ITAC, Daresbury SIC

As a by-product of large scale research projects on synchrotron radiation, spacious laboratories with more than £3 million of state-of-the-art scientific equipment are now available in the Daresbury Laboratory for use by small high-tech start-up companies and academic researchers.

STFC Innovations Technology Access Centre (ITAC) offers flexible and affordable access to a wide range of cutting-edge scientific equipment in 16 fully-equipped biological, imaging, materials and physical science laboratories, providing for businesses and researchers with the ideal environment to carry out high-tech research and development work.

With low cost, low commitment state-of-the-art equipment and laboratory space being difficult to obtain at the proof of concept stage, these facilities provide the ideal environment for both start ups and the R&D teams of established companies.

Businesses located in the Centre can make full use of the wide range of facilities including leasing their own exclusive-use, lock and leave laboratories. Companies not located at the Centre are able to access a number of multi-user laboratories available on an hourly basis. A total of 15,000 square feet of laboratory space has been made available, with half of it accessible on demand for short-term use.

The facilities provided include a Wet Chemistry & Materials Laboratory with an associated Preparation Laboratory that includes small workshop facilities, furnaces, cutting, lapping and polishing equipment.

Analytical user facilities include a Surface Science and Imaging Laboratory which contains a suite of SEM, TEM, AFM and optical microscopes. There is also an Instrumentation Laboratory with a range of FTIR, UV-Vis and DSC/DTA facilities, High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Dynamic Light Scattering, a Spectrofluorometer and two designated X-ray Diffractometers.

The Campus makes particular emphasis on Biological Laboratory facilities - fully equipped and functional for biological preparation, with fume cupboards and glove boxes. Facilities are available for protein crystallography studies and also a wide range of instrumentation suitable for the study of organic and microbiological specimens.
High-end equipment is uniquely available for rent, including analytical laboratories installed inside refrigerated chambers, where protein analysis can be carried out in temperatures as low as +5°C. Class 2 facilities are also be available for experiments with hazardous substances, in addition to devices for liquid chromatography and protein crystallography. Only a few of these currently exist in the UK, with very limited availability.

Category:

Science & Technology

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