Beyond the Synchrotron: Integrated Facilities Update

Officially opened in 2008, the Membrane Protein Laboratory (MPL) is a research and training facility for scientists interested in solving the 3D structures of membrane proteins by X-ray crystallography. Funded by the Wellcome Trust, the MPL is a joint venture between Diamond and Imperial College London.

Four state of the art microscopes are set to be installed in a new building that has been rapidly taking shape next to the synchrotron.The facility will house two high resolution cryo-electron microscopes for the life sciences and two high-resolution electron microscopes for advanced materials research. The microscopes will share space with the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe beamline (I14) in the new facility. Construction is on track for the building to be occupied from winter 2015 onwards.

The UK-XFEL continues the theme at Diamond and the Harwell campus for providing a platform for an integrated approach to structural biology research. The XFEL hub at Diamond provides a focus for methods developments ranging from development of new sample environments, software and exploitation of high performance computing to helping users access these new sources as they evolve and come online.