This new Centre will promote the integrity of the UK food and animal-feed supply chain through pioneering innovations in scientific measurement that will enable local agriculture, food, and feed businesses to develop and exploit new, cutting-edge technologies leading to new products and services for global markets.

The Centre is part of an ambitious, long-term collaboration between Queen’s University Belfast, the ASSET Technology Centre, and the National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC in Teddington - which hosts the UK’s world-leading institute for chemical and bio-measurement. It will be based at the ASSET Technology Centre in the Biological Sciences building at Queen’s, which is at the heart of Belfast’s globally significant innovation ecosystem.

The collaboration builds upon LGC’s National Measurement Laboratory vision to be a leading centre for measurement and operational excellence which supports the delivery of the UK Government’s recent Innovation Strategy with impact to markets, and ASSET’s key strengths as an award-winning facility listed as a ‘Centre of Expertise’ by the Food Authenticity Network, a UK DEFRA initiative and a designated United Nations Collaborating Centre.

The Centre will provide an interdisciplinary environment for projects that develop innovations in scientific measurement to support the agri-food industry and supply chain by improving reliability, safety, and productivity – ultimately driving economic growth and providing a platform for the development of world-leading clusters and attracting high value foreign direct investment. The Centre will also educate and train current and future industry leaders in Northern Ireland, and the rest of the UK, with the specialist knowledge and skills needed for a fast-changing, competitive commercial landscape.