Welcome to the PMBRC

The PMBRC is an applied research centre that commenced operations in 2009, consolidating research in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological sciences at South East Technological University (SETU) into one institutionally prioritised centre. Situated on the SETU campus in Waterford City, the centre seeks to support R&D activities within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, thereby stimulating research and innovation and allowing companies to embed R&D directly into their activities.

The PMBRC is part of the Technology Gateway Network funded by Enterprise Ireland. The Technology Gateway publications page provides full up-to-date details of the Network: https://www.technologygateway.ie/publications/

The centre, one of 16 Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways, consists of an 800m² state-of-the-art research facility with over 30 research personnel. A truly multidisciplinary team, researchers at the PMBRC include chemists, biologists, biomedical scientists, physicists and engineers, and the centre has established links with national and international partners in industry, academia and medical care institutions.

My Green Lab Certification

The SETU Greener Lab Guide (HERE) has been developed by the PMBRC Green Lab multi-disciplinary implementation team, a collaboration of academics, technical officers, postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate students, and presents our learnings in implementing the My Green Lab Certification programme at SETU in Waterford. The Green Lab team were also supported by Estates and the Working Energy Advisory Group (WEAG) during the certification programme. This booklet is a guide for researchers at SETU highlighting practices to implement in their laboratories.

We are all aware of the change in our climate, the increase of 1.1°C in global temperature since 1850 and the effect that this has on the environment. If this temperature increases further there is potential irreversible damage to our ecosystems. The 2021 National Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill has definite targets and emission reductions to achieve by 2030 and 2050. This requires us to change the way we work in both academia and industry. We wanted to do our part in our working environment and joined The My Green Lab Certification process to help us drive and implement change in our practices.

The My Green Lab Certification process is recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign as a key measure of progress towards a zero-carbon future. This certification process is a proven, scalable programme that helps organisations achieve their sustainability goals. The process offers support and methods rooted in science to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of laboratories without disrupting the critical work underway.