Research in Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry, has announced plans to recruit hundreds of new staff for a European R&D centre due to open this summer.

The facility at Bochum, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, will be based in the Uni-Tech-Center on the campus of Ruhr-Universität and will collaborate with other local universities.

Representing an investment of $45m in its first year of operation, the centre will initially employ 140 people working on hardware and software development for BlackBerry handsets, although RIM says that number could increase to 500.

Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM already has offices in Europe as well as North America and the Asia Pacific region.

“This new R&D facility will play a pivotal role in extending RIM's leadership in the smartphone market as we continue to focus on delivering best-in-class solutions to our customers,” said RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis.

Further information:
www.rim.com

Image: Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Curve 8300