Excellence in hydroponics

The 'Controlled Environment Laboratory for Life Sciences' (CELLS) project was established to transfer expertise in hydroponics and space cultivation to the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT), Ireland. As a result, LIT is now a recognised Centre of Excellence in Controlled Environment Research.

To realise the above, CELLS facilitated training at all research levels and delivered Irish government funded innovation partnerships with Irish Small to Medium Enterprises (SME’s). Know-how was transferred from the Space Life Sciences Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center, United States.

LIT researchers were able to achieve a number of valuable scientific outcomes, including the application of LED lights to increase the yield and nutritional value of salad crops. They also applied hydroponic and other technologies to boost the concentration of high-value bioactive compounds in various species.

These successes featured widely in Irish media and at international conferences. In addition, LIT was chosen to lead an experiment on the International Space Station thanks to the facility's new capabilities. The experiment will study the role of microgravity on the development of beneficial plant–microbe interactions, which may have uses in space and on Earth.

CELLS are part of a recently successful consortium application to an Horizon 2020 call: H2020-COMPET-2014, under the topic:COMPET-07-2014. The Project Acronym is EDEN ISS and CELLS will work on a number of work packages within the project relating to ISS Flight Design and Food Quality, Safety and Processing in collaboration with 12 other EU and Canadian Partners.

CELLS has enabled LIT to offer state or the art controlled growth facilities and expertise to offer (a) progression to Masters and Doctoral programmes for its students; and (b) innovative product and process development for its industrial partners.