key national and international partners, both academic and industry, who reinforce and complement existing competencies • Placing structures around these teams to support proposals for funding of very significant scale • Strengthening relationships with funding agencies In parallel with this top-down approach, the NCSR Director and management team will strive to bring the recurrent budget to a level more appropriate to the needs of a globally recognised research unit of this scale. This will require the national funding agencies to implement new funding arrangements for National Research Centres such as the NCSR that provide for basic operational costs related to personnel (e.g. hiring of specialist scientific officers and technicians, full reimbursement of schools for seconded staff, seed funding for young researchers etc.) and infrastructure (e.g. maintenance/upgrading of equipment and lab space). A third element of the NCSR strategy will focus on growing and supporting new research leaders, both from the large cohort of increasingly experienced young researchers within its ranks, and through the use of targeted recruitment of external research leaders through initiatives such as the SFI Stokes Professorships and Lectureships programme and Marie 8 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 Curie Fellowships. Each of the above represents a critical pillar that will support the future development, growth and sustainability of the NCSR. This strategy was informed by a SWOT analysis involving NCSR members (Appendix C) and is associated with a degree of risk, the most important of which is arguably the requirement for a substantial increase in recurrent funding, as there is no measure currently in existence to support it. Therefore, while the NCSR will seek to highlight to National agencies and Government the importance of such a measure for centres of recognisable national importance, in parallel, the Centre will seek to increase core funding through its own activities, for example, by focusing on research programmes that: • Support full-cost models for staff; • Provide direct support for project support costs (administration, management); • Allow significant overhead costs. In addition, NCSR will ensure that members are aware of the importance of building adequate service contracts into equipment-dominated proposals. There is no doubt that the NCSR in currently in a strong position to complete globally and realise substantial socio-economic impact. However, in the absence of a clear commitment to a significant recurrent budget, it should be appreciated that the NCSR will be at an increasing disadvantage to equivalent centres world wide, who are in receipt of such funding. Furthermore, while NCSR members will undoubtedly continue to attract significant external funding in the coming years, a strong recurrent budget is vital for building many of the support measures that are expected by members of a modern world-class research facility. 6 CURRENT OPERATING ENVIRONMENT 6.1 Management and Organisation The Centre's management structure involves the Centre Director supported by an Administrative Core Team and the NCSR Management Committee (see Fig 2). According to university policy, the Centre Director reports to the Dean of the Faculty of Science and Health and the Vice-President for Research. As of February 2008, there are 23 faculty members, 117 postgraduate students, 82 postdoctoral researchers, 16 administrative staff (distributed across LSRIs), 1 technical officer & 2 research engineers. The Management Committee meets on a monthly basis to discuss progress towards meeting the Centre's strategic objectives and deals with issues related to the Centre's activities. The membership of this group will be reviewed in 2008 in light of changes in the external research environment and the composition of NCSR membership. In a new development, a committee comprising representatives from constituent membership groups (the NCSR Representative Committee, NRC) will be established in 2008 and chaired by the Centre Manager, who will report to the Management Committee on issues raised by the NRC. The NCSR acts as a host facility to three LSRIs: AIC/Clarity, BDI and CBAS. Most LSRI academic members are also academic members of the NCSR. The LSRI Directors are members of the NCSR Management Committee and they report to the Dean of the Faculty of Science & Health and to the Vice-President for Research. There is a good working relationship between the LSRIs and the NCSR at director, manager and administrative/technical support levels. Other board members include the Centre Director, Centre Manager and an elected academic member. The LSRIs are free to pursue their research agendas in an unfettered manner, within the constraints of minimising replication of function, particularly in terms of administrative and technical support, and managing access to key items of Centre equipment. The process of developing integrated support structures is already underway, for example, through a new system recently introduced to streamline the areas of purchasing and invoice processing between NCSR and the LSRIs. 9 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 National Centre for Sensor Research Organisational Structure NCSR Management Committee Prof. Dermot Diamond (Chair) Prof. Brian MacCraith (BDI Director) Dr. Tia Keyes (NCSR Elected Academic Representative) Prof. Richard O'Kennedy (NCSR Life Sciences Leader) Dr. Jackie Glynn (NCSR Centre Manager) Prof. Robert Forster (NCSR Photonics & Nanotechnology Leader) Ms. Mary Comiskey (NCSR Mgt. Committee Co-ordination & Admin) Prof. Harry Holthofer (CBAS Director) Prof. Dermot Diamond International Centre Director NCSR Advisory Board Representatives Dr. Jackie Glynn Committee Centre Manager Ms. Mary Comiskey Ms. Angela Lally TO BE RECRUITED Ms. Olivia Johnston Centre Administrator Centre Secretary/PA Marketing & Cohesion Officer Technical Officer Ms. Josephine Ozoani Laboratory Attendant Fig. 2: NCSR Organisational Structure 2008 6.2 NCSR Administrative Core team The NCSR Administrative Core Team comprises the Centre Manager, Centre Administrator, Marketing & Cohesion Officer, Centre Secretary/PA, Technical Officer and Laboratory Attendant. Each of these roles provide essential support to NCSR researchers and its LSRIs and the Team liaises with DCU's internal units such as the Faculty of Science & Health, OVPR and support units such as the Finance Department and HR (see www.ncsr.ie for initial contact points). The NCSR Administrative Core Team plays a vital role in the efficient day to day operation of the Centre. The Team has co-ordinated projects for the NCSR such as IRCSET proposal to develop a Graduate Research Education Programme (GREP), the Beaufort Marine Award (€2.4m) and the CSET application to establish BDI and will continue to support upcoming strategic proposal submissions (e.g. PRTLI Cycle 5, and SFI Strategic Research Clusters and FP7 projects), targeting in particular programmes that offer full-cost models and support for project administration/management costs. 6.3 Resources and Financing Until very recently, the centre had received an annual subvention from DCU mainly for salaries for the Administrative Core Team and to partly cover the Director's secondment, with some contribution towards equipment maintenance, marketing and cohesion activities, utility costs, office consumables, travel and short courses. The Centre Director and the OVPR recently agreed to move to a three-year funding plan, and an outline budget has been agreed for the period 2007-2010. 6.4 Scale of NCSR Activity The NCSR is DCU's most successful research entity in terms of its KPIs such as numbers of researchers, research spend etc. Over the period 2003-2006, NCSR averaged 30% of the total university spend7. Research numbers (e.g. postgraduate students, research fellows) 7 NCSR research expenditure by year (millions €) 03/04: 3.33; 04/05: 5.83; 05/06: 6.24; Based on numbers obtained from DCU Finance Dept. 10 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 are now over 2208, drawn from the Schools of Biotechnology, Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Health and Human Performance, Nursing, Mechanical Engineering, and Communications. According to 2006-2007 figures9, DCU has 500 postgraduates and 125 research staff which makes NCSR's research population ca. 35% of the university total. 6.5 Space The recent 'Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2006-2013' published by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment acknowledges that "world class research requires first class people and also the supportive infrastructure within which to carry out that research".10 The PRTLI initiative under the National Development Plan (2002-2006) made significant progress in rectifying the deficits in research infrastructure in the Higher Education Sector, and the NCSR is a positive example of what can be achieved through linked investment in infrastructure and people. However, in research, nothing remains still, and the NCSR must now build on the foundations established during this first developmental phase. The NDP (2007-2013), though SSTI, outlines plans for upgrading existing facilities and the provision of new infrastructure and it is clear that the intention is for further significant investment in infrastructure over the next number of years. Given the scale of the NCSR's success to date and its established track record as an international flagship research centre for Ireland that consistently delivers high quality research outputs, investment in the next phase of infrastructural development of the NCSR must be prioritised by DCU. The total area currently occupied by NCSR is ca. 3,600 m2 dispersed across campus in many locations. This includes current space occupied by NCSR in the R&E Building (2000m2), new extension (1200m2), Albert College, Science Building (X-Block) and Physics Building (N- block) and includes both office and lab space for NCSR, BDI, AIC and CBAS (see Figure 3). This space is currently at capacity and is insufficient to accommodate the projected 60% growth in researcher numbers by 2010. The projected space requirement for an NCSR membership of 400 by 2010 using 13m2 per researcher is 5200m2. The projected space requirement of 5200m2 does not take space requirements for the BioSTEP Graduate Research Education Programme students into account. The additional space resource required for the BioSTEP cohort at the NCSR is ca. 250 m2. Therefore, the planned expansion in NCSR activity over the period will require ca. 1850 m2 additional space. However, it should be appreciated that this still leaves the NCSR sited at multiple locations on campus, which is not optimum in terms of organisational support and encouragement of cross-team cooperation This cycle of infrastructural investment as a precursor to enhanced research activity has already been shown to be a very successful strategy and it is critical at this juncture to reinvest in the next phase of this cycle if the NCSR is to fully realize its potential. Opportunities for significant infrastructural investment are relatively scarce – the main Government vehicle is the PRTLI programme which funded the first phase of NCSR's development. It is therefore critically important that the NCSR is centrally involved in major infrastructural investment programmes like PRTLI, and a leading contributor to faculty and university research infrastructural plans and initiatives. In particular, the NCSR must play a leading role in the forthcoming DCU PRTLI bids. This in turn should be one component of a multiphase DCU research infrastructural investment programme designed to ensure that DCU continues to be an engine for research and economic activity, and plays a leading role in building the next generation of knowledge intensive industries. A world-class research facility requires an integrated space encompassing laboratories, offices and specialist 8 As of February 2008, there are 23 faculty members, 117 postgraduate students, 82 postdoctoral researchers, 16 administration (distributed across LSRIs), 1 technical officer & 2 research engineers. 