A Scottish laser centre has secured a five-year funding boost worth £6.5m.
The centre in Glasgow develops light-driven technologies for a range of sectors across industry.
The Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics has received £7.6m in funding from Scottish Enterprise since it opened in 2012.
The latest funding is hoped to help unlock more opportunities for companies to develop new products and processes for global markets. It will also enable the purchase of new equipment and facilitate doctorate-level student training.
The centre works with industries from security and defence to quantum tech, healthcare, life science, renewable energy, navigation, communication and space.
Housed in the University of Strathclyde’s Technology and Innovation Centre, Fraunhofer is the name given to a network of specialist research centres across Europe, named after the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer.
Business Minister Ivan McKee said: “The funding will support the third phase of the centre’s world-class research and innovation activities and is another step towards the Scottish Government’s target of growing business enterprise R&D in Scotland to £1.8bn by 2025.
“In the longer term we want to boost Scotland’s innovation performance to match the levels of the best performing countries worldwide.”
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said: “This funding boost is recognition by the Scottish Government of the importance of this centre of excellence, one of the jewels in the Glasgow City Innovation District.
“It also recognises the role our strategic collaboration plays in working with industrial partners to develop enabling technologies across a range of sectors that provide innovative solutions to global challenges and support and grow the economy.”
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