MNMT-Dublin was recognised as a Sustainable Laboratory as announced by Minister Lawless

The UCD Centre of Micro/Nano Manufacturing Technology (MNMT-Dublin) is proud to have been awarded the My Green Lab Certification for research sustainability. This was officially announced on July 16^th 2025, by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless. MNMT-Dublin labs, established in 2016, were part of only 72 laboratories across all disciplines nationwide that were conferred the prestigious certification in the context of Research Ireland’s Sustainable Laboratory Certification Pilot Programme 2023-2024.

MNMT-Dublin conducts cutting-edge research and development in High-Precision Manufacturing and Metrology. The research addresses, amongst other topics, advancements in medical engineering, optics and semiconductor applications. As such, the facilities are classed as “mixed labs”, where the complexities of biochemical, physical and machining experiments combine with data-driven “dry” investigations. For this reason, they present some of the most advanced and fascinating types of challenges when it comes to sustainability. Challenges that MNMT’s researchers were eager to rise to and that, through proactive teamwork and extensive academic engagement, were successfully overcome, finally yielding both Green and Platinum certifications.

Quoting Minister Lawless, research “…also demands attention to how we conduct our work and the impact it has on our communities and our planet.”. In line with these inspiring words, and following inputs by My Green Lab, the MNMT team has put great effort into a change of attitude in “the way we do things in the lab”. Such effort has successfully complemented the positive environmental ratings of the equipment and has greatly contributed to attaining the sustainability award.

But this is not all. MNMT-Dublin, in collaboration with the UCD Sustainable Research Initiative (SRI) and the UCD Wet-Labs Group, continues along the path of reducing its environmental impact and improving its sustainability. For this purpose, the team members are taking on board further advice by My Green Lab, attending workshops and symposia on laboratory environmental impact, embracing UCD’s Sustainability commitment plan and joining SRI’s initiatives. This is leading to a slow but steady progress involving not only a reduced direct impact from our experimental work, but also a new awareness that stretches from the procurement level all the way to lab waste disposal. Finally, the team would like to show their appreciation to Research Ireland for endorsing and encouraging MNMT-Dublin’s participation in this great initiative.