9 www.dcu.ie/research/research_brochure.pdf 10 see www.entemp.ie/publications/science/2006/sciencestrategy.pdf 11 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 facilities, all present in a coherent entity of appropriate scale. A variety of models exist that could inform DCU strategy, such as the Biodesign Institute in Arizona State University, USA, (www.biodesign.asu.edu), the Biomedicum Centre at the University of Helsinki, Finland, (www.biomedicum.fi/) and the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute at the University of Wollongong, Australia (http://www.uow.edu.au/science/research/ipri/index.html). Fig. 3: Current dispersed locations of NCSR researchers across the DCU campus 6.6 Equipment The NCSR is relatively well equipped with facilities and instrumentation to support advanced multidisciplinary sensor research. Specialist facilities include cleanrooms, synthesis laboratory, microfabrication units, constant temperature rooms, laser laboratories, surface characterisation and biohazard containment areas, in addition to more general application specific project laboratories and shared analytical laboratory. The equipment and facilities of the associated Schools (Biotechnology, Chemistry and Physics) at DCU also contribute to the research. As described in Section 6.5, this space is currently at capacity and is insufficient to accommodate the projected membership of more than 400 researchers. There is a clear need to rationalise and integrate equipment for certain key functions that apply across multiple teams within the NCSR and across the university, such as microfabrication, surface characterisation, mass spectrometry and the more sophisticated separation sciences. In order to improve the quality of the service provided, the NCSR will therefore seek to increase both its technical and scientific officer base and to play a cooperative role in developing models for specialist equipment support and access sharing across LSRIs, Schools and Faculties, including a structured approach to training in specialist 12 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 equipment items for members. In parallel, the NCSR will prioritise and support initiatives by members that target investment in capital equipment in mission critical areas, as well as seeking increased recurrent funding to ensure that existing equipment is properly maintained and upgraded. This is a major factor inhibiting the overall competitiveness of the centre. It cannot be solved by the Centre alone – it requires a commitment to core recurrent funding to be implemented. 6.7 IP and Commercialisation INVENT has responsibility for the management of the University's research based Intellectual Property (IP) and its commercialisation through technology transfer, licensing and the creation of campus companies. NCSR liaises closely with the Technology Managers from INVENT to ensure that IP from NCSR is captured and carries out regular research reviews in order to determine possibility for IP capture. IP within the LSRIs is managed separately and constrained by separate individual IP agreements between the University and LSRI-specific industrial partners. Translational research for societal and economic benefit is a vital part of both NCSR and University vision for the future. Therefore, in order to maximise IP output and commercialisation of its research through licensing and spin-offs, the NCSR will: • Ensure adequate education of its researchers in the process and importance of capturing IP. This will be achieved through 6 monthly seminars for incoming staff organised in cooperation with INVENT. • Perform regular research reviews to capture aggregate IP output across NCSR. These reviews will be led by the NCSR Centre manager and will be carried out with the cooperation of INVENT. • Establish a commercialisation committee chaired by an INVENT nominee which will meet quarterly to assess IP and commercialisation output. • Use the level of commercialisation of its research outputs as a key performance indicator, including patent filing, levels of industrial interaction, development of innovation partnerships and development of market reports to assess this indicator. • Develop an entrepreneurial spirit and raise the commercial awareness amongst NCSR researchers through the provision of a focussed training on entrepreneurship and commercialisation. 6.8 Education, Training & Outreach The NCSR has an established comprehensive Education & Outreach programme that is well integrated into the centre's research activities. It consists of a broad range of projects that provide educational experience in Sensor Technology across the continuum from primary and secondary school pupils and teachers, to undergraduate and postgraduate students and post-doctoral fellows. This function has been fulfilled to date by a dedicated NCSR E&O Officer. However, a core feature of major SFI initiatives is a strong commitment to E&O activities, with up to 10% of CSET budgets specifically allocated to E&O. In order to avoid duplication of effort, NCSR will rationalise and leverage the E&O programmes across embedded LSRIs. In addition, due to the increased complexity and scale of the NCSR, there is a rapidly growing need for both internal cohesion and for external projection of the centre. This E&O position (currently vacant) has therefore been revised to reflect these needs and the new Marketing & Cohesion (M&C) Officer will be recruited in Q2 2008. The Marketing & Cohesion Officer will be responsible for projecting the Centre externally through website development, promotional and educational materials and interaction with a wide variety of interest groups. External communications will have strong national and international 13 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 dimensions, as well as embracing the greater DCU community. The Marketing & Cohesion Officer will also be responsible for internal communications and cohesion activities across the various research teams that comprise the NCSR. A significant priority for the NCSR will be the establishment of an all-island Graduate Research Education Programme (GREP) in bio/sensing/analytical science and technology that will set the international benchmark for excellence in doctoral training in bioanalysis: BioSTEP: Graduate Bioanalytical Science & Technology Education Programme. This programme will address the needs for scientists and research managers with doctoral qualifications across Ireland's growing knowledge driven economy as bioanalytical sciences underpin much of the biotechnological and biopharmacuetical industry in Ireland, and NCSR is uniquely enabled to deliver such a programme. Programme modules ranging from scientific to transferable skills will be accessible to all NCSR members allowing them to develop interdisciplinary knowledge which will enhance the knowledge base within the NCSR. The BioSTEP GREP will potentially offer emerging researchers who wish to do so, an opportunity to develop their teaching portfolios. 7 LINKAGES AND RELATIONSHIPS 7.1 Internal DCU relationships NCSR sits within a complex matrix of overlapping DCU units and relationships and interacts with Schools, Faculties, Graduate Studies Office, Registry, OVPR, Invent, Finance, HR, Estates, University Designated Research Centres (UDRCs) and other DCU-based national research centres as depicted in Figure 4. The implementation of effective communication structures will be very important for NCSR's future development and expansion and relationships with these entities. The NCSR Marketing & Cohesion Officer will play an important role in the implementation of internal communications and cohesion activities across the various LSRIs and research teams that comprise the NCSR and will act as a point of contact between NCSR constituencies (e.g. via the NRC) and the University administrative units. The complexity of the Centre/Schools relationship has resulted in tensions which are in many cases related to budgetary issues including the lack of funding mechanisms that recognise the real commitment of Schools to the Centres. Schools effectively "subsidise" Research Centres through the release of key academic staff without realistic reimbursement for academic time. The NCSR will require a substantially increased recurrent budget to provide more realistic "buy-out" of academic time. Additional opportunities to enhance the mutually beneficial research/teaching relationship between the NCSR and its associated Schools might include contribution to specific taught modules within Schools by emerging researchers and the establishment of a Graduate Research Education Programme by NCSR with the continued registration of postgraduate students to Schools within the Faculties under the oversight of the Graduate Studies Office. NCSR will work closely with the Heads of Schools and endeavour to resolve the current tensions. 