Institute for International Research in Glass

Planning of IIRG began in 1996, spurred on by the "international rating" achieved in the last Research Assessment Exercise, where glass research received a special mention. Research funding was won from various sources, and two full-time professorial posts in Glass were created, which were taken up by Dan Klein and Zora Palová. IIRG was launched in June 1998 to complement the National Glass Centre, which was opened in October of the same year by HRH Prince Charles. IIRG was the first research centre of the Art and Design faculty of the University of Sunderland. Professor Sylva Petrova, formerly curator of 20th Century Glass at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague and deputy director of…