In This Issue
- Shaping our future
- Prof Gerd Materlik elected FRS
- Taking one for the team - Altruistic suicide in bacteria
- Marvellous MOFs offer sustainable storage solutions
- Rainbows without pigments offer new defence against fraud
- Ancient civilisations brought into the light
- A catalyst for commercial enterprise
- A wealth of opportunity for PhD students
- The Ultrafast student
- Facility Updates
- Focus on optics
- Bright young minds at Westminster
- Inspiring science festivals
Editorial
It has been a very busy six months at Diamond. Our 2010/11 Review, published on 31 May, gives an interesting snapshot of our science, operations and development. Over the past year, we hosted a total of 3,813 academic user visits on 4,654 awarded shifts based on 426 successful proposals on 20 beamlines that are fully operational or in commissioning and optimisation mode. We also achieved an improved ‘machine uptime’ of 97.5%.
We now have over 1,400 papers in our publications database, many in high-impact journals, and the rate of publication continues to increase. 16 beamlines now have industry users, and around 6% of total beamtime is used for proprietary research in areas ranging from pharmaceuticals to food technology, computing to chemical catalysts, and aerospace engineering to eco-efficient energy. A similar proportion of academic user research also involves industrial collaboration.
We have also seen significant progress in Diamond’s development programme, following the confirmation late last year of funding for Phase III, that will enable us to construct all ten Phase III beamlines, bringing the total to 32 by 2018. Throughout the spring, we have been holding consultations with our user communities and the UK research councils to plan, evaluate proposals and prioritise the new beamlines.
In March, we were delighted to welcome Science Minister David Willetts to formally inaugurate Phase III. He warmly praised the work of the scientists, engineers and support staff at Diamond, and the strength of our partnerships with researchers in universities and industry. On the same day, he also announced new funding for our partners and neighbours at the Harwell campus, ISIS neutron and muon source and the Central Laser Facility. Increasingly, our scientists and users are also working with these facilities, and some of these exciting collaborations are highlighted in this issue.
Partnership is fundamental to how Diamond works, and the success achieved so far is the result of a genuine team effort. We are a joint venture of the UK government, funded by STFC and the WellcomeTrust, and our academic and industrial partners have always been closely involved in both operations and development. We also enjoy strong collaborative links with European synchrotrons and other facilities around the world, and have an integral role in Lightsources.org, a global network and online portal.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Diamond News and welcome all correspondence and feedback. Call Silvana Westbury on 01235 778238 or email silvana.westbury@diamond.ac.uk