14 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 NCSR's INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Dean, Faculty of Science & Health Faculty Office & Technical Team Faculty of Science School of Chemical Sciences School of Physical Sciences President's Office & Health School of Biotechnology OVPR & Dean of School of Health & Human Graduate Studies Performance HR School of Nursing Finance Dept Estates Office Public Affairs RINCE Equality Office H & S Office Senior Other NCPST NICB Quality Promotion Mangt. Research ICNT Unit INVENT & N Centres Faculty of Engineering C Registry Support & Computer Services & Computing - School of Computing S Education Services Units Faculties Library - School of Mech. & Manufacturing R Engineering - School of Electronic Engineering AIC, BDI & CBAS Fig.4: Internal DCU Relationships 7.2 Strategic Alliances Networks with International Centres of Excellence are an efficient means of advancing knowledge, especially in a trans-disciplinary sensor research area. The pooling of complementary expertise, and the associated mobility of researchers, impacts strongly on the research and training environment of a centre. The NCSR has established several strategic research and education alliances with internationally recognised centres in identified key areas of Sensor R&D. Examples include: • Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Australia http://www.uow.edu.au/science/research/ipri/index.html • Sensors research Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA www.gatech.edu • VTT Electronics, Oulu, Finland - www.vtt.fi • Cornell University Nanobiotechnology Centre - www.nbtc.cornell.edu • Department of Micro and NanoTechnology (MIC), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark, www.mic.dtu.dk/English/Om_instituttet.aspx • Adams Institute for Bioanalytical Chemistry, Kansas State University, USA www.adamsinstitute.ku.edu/ The purpose of the alliances is to: • Encourage and support exchange visits of research personnel at all levels. 15 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 • Facilitate mutual access to research facilities and equipment. • Actively pursue mechanisms for funding of joint research projects. Additionally, DCU has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Arizona State University (http://www.dcu.ie/internal/staff/president/linkages/ASU_March 2006_ILDB.pdf). The purpose of this MOU is to provide a framework through which DCU and the Arizona Board of Regents for and on behalf of ASU facilitate the creation and development of a strategic alliance of mutual benefit in enterprise, research, teaching and engagement with the respective communities of DCU and ASU. NCSR has existing collaborative research links with researchers in the Biodesign Institute at ASU (http://www.biodesign.asu.edu/home ) and these will be further developed through initiatives such as US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme which is managed by SFI, in cooperation with US and Northern Ireland funding agencies. 8 THE NCSR OPERATIONAL MODEL Figure 5: NCSR Operational Model 8.1 NCSR Operational Model The NCSR provides a supporting environment to enable researchers to undertake world- class multidisciplinary research into the fundamental sciences that underpin sensor technologies, and the key applications that arise from these technologies. This supporting environment consists of general and specialist laboratory space, office space, and space dedicated to specialist equipment necessary for fabrication, characterisation and validation of innovative materials and sensor platforms. As shown in figure 5, funding and resources (1) from National and International funding agencies and industry partners fund a broad constellation of focused research projects supervised by small groups of senior researchers 16 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 or individual PIs (2). Projects with a common alignment are clustered together, and along with external partners (academic, industry, state) these are further developed into large-scale research initiatives such as SFI-CSETs or IDA Research Centres (3). The LSRIs in turn generate more projects (4) (e.g. through emerging research leaders) and (5) spin-outs (new companies, industry joint ventures, licensing, national initiatives). Income generated from these diverse sources, together with research grants, overheads, and core university funding (6), all contribute to the long-term sustainability of research activities (7). 8.2 Realisation of the Operational Model The model described above has been employed with considerable success to bring the NCSR to its current state. However, the model must be dynamic, and in the coming years, the NCSR must not only support the further development of its existing LSRIs, but also act as an effective catalyst for the establishment of new LSRIs, and ensure an effective diversity of income sources (particularly commercial sources such as licensing, spin-offs, joint ventures etc.) is realised. The projected growth of NCSR research activity will be underpinned by an expanded membership (academic, postdoctoral researchers, postgraduates, and admin/technical staff) served by an integrated suite of supporting services. The basic deliverables needed to deliver this growth and to provide the necessary support are: • Provision of dedicated space to encompass NCSR's entire range of research and support activities including the NCSR-led BioSTEP graduate programme. This will require an increase of the current space allocation to ca. 5450 m2. Planning for this must begin immediately, to enable key decisions such the location and design characteristics of the expanded facility to be clarified and submitted through programmes like PRTLI. This must happen at the earliest opportunity to facilitate the planned expansion in NCSR researcher numbers. • Integration and pooling of sophisticated equipment for fabrication, characterisation and validation into equipment 'suites' (e.g. microfabrication suite, mass spectroscopy suite, analytical support suite) with dedicated technical support. To realise this goal, the NCSR will require recurrent funding for technical officers with appropriate levels of expertise, and agreement between key users of the equipment within the NCSR and across other DCU units. It is envisaged that these suites will operate across the NCSR, and include LSRI equipment. To maximise the impact and effectiveness of this strategy, it will be important to have broad involvement across schools and faculty in the support, organisation, and integration of these equipment suites. • Maximising the efficiency of administrative and technical support across the Centre. There are potential opportunities to improve the effectiveness and realise efficiencies in the areas of technical support and some aspects of administrative support across the Centre. However, its realisation will require a closely integrated working environment rather than the current relatively fragmented scenario, which has elements of the NCSR scattered across various locations on campus. Certain functions (e.g. purchasing and finance, specialist technical support etc.) will be increasingly centralised within NCSR, in cooperation with other DCU units (Schools and Centres). • Close working relationships with schools and faculties. To a degree, this is already happening, but in order for it to be more effectively delivered, an increase in NCSR recurrent budget is required. For example, schools effectively subsidise the NCSR through release of key staff whose time is largely spent on centre related activities. At the moment, this is achieved mainly through goodwill, as there are benefits to both parties (e.g. schools benefit through involvement of centre postgraduates in demonstrating duties and involvement of senior postdoctoral fellows in lecturing). However, if this is to be properly structured and managed, the NCSR 17 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 will require a substantially increased recurrent budget to provide more realistic "buy- out" of academic time, where appropriate (e.g. through internal sabbaticals) and provision of an effective administrative interface with university support units. • Researcher Career Structures. NCSR recognises and acknowledges that the ability to attract and maintain the best world-class researchers is critical to its success. Central to achieving this is the provision of an environment that encourages and supports personal development of its constituent members at all levels. The NCSR will work with the University and other agencies to develop a strategy to achieve this objective. • Support for emerging research leaders. The development of a structured career path for emerging research leaders is a key goal for the NCSR. For example, the development and delivery of teaching modules for undergraduate and 4th level courses by emerging research leaders will enable them to broaden their skills base, and strongly connect research and teaching. To realise this, it is necessary to create research positions that parallel conventional existing faculty positions. Ideally, these positions should be fully funded for up to five years, and while research focused, will have a significant teaching element. Within the five years, the appointees would be expected to attract significant independent funding, ultimately moving to a self- sustaining position. The NCSR will seek to have funding streams implemented that will embed 3-4 of these positions within the centre. The NCSR has already moved to implement some of these goals using existing resources, but a much more coherent and systematic effort is now required to enable the NCSR to move towards an operational model that is sustainable in the long-term. Clearly realisation of many of these goals requires a very substantial increase in the overall recurrent budget. This is the single most important barrier to implementation. The adoption of a full-cost model for research funding is critical in this regard. The indications are that this will be adopted for Framework (FP7) programmes and for SFI and other national agency programmes. In order for the NCSR to benefit from the adoption of this model, and from overheads generated by members, its status within DCU needs to be clarified and the mechanism for distribution of staff and overhead income streams clearly defined. One way to achieve this is to designate the NCSR as a formal university entity with its own staffing complement, whose full-cost income is directly returned to the Centre. Another approach is to have staff allocated to both schools and centres, with the income divided across both. In other jurisdictions, both models, and a hybrid of both apply. A key strategic decision with respect to any national research centre, like the NCSR, is the degree of autonomy it operates under, as this defines its relationship with the host university, the faculty from which it has emerged, and the constituent 'feeder' schools that provide the access to potential PhD students with appropriate educational background and knowledge. This is closely associated with the Centre's location and the funding model employed, and ranges from completely autonomous national centres located off-campus with direct Government support (e.g. CSIRO in Australia) to on-campus centres that have a distinct identity with access to independent core funding, and the ability to make independent