Cutting-edge science complex launched at Harwell
9 July 2010
MRC Chief Executive Sir Leszek Borysiewicz has officially opened the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH), a new £26m state-of-the-art science facility for researchers using resources on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
The RCaH provides a unique environment for researchers in the life and physical sciences, enabling them to work side by side at the interface between traditional disciplines and use the major facilities on the Harwell Campus such as the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) ISIS neutron source and Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron.
Also giving speeches at the event, which drew guests from universities and research institutes across the country, were RCaH Director Professor Simon Phillips and 2009 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry Professor Venki Ramakrishnan.
The RCaH project was instigated following recognition by the Government that maintaining access to cutting-edge, large scale facilities is vital to ensuring the UK’s prominence at the forefront of research. The project was funded by the STFC, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council and Diamond Light Source Ltd.
The Research Complex was built on land at STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) which houses Diamond, ISIS and the Central Laser Facility (CLF) on behalf of Research Councils UK; this allows visiting and resident research teams to collaborate closely with beam line scientists from these facilities and highly-experienced technical experts.
Professor Simon Phillips, Director Research Complex said:
This is a fantastic new laboratory space, at the heart of a cluster of world-leading large research facilities. Scientists from many different fields: from biology to physics, will be working together in one building. We know from experience many unexpected scientific advances take place as a result of such interactions. A novel aspect of the Complex is that it acts as a ‘Research Hotel,’ meaning that scientists from universities all over the UK can come here and use our facilities.
Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said:
This state-of-the-art complex has huge potential for maintaining our position at the cutting edge of world leading science. By bringing together scientists from all disciplines under one roof, on the doorstep of internationally-renowned research facilities such as Diamond and ISIS, their work will deliver far-reaching benefits for our everyday lives, and attract internationally mobile business R&D here.
Areas of scientific research to be pursued at the RCaH include structural studies of membrane proteins; high throughput functional structural genomics related to disease and enzyme mechanisms; biological imaging; drug development and delivery; energy research; development of novel materials; nanotechnology; new chemistry; environmental science and engineering.
