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Swansea 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ's year-old ?30 million Institute of Telecommunications has begun a final push to get key staff in place and to put its ambitious research plans into full swing, writes Tony Tysome.

The institute, considered to be a unique venture in Europe and a significant development worldwide for telecommunications research, will advertise in The Times Higher for two new chairs in the coming weeks.

Professors in wireless communications and network communications will complete a team of six chairs, each of which will build groups of up to three academics.

Recent appointments include acting head of the institute Nick Doran, former professor of photonics at Aston 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, and Michel Marhic, previously consulting professor in the Optical Communication Research Laboratory at Stanford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ.

Professor Marhic said: "As of last year, it seemed to me this was the only institute of its kind with the vision to put all of these facilities together in one place. The telecommunications industry has been suffering a decline over the past six years, so this was a refreshing change."

Professor Doran said the institute was looking to appoint individuals whose skills and experience would complement those of the existing team, but "it is in the quality of the individuals more than the specifics of their research that we are interested".