decisions (e.g. Biodesign Institute at University of Arizona) to centres that are much more inter-leaved with schools and faculties and are directly funded by the University (e.g. the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University). In practise, a continuum exists across these point examples. The NCSR is already regarded as significantly independent due to its defined location on-campus and its control over day- to-day operational matters. But to realise the goals of this strategic plan, the current core funding and operational model will have to evolve and change significantly. In terms of funding, it must move away from the current university dominated model, to a much more 18 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 diverse model that embraces multiple sources including National agencies and European programmes (e.g. through direct subventions, access to overheads, and implementation of full-cost models for projects), direct industry support (e.g. for a particular research area, laboratory or team) and private sponsorships/endowments (e.g. through the university trust, DCUET). In parallel, the operational model must become more independent in terms of ability to hire specialist support staff and ability to maintain key facilities. Changes in operational model and funding model are intimately correlated – one cannot change without the other! While the above implies a move towards greater autonomy, this must be balanced with the need to retain strong links to feeder schools, and to realise economies of scale though close liaison with other strategic centres on campus. Hence, change must be managed carefully in order to maximise our efficiency, enhance our competitiveness, and ensure our long-term sustainability. 9 FUTURE PRIORITY RESEARCH AREAS The NCSR's past successes were achieved by identifying research areas of strategic national and international importance and societal benefit that presented significant funding opportunities and mapped to the Centre's demonstrable core competencies. Together with appropriate external partners, the Centre prepared very competitive applications for large- scale funding. These successful applications include three LSRIs: AIC/CLARITY, BDI and CBAS and additional funding initiatives in the area of Environmental Monitoring (SmartCoast, Beaufort Marine Award) and photonics (PRTLI IV). Individual researchers and multi- disciplinary research teams have also had considerable success. This successful strategy will be continued during the lifetime of this strategic plan. Existing priority research areas are detailed in Appendix A while Appendix B addresses current NCSR strengths and weaknesses across the various research contributions that are required to build functioning sensor systems for applications in diagnostics & personal health monitoring, environmental monitoring, process optimisation and nano/bio-medicine. The growth and development of the NCSR will be based on focused activity in these three strategically important areas, together with a commitment to support existing embedded LSRIs as outlined below. The areas selected for prioritisation over the next three years represent a balance between fundamental research into materials science, and targeted applications in health and the environment. These will form the basis of large-scale coordinated applications for strategic support from national agencies. The success of this strategy, in terms of achieving its key objectives as highlighted in each area below, will be reviewed by the NCSR Management Committee on a quarterly basis. 9.1 Fundamental Materials Science: Nano-Micro-Bio Materials Convergence There are unprecedented funding opportunities at the convergence of nano-micro-bio (NMB) materials research. It is a key priority under FP7 and was recently identified as a priority under the US-Ireland R&D initiative (nanobiomaterials), and the Ireland-China research initiative, following a visit by SFI PIs to China in 2006. This area is an excellent fit with priorities targeted by SFI and EI, and it is of significant interest to multiple industry sectors, including many multinationals currently located in Ireland such as IBM, Intel, HP, Analog Devices and the Medical Device Sector. A strong fundamental NMB materials research capability in DCU is critical for the future development and evolution of the NCSR. Chemo/Bio sensing is moving rapidly towards completely autonomous analytical devices that can perform sophisticated analytical procedures and processes independently and reliably. Central to the realisation of the next generation of analytical devices is control of the macroscopic properties of surfaces through manipulation of the surface structure at the molecular level. In particular, it is critical that the 19 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 NCSR further develops its strengths and expertise in the fundamental materials in areas such as: • Molecular deposition and immobilisation, and associated surface characterisation and imaging. • Low power approaches to liquid transport on surfaces or within microchannels; e.g. photo/electro- control of surface polarity/charge switching, or use of soft polymer biomimetic (artificial muscle) pumps and valves incorporating effective charge carrying entities like CNTs. • Materials for energy scavenging and storage leading to energy self-sufficient platforms. • Bead or micelle/colloid based systems for sampling, molecular transport, surface recognition, controlled delivery. • Switchable systems (photochemical and electrochemical) that display very significant (reversible) changes in properties under external control, including surface binding, polarity, charge, permeability, porosity, colour etc. • Nanostructured and nanomaterials such as conducting polymers and composites for sensing applications. These are core underpinning materials for the entire NCSR research portfolio, and as such constitute a priority for rapid expansion and development. While there is very significant research effort in fundamental materials science in the NCSR, it tends to be largely fragmented, with no clear leader. The NCSR recently supported a bid for a Stokes Chair in NMB Materials, which, although highly rated, was not successful. Specifically, the NCSR will • Prioritise the development and expansion of NMB materials research through support for the establishment of a Chair in NMB Materials convergence at DCU; • Encourage the integration of existing NMB materials research into a cluster activity that could lead a future SFI SRC/CSET proposal. 9.2 Environmental (Monitoring) Technologies There is a growing demand for systems that can continuously monitor the quality of the atmospheric and aquatic environments for the protection of human health and the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem. The task of developing robust and reliable autonomous monitoring systems is fundamentally multidisciplinary in nature, requiring new sensor development, data management, communication systems, analytical validation and rigorous environmental testing. Ireland is in the process of implementing the Water Framework Directive (WFD) which will drive demand for systems that can monitor a wide range of indicator parameters on a routine basis. Systems that can provide high quality analytical data are currently too expensive to buy and operate, and are therefore not widely deployed. Under current funded programmes, the NCSR is developing elements of a hierarchical monitoring system that employs clusters of low cost devices that provide limited data, working collaboratively with more complex instruments capable of accurate real-time monitoring. NCSR researchers will continue to develop new platforms, materials and detection mechanisms that will provide enhanced functionality for environmental monitoring systems. This will be linked to data management and communications platforms that will provide flexible access to the information generated by these systems in real field deployments, for example, through a live environmental portal. The ultimate goal is to develop self-sustaining autonomous sensor networks that can be embedded and dispersed in the environment, providing rich environmental information over extended periods of time. The NCSR has a well established track record in the area of sensor development for 20 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 environmental parameters, and has had significant success in attracting funding from the EPA and Marine Institute (SmartCoast Project). The EPA STRIVE programme for research offers very significant opportunities for the NCSR under its priority thematic areas, including: climate change, waste, resource management, water quality & aquatic environment, air quality, and through key measures such as Environmental Technologies, Risks to Human Health and Advances in environmental assessment methods. The Marine Institute's, Sea Change strategy aims to drive the development of the marine sector as a dynamic element of Ireland's knowledge economy. A central element of this strategy will be the development of 'SmartBay', a fully instrumented environmental monitoring and communications infrastructure based in Galway Bay, designed to act as a catalyst for validating emerging environmental technologies in a real scenario. Furthermore, this strategy is strongly aligned with priority areas in the EU Framework programme (FP7), and the development of experienced national research teams in the environment will be vital for enhancing NCSR's activity across Europe. Specifically, the NCSR will: • Support and encourage coordinated applications for research funding in the area of environmental sensing/monitoring across various agencies (Marine Institute, EPA, SEI, EI, FP7, SFI etc.) to achieve a critical mass of environmental research activity in the NCSR. • Support existing research initiatives such as Marine Institute Beaufort initiative and Smartcoast/Smartbay, through integration of the new chair in Environmental Monitoring into the NCSR and the coordination across Beaufort and other environmental research activities. • Encourage larger-scale research clustering activities that could lead to the development of an LSRI and successful attraction of very significant SFI funding through the SRC/CSET programmes. 