Her Majesty honours Queen's University with first Regius Professorship in NI

A Regius Professorship is a rare honour from the Sovereign that recognises research excellence, almost like royal patronage or appointment.

Since the reign of Queen Victoria only 14 Regius Professorships have been granted – including 12 to mark Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.

Queen’s Regius Professorship has been awarded in Electronics and Computer Engineering.

The announcement comes after His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales officially opened Queen’s Institute for Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) just last month. It is one of four new Global Research Institutes at the University.

ECIT is working to achieve a step change in Electronics and Computer Engineering research in order to address some of the key technological and ethical challenges facing society today; these include cyber security.

Professor Patrick Johnston, Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Queen’s is enormously honoured to be the recipient of Northern Ireland’s first Regius Professorship.

“As a very rare privilege and significant accolade, which celebrates the highest and most outstanding levels of research, this is a reflection of the exceptionally high quality of research, innovation and research translation at ECIT.

“Queen’s ambition to be a world class university, which is making a game changing contribution to current and emerging global challenges, is reflected in this esteemed award.”