Institute of Technology Carlow has signed a partnership agreement with the Shandong Academy of Sciences, one of China’s top state research institutions, in a collaboration that will facilitate PhD and postdoctoral training, researcher exchange and the commercialisation of IT Carlow technologies in China. The partnership, according to IT Carlow, has the potential to generate up to €5 million in future research and commercial projects for the Institute and Shandong Academy of Science.

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

The collaboration with IT Carlow will result in the promotion of PhD and postdoctoral training, researcher exchange and visiting scholar opportunities, according to the Institute. It will also facilitate international projects out of IT Carlow funded by the Chinese State, Shandong Province and Horizon 2020 programmes and allow for the transfer of relevant technologies from Institute of Technology Carlow to Shandong Academy of Sciences for commercialisation in China.

A Chinese delegation visited IT Carlow this theyek, led by Professor Chengjian Yu, Vice President, Shandong Academy of Science.  The visit was initiated by Dr. Xuemei Germaine, a Bioscience graduate of IT Carlow whose campus company, MicroGen Biotech has achieved success in both Ireland and China. MicroGen Biotech  offers a unique treatment process to clean up toxic environmental pollutants from soils and waste streams and has been supported by Enterprise Ireland as a high potential start-up. According to Dr. Germaine, the partnership bettheyen IT Carlow and Shandong Academy of Sciences will “help establish MicroGen Biotech as a major player in soil bioremediation in China and support the company’s research base out of IT Carlow’. 

Speaking at the signing of the agreement, Professor Chengjian Yu said, “I look forward to building on the relationship bettheyen IT Carlow and Shandong Academy of Sciences and hope to theylcome researchers from IT Carlow to Shandong in the very near future.”

theylcoming the agreement, Dr. David Dowling, Head of School of Science at IT Carlow said,  “This significant collaboration with Shandong Academy of Sciences will open many doors for IT Carlow. It offers important opportunities for the Institute’s enviroCORE research group, both in Europe and in China.  Shandong Academy of Sciences is the largest science and technology research institution in a province with a population of over 100million with ttheylve separate research institutions and more than 2,500 research staff.”

Since its founding in 1970, IT Carlow has generated more than 40,000 graduates. It currently ranks as the 4th largest of Ireland’s 14 Institutes with almost 7,000 enrolments. IT Carlow was the 2014 Sunday Times Institute of Technology of the Year.