9.3 Nanomedicine Nanomedicine, as defined in 'Nanomedicine, Nanotechnology for Health' - the Strategic Research Agenda for Nanomedicine of the European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine, (ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/nanotechnology/docs/nanomedicine_bat_en.pdf) is the application of nanotechnology to achieve breakthroughs in healthcare. It exploits the improved and often novel physical, chemical and biological properties of materials at the nanometre scale. Nanomedicine has the potential to enable the early detection and prevention and to essentially improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of diseases. The European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine is an industry-led consortium bringing together the key European stakeholders in this area. In September 2005 it delivered a vision paper (ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/nanotechnology/docs/nanomedicine_visionpaper.pdf) and defined mid and long term objectives in a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA). It is apparent from this that Nanomedicine represents a significant opportunity for NCSR researchers. An ageing population and higher expectations for better quality of life are drivers for an improved healthcare system. Nanotechnology and its application to healthcare, can offer solutions to current medical problems. It holds potential for better early diagnosis, 'smart' treatments and triggering of self healing mechanisms. Critical mass already exists in NCSR in a significant number of areas which are directly relevant to Nanomedicine. These include existing research programmes within BDI; collaborative programmes between BDI, the International Centre for Therapeutics and School of Biotechnology-Therapeutics/Theranostics Research Programme which was successful under PRTLI 4; participation of BDI researchers in the multi-university National Biophotonics & Imaging Platform (NBIP) which provides critical information about the origin 21 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 and development of major diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. Three areas were identified as the basis of the European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine SRA: • Nanotechnology-based Diagnostics including Imaging • Targeted Drug Delivery and Release • Regenerative Medicine NCSR is conducting research relevant to all of these three areas. The ultimate goal in nanodiagnostics is to identify disease as early as possible. Nanotechnology can offer diagnostic tools with increased sensitivity, specificity and reliability. Current research in BDI is driving towards delivering these diagnostic tools along with offering a single miniaturized device which integrates the analytical steps from sample preparation to detection. Research performed by BDI researchers in the NBIP will lead to significant enhancements in the techniques to capture images of the chemical activity inside living cells in real time as it happens and in 3-D. This will provide critical information about the origin and development of major diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. The resulting progress should result in more innovative and powerful in vivo diagnostic tools. Advancements in in vivo diagnostics will also rely on molecular imaging where the goal is to create highly sensitive, highly reliable detection agents that can also deliver and monitor therapy "theranostics". Research performed by BDI researchers as part of the PRTLI 4 Therapeutics/Theranostics Programme will contribute to advances in this area. The current drivers for the development of new drug delivery techniques are the need for methods to target drugs more effectively to the site of disease and novel ways to deliver new classes of pharmaceuticals which cannot be delivered by conventional means. Nanotechnology will play a critical role in reaching these goals. NCSR has an opportunity in this area through developments in NMB materials science which has been identified as a research priority. Specifically, the NCSR will support and prioritise: • Applications for funding in NanoMedicine from a variety of sources such as the FP7, SFI RFP and SRC programme • Support for clustering of multidisciplinary research teams currently activity engaged in NanoMedicine and related research in the NCSR; • Exploitation of synergistic links with national and international research teams in related areas; • Strategic national and international initiatives in NanoMedicine. 22 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 10 BALANCING RESOURCE SUPPLY AND DEMAND 10.1 Objectives & Deliverables The most important objective for the NCSR is to provide an environment in which world-class of sensor related research can develop and flourish. The successful realisation of this objective will create a growing demand for resources in terms of: • Appropriate laboratory, specialist and office space • Access to specialist and routine equipment • Support services (technical and administrative) Table 1 summarises the most significant sources of resource supply in the period 2008-2010 which will be targeted by NCSR to maintain current membership levels. It should be recognised that, while not all of these applications will be successful, we anticipate that the degree of success will at least maintain NCSR research activity at its 2008 levels. Table 2 summarises initiatives that involve new PIs in period 2008-2010 and the projected additional NCSR personnel that will be generated. Again, we anticipate that not all of these initiatives will be successful, and the projected numbers for additional personnel incorporate an appropriate level of risk. These numbers are therefore relatively conservative, and are at the lower end of the potential expansion of the NCSR. Strategic planning for additional research space on campus must take these predictions into account if we are to maintain our successful momentum. In addition, if the NCSR is to consolidate its position as a Leading Global Centre of Excellence in Sensor R & D by 2010, it is critical that it receives a recurrent budget to a level more appropriate to the needs of a globally recognised research unit of this scale. The recurrent budget should constitute ca. 30% of the total operating budget and would therefore be in the region of €1-2m p.a. This recurrent investment will permit NCSR to provide an integrated, multidisciplinary, world- class research environment through initiatives such as: − Support for a number of professional research positions including 3-4 research faculty positions funded for up to 5 years for emerging leaders. − Buy-out of principal investigators time from Schools. − Support the funding of 4 NCSR-based Technical Officers. − Permit reinvestment in capital equipment in mission critical areas, upgrades/replacement of current equipment to keep pace with technology and equipment maintenance. − Support the provision of skill courses, training in commercialisation/entrepreneurship and advanced level training in specialist equipment items for NCSR members. − Support Marketing & Cohesion activities for NCSR which will include production of promotional material, website redesign and annual Open Day for stakeholders. 23 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 10.2 Resource Supply Opportunities to maintain current levels of NCSR membership Initiative Funding Agency Value € Time Frame Call Award PRTLI Capital Investment 75%, Recurrent Investment 25% (GREP) HEA TBC Q2 2008 Q4 2008 STRIVE EPA €250K-€1m Q1 2008 Q3 2008 SmartCoast2 Marine Institute TBC Q3/4 2008 2009 TBC BDI CSET Phase 2 SFI Up to €20m Q3 2009 Q1 2010 TBC Clarity CSET SFI ca.€3m for NCSR Q2 2008 CBAS expansion IDA TBC TBC Table 1 Projected NCSR Resource Supply in period 2008-2010 to maintain current membership level NCSR's existing PIs will submit proposals for these awards to sustain the NCSR at, or above, the current level of operation in terms of research numbers. Initiatives involving new PIs are summarised in the following table. 24 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 10.3 Initiatives involving new PIs for NCSR 2008-2010 Funding Associated Associated Time Agency Initiative Value € PGs PDs Frame Chair Environmental Sensing SFI PI Award €2m 9 3 Q1 2009 SFI SRC Environment €4.5-€7.5m Q4 2008 SFI Chair Microsystems PI Award €2m 9 3 Q3 2008 Chair NanoBioMaterials (via SFI SFI Stokes Award?) €900K 9 3 TBC Lectureship in Polymer Chemistry & SFI Materials (via SFI Stokes Award) €450k 9 3 Q4 2008 SFI 5 SFI Principal Investigator Awards 5x$2m 25 15 Q3 08/09 4 SFI President of Ireland Young SFI Invstigator Awards (PIYRA) 4x€1m 16 0 TBC SFI SRC Biomarkers €4.5-€7.5m ca €2m/yr for 5yrs TBC TBC Q4 2008 for total initiative. NCSR's portion EI/IDA Competence Centre e.g. WISEN TBC TBC TBC Q1 2009 Numerous opportunities. PI driven with EU FP7 NCSR support TBC TBC TBC 13 PI total 77 27 TOTAL NEW PERSONNEL 117 Table 2 Initiatives involving new PIs in period 2008-2010 (Projected additional NCSR Personnel) NCSR has 270 members (Feb 2008). Therefore an additional increase of 117 people will result in a membership of 387 by 2010. Using a space requirement of 13m2 per person, a membership of 400 (which would includes the additional administrative and technical support required by this increased membership) will require 5200 m2 space. This projected space requirement of 5200m2 does include space requirements for the BioSTEP GREP students (ca. 250 m2). Therefore, the planned expansion in NCSR activity over the period will require ca. 1850 m2 additional space above NCSR's current space envelope, including the recent expansion and refitting of the Albert College. In addition to space requirements, there will be increased demands on equipment access. In particular, it is likely that there will be increased demands in the area of micro/nano fabrication and surface characterisation, and possibly clean room access. 25 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 11 THE LONGER TERM FUTURE – 2020 VISION In the year 2020, the NCSR will be the key anchor tenant in a state-of-the-art dedicated 4th level facility11 on DCU campus comprising general and specialized dedicated lab space such as clean-room areas and containment zones, a suite of high-end instrumentation and dedicated administrative and specialist technical support staff. The Centre team, researchers, seconded faculty, visiting researchers and other Centre staff will be located in well designed offices located in proximity to their laboratory space. Together, this will provide an integrated, professional support environment for existing LSRIs and for project-based research aligned with the NCSR's strategic priorities. The facility will also house a number of other successful DCU research ventures and incubator space for emerging centres in a manner that encourages and facilitates resource sharing and exchange of ideas and activities across disciplines and centres. In recognition of its national strategic importance, the NCSR will have dedicated core funding comprising 30% of its total expenditure, provided by a new mechanism implemented by SFI in cooperation with other national agencies. This funding is assessed on a five-year cycle in terms of NCSR's KPIs (external research income, PhD graduations, publications in international journals, patents and commercial licenses and the H-index of project leaders). This core funding will be used to provide a dynamic research environment through provision of support for, amongst other things, equipment maintenance, employment of administrative and technical support staff, minor works, cost sharing on external grants, seeding new ideas, internal sabbaticals for DCU staff into the Centre, leadership growth and research career development activities, and building strategic international links. 