Inauguration of new building for reference material production at IRMM-Geel

The new facility will be used to develop and produce reference materials, which possess a precisely-known property and are the basis for complex measurements, such as the amount of genetically modified maize or the number of bacteria in a food sample. The total cost of the facility was 11 M€ -- of which 4.5 M€ was funded from revenue from JRC's reference material activities.
On 23 November 2010 a new scientific facility to develop measurement standards in challenging areas, such as life sciences, was inaugurated at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Geel, Belgium.The reference materials developed and produced at JRC's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) provide laboratories around the world with a benchmark to deliver accurate, harmonised and traceable result and help implement legislation through accurate and reliable testing, also in emerging areas such as molecular biosciences and personalised medicine. The building features a large and flexible production hall which brings together processing and measurement equipment in an innovative manner. It will provide Europe with a unique facility for the development and production of reference materials, bridging the gap between laboratory and industrial scale. The new building also houses laboratories for the analysis of heavy metals and proteins and a special laboratory for the safe handling of biomaterials.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Reference material
• Joint Research Centre
• European Commission
• research
• buildings