University of Limerick (UL) is one of the leading universities in Ireland and has an excellent track record of attracting national, European and industrial funding for research. The Bernal Institute (https://bernalinstitute.com) within UL comprises 91 state-of-the-art laboratories and over 300 researchers active in materials and surface science research with a strong focus on microscopic, nanoscopic and spectroscopic characterisation of materials important for health, energy, transport, clean technology and manufacturing. The Bernal Institute is a strategic investment of over €75 million in research excellence at the University of Limerick. Bernal Institute brings together a powerful multidisciplinary cross-campus community of faculty and students to create stakeholder value from excellence in materials research. In recent years, UL has received a further national funding over €40 M to continue as a national facility for state-of-the-art materials and surface characterisation.