Dr Karsten Fleischer receives Research Ireland Sustainable Lab certification

The DCU SPS Advanced Materials & Surface Characterisation Lab is one of 72 labs recognised in the new certification programme.

Research Ireland’s Sustainable Laboratory Certification Pilot Programme, launched in October 2023, aims to promote world class, sustainable research practices in Irish research labs. Third party lab verification company Impact Laboratories and lab standards non-profit My Green Lab are partners on the programme. At the end of 2024, Research Ireland commissioned an independent evaluation of the Sustainable Laboratory Certification Pilot Programme to assess its effectiveness in meeting its sustainability goals and inform next steps for Research Ireland. 

Research Ireland's programme is the first in which a national research funding body in the world to spearhead a certification process in lab sustainability.

Dr Karsten Fleischer is an Associate Professor on Surface and Interface Science and Characterisation of Advanced Materials/Nanomaterials in the School of Physical Sciences. His research partly focuses on the use of thin film oxides and oxide surface modifications specifically in the context of energy and information communications technology. Thin film oxides are extremely thin layers of oxide materials (chemical compounds formed when oxygen combines with other elements) that be created or modified to alter the surface properties of other materials. They have a wide range of applications in areas such as energy storage, fuels cells, and semiconductors.