The Focas Research Institute, DIT was established under the Higher Education Authority Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, Cycle 1 (1999-2001). The facility addresses the common needs of research activities in Science and Engineering. The venture is founded on established expertise within the Institute and aims to consolidate and develop this expertise, while nurturing developing research activities within the DIT. Thus it promotes interdisciplinary collaborations within the Institute and with other national and international bodies, and provides a support service for national industry. It contributes strongly to the development of self-sustaining research teams in a number of strategic areas, such as bio and nano technologies. It furthermore underpins postgraduate research as well as undergraduate project work and undergraduate and postgraduate course curriculum development. The Institute provides state of the art core laboratory support for a range of research groups, as well as administrative and technical support. It boasts excellent seminar and meeting room facilities which regularly host seminars and other events covering a broad range of topics.