Queen’s Initiative Creating 4,000 New Jobs

This initiative comes as a direct result of Queen’s University’s £230 million programme across three innovation centres as part of the Belfast Region City Deal, with a funding commitment of £170m from the UK Government and NI Executive.

Queen’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Elborn told an audience of over 200 stakeholders that significant progress has been made and the £230m invested into programme of innovation will be “transformational.”

Conor Murphy stated he hoped the programme “will help translate innovation into tangible outcomes for the wider economy, and for wider society” which will build “a highly skilled workforce.” He added, projects like these “will see public investment of over £1.3 billion.”

The innovation centres are now live and have already been involved in a diverse range of impactful initiatives, from a Smart City-Zens project in the Belfast Market area providing digital technology to tackle common urban problems, to working with local schools to support students to learn skills for the jobs of the future. Other projects include iREACH Health. It is a £62m integrated clinical research centre helping NI become a global leader in life & health sciences in the next decade, delivered in partnership with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Public Health Agency with construction starting on two sites on the Lisburn Road later this year. Momentum One Zero is a £70m global innovation centre spearheaded by Queen’s which is set to reshape Northern Ireland’s digital landscape. It has recently formed new major interdisciplinary partnerships and secured grants, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding earlier this year with Health and Social Care NI.