11 4th Level Institute/Academy: The facility also houses the DCU School of Graduate and Postdoctoral training and education, and a number of focused graduate training initiatives. 26 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 APPENDICES A. EXISTING PRIORITY AREAS The NCSR will continue to support technologies and underpinning sciences aligned with its existing LSRIs – Diagnostics, Bioprocess Optimisation and Personal Health. A.1. Diagnostics Diagnostics research in the NCSR occurs largely within the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute. This SFI funded CSET integrates research across many disciplines and brings together a cluster of impressive industry partners including Analog Devices, Hospira, Inverness Medical, Amic, Beckton Dickinson and Enfer Technologies. Academic partners are drawn from the Tyndall National Institute, the RCSI and NUIG. The BDI has its own management structure and IP management models appropriate to a large-scale, long-term research programme. It is a flagship national and international initiative that has the potential to generate very significant socio-economic impact. Key targets for the research programme include early diagnostics for cardiac disease and mastitis (see www.bdi.ie). It draws on fundamental sciences and technologies that are of core value to the NCSR, like microfluidics, signal transduction and amplification and biorecognition. The diagnostic platforms under development in this CSET have the potential to generate very visible successes in terms of technology transfer to industry partners and commercial licenses that justify the investment in such initiatives. The NCSR will continue to fully support the key sciences and technologies underpinning diagnostic research and to assist with the further development generally within the NCSR, and specifically of BDI as it moves towards its second phase of SFI support during the course of this strategic plan. This will be instanced by: • Targeted acquisition of key infrastructural equipment relevant to the long-term goals of BDI. • The rationalisation of fabrication and characterisation equipment into a more integrated model to facilitate maintenance and the provision of a professional service to researchers. • Support for growing related research activities by early career project leaders. A.2. (Bio)Process Optimisation Rationale: The Bioprocess Industry recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. The explosion in Biotech coincides with rapid advances in Genomics, Proteomics and Robotics making drug design and commercialisation a reality. As the industry matures and the number of commercial Biologics increases, the next trend is in drug safety and regulatory authorities are keen to pursue this through inspection and audit. Analytics play a key role in the delivery of superior compliance and CBAS is currently working on multiple platforms to deliver novel bioanalytics that will alter the regulatory landscape over the coming years. The interface between industry and academia is the next fertile field for exploration. It is the culmination of blue sky research with defined targets and outputs driven by industrial need that support the ongoing partnership between DCU and industrial partners. This model fits equally well into diagnostics or theranostics. Building upon the excellence in sensing technologies that has been established over the past 8 years, it is anticipated that the basic methods under development in CBAS will be capable of implementation in microfluidic and MEMS technologies opening up the sphere of nanotechnologies. At present the bioanalytical field is populated with many qualitative assays and the need for quantitative, rapid real time measurements is ever increasing with expectations of 'quality by design'. The NCSR already possesses several of the capabilities 27 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 to ensure successful delivery of novel rapid micro-analytical systems. Strategic Objectives: NCSR's strategy will focus on the development of novel rapid real time analytical tools that can support the development and commercialisation of novel biologic therapeutics. Working from the start of the bioprocess value chain towards directed patient care, each of the LSRIs will have a role to play in delivering this strategy. In particular, the NCSR will prioritise: • The development of suitable orthogonal analytical methods that meet current and future industry needs. • Facilitate research into the miniaturisation of such technologies to enable in-line or at-line rapid feedback systems to proliferate. • Develop knowledge to enable technology transfer of these developed technologies to industrial partners. • Facilitate the introduction of new industry and academic partners in CBAS, and the general development of this LSRI as a national asset. A.3. Personal Health Personal health monitoring represents a very significant opportunity for NCSR researchers. There are huge market drivers – for example the obesity epidemic and aging population, that are predicted to overwhelm existing healthcare delivery systems. The emphasis over the coming years will be to, as far as possible, provide technologies to allow people to maintain their own 'wellness' at home, and to minimise the duration of hospital stays. Critical mass already exists in this area e.g. (in BDI and AIC/Clarity), and this will be a particular focus for NCSR research activity in the near and medium term. There are additional opportunities for networking via national and international funding programmes with major multinationals, SMEs, and other research units, institutes and centres, to develop strategic research programmes that will generate very significant research income in this domain. Areas of particular interest include: • Emerging diagnostics platforms for point-of-need personalised monitoring of health status. • Wearable sensors for monitoring physical activity and vital signs. • Merging of the above into a personalised health informatics platform. • Deployment projects with external partners to demonstrate the use of these emerging technologies in very focused applications. NCSR's strategy will focus on the sensing and analytical science element of these areas, and to develop strategic partnerships with centres of research excellence and technology providers with core competencies in areas complementary to the NCSR such as communications and health informatics. Specifically, the NCSR will: • Develop close links with relevant teams at DCU in the School of Health and Human Performance, the Faculty of Engineering and Computing and the School of Nursing. • Support the emergence of an LSRI with significant activity in this area such as CLARITY (a CSET developed from the AIC). • Develop links between LSRIs with complimentary strengths in pHealth, like BDI, CBAS and CLARITY. • Play a leading role in a small number of high-profile national initiatives in pHealth with 28 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 significant socio-economic impact (e.g. aging population, obesity, diabetes, personalised home-based diagnostics etc.). 29 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 B. ANALYSIS OF EXISTING STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES B.1. Introduction This section addresses current NCSR strengths and weaknesses across the various research contributions that are required to build functioning sensor systems for applications in diagnostics & personal health monitoring, environmental monitoring, process optimisation and nano/bio-medicine (see Figure 6). In particular, it identifies those areas upon which the NCSR should focus its finite resource, both through developing existing strengths, and filling gaps through building new capabilities and forming strategic alliances with external partners. Fig. 6: Generic Research Building blocks of sensor systems for Various Application Domains B.2. Microsystems Fabrication Rationale: Microfluidics and microsystems science & engineering are the foundations for the analytical technologies of the future, spanning sampling, sample processing, microreactors, selective reagent addition, automated calibration and sensitive detection. Coupled with electronics (signal capture, system control and communications) and optics (photo-controlled reactions and processes, optical detection/spectroscopies), microfluidics will provide the solutions to current obstacles for technological advancement across multiple application domains. Context: The NCSR already has capabilities in the fabrication and characterisation of microfluidic systems. NCSR's equipment base (see www.ncsr.ie ) includes laser micromachining, micromilling, micro-injection moulding, hot embossing, surface probe microscopies, SEM (EDAX), profilometry, various spectroscopies, precision liquid deposition, etc., with some 30 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 specialist technical support, and arrangements for booking access and training. This range of equipment needs to be extended and upgraded, to enable the NCSR to retain its competitive edge. External competition in this area is considerable, and there are major international research efforts in this area; examples include groups, centres and institutes like the Department of Micro and NanoTechnology (MIC) at the Danish Technical University (www.mic.dtu.dk), the MESA+ Institute at the University of Twente, The Netherlands (www.mesaplus.utwente.nl/), and the Harvard Centre for Microfluidics and Plasmonics Systems (www.seas.harvard.edu/mips/). Within Ireland, there are capabilities in the Tyndall Research Institute, The University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast. It is important to note that while competition is fierce, major centres of research activity tend to form linkages readily with external partners who can offer similar levels of expertise and knowledge, or specialist facilities, and national funding agencies have increased funding opportunities dramatically. This point is critical as it follows that if our infrastructure falls behind, then our attractiveness as a partner in collaborative international research partnerships will decrease. Strategic Objectives: During the lifetime of the strategic plan the NCSR will continue to develop capabilities and expertise in microfluidics