DCU Researchers secure €3.2 million in Research Ireland funding for new infrastructure
Dr Fleischer from the School of Physical Sciences at Dublin City University has been awarded just over €3.2 million towards construction of a new Advanced Material Characterisation and Imaging Platform (AM-CHAMP).
Understanding how a given material is composed on the microscale is at the heart of all modern technology developments from renewable energy generation and storage (solar cells, batteries), microelectronics (microprocessors, memory devices and communication electronics), environmental protection (sensing, monitoring, filtering) to medical devices and diagnostics. The AM-CHAMP will be an advanced materials characterisation tool providing detailed information on the chemical composition and electronic properties of materials and devices.
The system, the first of its kind in the country, will combine several measurement principles in one single instrument, allowing critical functional parameters to be identified and optimised for specific application domains. It gives Irish researchers access to a new type of measurement, Hard X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy, currently only available at synchrotron radiation facilities in other countries. It also offers significantly enhanced measurement and imaging capabilities of sub-surface chemical composition. Though these instruments have been commercially available since 2021, yet no such tool is available in Ireland nor the UK today.
The AM-CHAMP will be located in DCU’s Nano Research Facility and is expected to be operational in the latter part of 2026.
Prof Kellett’s C-Trap project has received just under €1 million for a dynamic single molecule platform for chemical biology and biophysics. The C-Trap is a revolutionary advancement in dynamic single-molecule analysis. In order to develop advanced therapies and personalised medicine, we need precise understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying various diseases.
New technologies that allow measurements at single molecule level in real-time can help bring about breakthroughs through applied research projects. To date, the intricacy of highly specialised techniques and a lack of infrastructure has been a barrier for single molecule research in Ireland. The C-Trap instrument from LUMICKS is the only system that addresses this shortcoming by allowing researchers to capture real-time, single molecule dynamics. Due to its unique integration, software, and the ease of use, researchers can observe and manipulate individual molecules involved in disease development and progression. This capability opens new avenues across multiple disciplines in DCU and connected Research Ireland centres.