and microsystems as a key building block of future microanalytical devices that will impact across current and future LSRIs. This will primarily be achieved by; 1. Recruitment of a research leader to a chair position in microfluidics science and technology; 2. Upgrading NCSR's equipment base for microsystems fabrication and characterisation as a priority investment area; 3. Establishment of strategic links with national and international teams with significant capabilities in the fundamentals and applications of microsystems technologies. B.3. (Nano)Materials Science Rationale: Solutions to grand challenges ranging from disease diagnosis to environmental remediation and molecular electronics demand the creation of novel, multi-functional materials with useful electronic and photonic properties. The grand challenge in nanomaterials is to develop techniques capable of producing nanoscaled materials over multiple lengths scales, at the levels of efficiency, economy, and precision necessary to realize broad new classes of applications in such diverse technologies as chemical sensing, electronics, photonics and energy generation. Context: Nanotechnology is poised to be the largest science-based economic development opportunity worldwide. For example, the EU Commission set out a bold vision in "Towards a European Strategy for Nanotechnology" (http://ec.europa.eu/nanotechnology/pdf/nano_com_en_new.pdf) in 2004 that sees Europe leading the world in this multidisciplinary research area. Equally, in the USA, current federal and private investment currently exceeds $5 billion a year and within 10 years, nanotechnology is expected to grow to a $1 trillion global industry, employing 2 million people. Ireland has identified strategic areas for development, e.g. see "Nanotechnology in Ireland" authored by the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (http://www.forfas.com/icsti/statements/icsti040714/icsti040714_nanotech_statement.pdf). Significantly, the Irish roadmap for nanotechnology indicates that the development of "nanotools" is largely complete and prioritises "nanomaterials" for the period up to 2010. Moreover, under this national strategy, focus areas of the NCSR, i.e., medical devices, photonics, electronics and the environment are expected to be solidly embedded in Irish industry by 2020. 31 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 Strategic Objectives: The NCSR will: • Establish strategic links with national and international teams with significant capabilities in the Nanomaterials Science. • Participate in a major national industry-academic partnership in nanobiotechnology/ nanomedicine that will bring together leading national and international researchers to develop world-leading approaches to creating organised structures at the nanoscale. • Create novel approaches to achieve organised nanoscale structures and advanced materials for biosensing and catalysis to strengthen Ireland's ability to protect intellectual property and commercialise nanobiotechnology research. B.4. Biomolecular Interactions Rationale: Knowledge of the fundamental processes underlying biomolecular recognition, and the structural basis for binding by biological entities including antibodies, lectins, receptor proteins, enzymes and synthetic ligands is an essential element of NCSR research activity. A key focus is the design and development of these binding ligands and the capacity to engineer these molecules with the required specificity and sensitivity. Such recognition events are fundamental to the study of a host of important biological events including invasion of cells by viruses, cell-cell interactions, microbial cell binding to substrates and tissues, neurochemical signalling, cancer biology and the mechanisms of immune recognition. The selectivity of binding behaviour is also a significant contributor to fundamental sensor properties like limit-of-detection and sensitivity. In addition, it may contribute to a greater understanding of the processes involved in biofouling. Research in this area bridges both fundamental nano-materials activities and more applied device development. Context: The NCSR has established strengths in molecular interaction research, and will continue to develop and strengthen this area. Key equipment items have been purchased in recent years e.g. multiple Biacore systems, facilitating the development of a national and internationally recognised site of expertise in this technology, high resolution mass spectroscopy (including LC-MS and MALDI), as well as imaging and high through-put systems. These latter facilities confer the capacity to identify key ligands rapidly that can be integrated into a variety of sensor and other detection platforms (e.g. antibodies or antibody- derived fragments and lectins). Most of NCSR's researchers, teams and groups are involved in this area but is particularly focused in BDI and CBAS research programmes. Strategic Objectives The NCSR will: • Develop the necessary skillsets and acquire access to appropriate databanks to allow full exploitation of the rapidly evolving computational biomolecular interaction modelling. • Maintain the leading edge in biomolecular interaction assays based on the surface plasmon resonance and emerging technical platforms. • Master the use of targeted post-translational modifications to enhance the biointeraction studies. • Develop significant expertise in biomolecular recognition in relation to its commercial potential and applications through exploiting funding opportunities, development of IP, 32 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 spin-outs and training programmes. • Improve the NCSR's basic infrastructure to provide adequate space, capabilities for sample handling, containment of materials and large-scale generation of key biomolecules. • Provide significant opportunities for industrial collaboration, especially SMEs, utilising the expertise/facilities within the NCSR. B.5. Photonics Rationale: Photonics underpins much of the transducer research in the NCSR in biosensing and chemical sensing. It spans fluorescence and absorbance based measurements, and includes reflectance, transmittance, evanescent wave and plasmonic detection schemes. It includes fundamental measurements and materials characterisation, including the use of strategic large-scale equipment, and reaches across to very low-cost disposable optical sensors for single-shot measurements. Context: The NCSR has been very active in photonics research. The recent award of ca. €5.5 million to NCSR researchers under PRTLI IV is specifically for biophotonics research and will underpin high impact photonics research in the NCSR. Research in photonics combines available photonics technologies with established or evolving technologies and methods in molecularly-based medicine and biology and advancing optical imaging and spectroscopy at the micro- and nano-scales. A major focus will be on hybrid and multiphoton imaging, e.g. combined Raman and fluorescence, enhancing the spatial and temporal performance and developing novel dyes for imaging. Applications range from disease diagnosis and prognosis, functional studies of proteins in isolation and in vivo, to measurement of drug uptake, release and metabolism. Strategic Objectives: The NCSR will be at the international forefront of 'science driven by light' where fundamental science and engineering in photonics will create disruptive technological advance and economic growth. The objectives are to: • Encourage larger-scale research clustering activities that could lead to the development of an LSRI and successful awards of very significant SFI funding through the SRC/CSET programmes. This will include other national research centres in DCU. • Establish the NCSR as a significant presence in nanobiophotonics leveraging collaborations with key national and international partners. • Stimulate cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in critical technologies through the provision of state-of-the-art specialist facilities, equipment and infrastructure. New fundamental insights will drive next generation photonic technologies in application domains such as biomedical sensing, imaging, through to ultrafast information processing and communications. Industrial and commercial partners will play integral roles in the photonics strategy of the NCSR, partnering in key initiatives, guiding our strategic direction, supporting the design and delivery of an advanced training and education programme. B.6. Informatics Rationale: 33 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 The concept of a systems based approach to research is not new but it has been slow to be adopted into the Biological field. Its strength lies in the fact that research is defined as the culmination of several disparate disciplines joining forces to address complex research hypotheses. To facilitate knowledge management it is essential to have enabling technology that will act as a singular point of reference for all of the associated knowledge workers e.g. Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). There are many commercial packages available but all are only as good as the policies and procedures governing their application, outputs on both hardware and software are needed to ensure a functioning system is implemented. Context: In NCSR, most research groups employ several science disciplines. Having such a disparate group ensures a diverse collection of data derived from many diffuse software packages and databases. To be truly effective a package needs to be developed to act as gate keeper for all of this knowledge and to allow knowledge sharing across disciplines. Once successfully beta tested and with policies and procedures refined it is evident that such an approach will have application in NCSR. A beta testing model will be installed in CBAS in the first half of 2008 with its testing phase completed by Q3 2008. Strategic Objectives: NCSR will focus on the provision of cutting edge enabling technology to collect, filter and disseminate diffuse data from very disparate sources. This technology will have applications that can collect data (e-notebooks), store data (data historian) and the capacity to mine this data using advanced multivariate tools. In particular, the NCSR will prioritise: • The selection of suitable enabling technology that will provide a cost effective campus wide solution to bioinformatics data management. • Planned capabilities to interface with existing databases or other planned databases. • Exploit synergies between bioinformatics and ongoing and planned research initiatives. B.7. Communications and Power Rationale: The NCSR does not have a core capability in emerging communications and power technologies, which are vital components of functioning systems in all application domains. Furthermore, it is not possible for the NCSR to be world-class in all aspects of sensor science and device/platform development. Context: Research into power generation, storage and supply is a major growth area that complements the core competencies of the NCSR. However, power considerations are a key issue for future sensing systems, particularly with respect to autonomous devices which are critical for the future development of widely dispersed sensor networks. 34 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 Strategic Objectives: The NCSR will: • Develop engineering capabilities to employ proven and commercially available power and communication technologies required for device prototyping and proof of concept projects. • Build strategic links with world class centres of research excellence in power and communications. • Exploit opportunities arising from fundamental research in materials science carried out by NCSR that could have potential, particularly in power scavenging. B.8. Reference and Characterisation Methods Rationale: Validation of new analytical devices, sensors and materials characterisation all require access to reference and characterisation equipment that is often strategic in nature (i.e. multiple users across many projects), and expensive in terms of primary purchase and subsequent cost of ownership. Within the latter, there may be requirements for regular servicing, specialist technical support and provision of consumables that are beyond the capabilities of the current NCSR core funding model. Examples include surface analysis and characterisation equipment, mass spectrometry (stand-alone and/or coupled with separation systems), bioanalytical equipment, high throughput systems, and microfabrication equipment. Context: A systematic programme of investment in key equipment is required to maintain NCSR's competitive edge, ensure the highest quality of research outputs, and increase its attractiveness as a research partner (e.g. in FP7 programmes). Access will be managed (both internal and external) and training provided for potential users to NCSR's equipment is used in an efficient and effective manner. Maintenance will require a resource input to the NCSR (e.g. under the AOIP) as will the provision of a number of specialist research officer positions. Strategic Objectives: The NCSR will: • Continue to develop a targeted infrastructural equipment portfolio in order to maintain essential characterisation capabilities and perform cutting-edge measurements in areas such as surface characterisation, multiple hyphenated techniques such as information rich detection schemes coupled with separation systems, photonics, microfabrication technologies and spectroscopy. • Implement controlled access to strategic equipment, a programme of regular equipment maintenance and specialised space for locating same. • Establish 3 research officer positions in the areas of separations/mass spectrometry, microfabrication technologies and surface characterisation by 2010. • Develop and implement a series of advanced training courses in instrumentation and characterisation technologies that will contribute to faculty courses at 3rd and 4th level. 35 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 B.9. Separation Science and Microsystems Rationale: Separation science is a key underpinning analytical technology for all aspects of sensor technology, environmental monitoring, bio-analytical measurements and diagnostics. Current trends within the field are focused towards the development of new 'intelligent' phase materials, particularly so-called 'switchable' surfaces. The inclusion of such materials within micro-analytical systems for industrial, environmental and health monitoring applications represents an area of significant future growth. Context: Emerging critical mass exists in these areas in both individual research groups and its LSRIs, and this research will continue to underpin a great deal of concurrent research taking place within the NCSR in the near and medium term. There is a significant opportunity for the NCSR to develop its national and international reputation for separation science in the near future, with the associated benefits in grant income from the industrial (pharmaceutical) and environmental sectors. Strategic Objectives: NCSR will focus on the underlying fundamental physical and materials science supporting all modes of separation science and micro-fluidic analytical systems. In particular, the NCSR will prioritise: • The development of new materials exhibiting controlled or switchable selectivity for chromatography/ separation science/micro-fluidic analytics and beyond. • Miniaturised analytical systems incorporating separation phases for industrial, environmental and biomedical monitoring. • Advanced and rapid separation technologies to support the strong nationally and internationally based pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical industries. B.10. Detectors and (Bio)Sensors Rationale: Continued biosensor development is essential for the detection and understanding of key biological interactions and for the rapid and multiplexed testing required to support personalized medicine. Detection methods have progressed considerably and now offer the ability to detect multiple markers/ analytes simultaneously and rapidly. An emerging trend is label-free detection of biological interactions, made possible by advances in physical methods. In parallel with this, protein engineering enables the tailoring of biosensing components for improved applicability and performance within the biosensor device. Context: Considerable progress has been achieved within NCSR. Cloning and protein engineering techniques have provided optimized, high-performance protein components that are easier to conjugate/ immobilize than their natural counterparts. Various sophisticated, improved optical detection methods have been compared and label-free detection is being explored in the context of key clinical and food analytes. There is considerable scope to build on progress to date by leveraging additional funding from both public and industrial sources. Strategic Objectives: NCSR will focus on the development of tests for key analytes that match robust and sensitive 36 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 detection systems with optimally-tailored biocomponents. In particular, NCSR will prioritise: • The development of tests for significant emerging/ neglected markers/ analytes, or substances where existing tests are sub-optimal. • The matching of sensitive and versatile detection method(s), including label-free ones, with the biocomponents/ biological interactions in question. • The protein engineering of functional fragments and other variant biocomponents specially tailored for optimal performance. 37 National Centre for Sensor Research Draft Strategic Research Plan 2008 -2010 C. NCSR SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Multidisciplinary: research, expertise, facilities and Funding: Sustainable funding of the centre (central DCU knowledge. funding) and the maintenance costs of equipment etc. People: talented, enthusiastic, ambitious, diverse and Gaps in start-up funds, financial models for CSETs at a positive. time of change in universities, CSET Vs Core funding. Facilities: instrumentation, equipment. Culture/Communications: lack of communication/ Supply Chain: Basic to Applied Research conducted. meetings, lack of identity and affiliation/ buy-in. Lack of International Reputation and Recognition. project focus. Calibre of PIs: well established and having international Governance: Schools vs. centre vs. industry goals. Part links. time researchers. NCSR management structure unclear. Core Team: Administration functions established. Fragmentation of NSCR into LSRIs. Unique Skills: Sensors Recruitment and Retention: Ability to recruit nationally Location: vibrant economy, University on site, access to and internationally, lack of clear career path for airport. members, constant re-skilling/ knowledge transfer. Lack Expertise: Good people and excellent postgraduate of support for younger researchers. quality Equipment and Support: lack of dedicated technicians LSRIs: 3 LSRIs (AIC, BDI, CBAS) and general support, equipment base poor, underutilised International Alliances equipment, lack of centralised management of equipment therefore lack of access to equipment. Need new equipment. Research Approach: satisfying University (discovery driven) and industry (system driven), clear position on 4 Tier model. Branding: clarity on the brand (centre or institute). Space: Physical separation of laboratories, space and people. Capacity: Constrained by capacity. Administration: Need additional administration support. OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Funding: abundant funding available through EU Change in Government Strategy: Away from R&D. (particularly FP7), SFI, general high level of funding in Competition: both nationally and internationally, this is a Ireland. Funding for Interdisciplinary collaboration. competitive and crowded space with other centres being Output: Patents, IP, Output established and potential for other new centres coming Researchers: With the opening of Europe there is on stream. access to more researchers. Future Funding: Must deliver to ensure future funding. National Brand: National brand – sensors in Ireland and Dependence on Government funding must be balanced DCU. with private funding. New Science / Sectors: NanoTechnology, Environment, International Attractiveness of Location: cost of living in Marine, Materials and Informatics. Ireland, relocation of personnel, competition for Irish Context: ease of collaboration, access to policy international PhD students, and competition for makers, strategic global position (English, geography, members. immigration) Industrial R&D: low level of industrial R&D in Ireland. New SFI programmes: SFI academic chair / Lecturer. Must be aligned with MNC Industry Needs. Must find a Building: New flagship building in DCU. mechanism of dealing with SMEs in Ireland. Building the Culture and Governance: New focus to a Personnel: Competition is tough. People are the coordinated centre with multiple projects but one brand / lifeblood of research. identity. Brand: Maintaining the brand Industry: Industry-academia partnerships are growing. Lack of time: Between Teaching and Researching. Improving relationships with industry. Full Economic Cost: Will raise cost of R&D Graduate School: Landmark school Graduate School: Could divert attention away from R&D. New International Strategic Alliances: As compiled during NCSR Academic Members Away Day January 2007 38
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posted: | 5/7/2010 |
language: | English |
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