Collaborations

Diamond Light Source is uniquely placed; with a large number of scientific collaborations and integrated facilities on site, Diamond is a powerful resource for advancing research and allowing for growth. These complementary assets continue to allow us to be a leading facility enabling inter- and multi-disciplinary research.

Our collaborations have gone from strength to strength, growing and expanding their remit over the last few years, with 2018 being no exception. With new funding and the evolution of research partnerships, our collaborations have powered world-changing projects this year across many disciplines.

University of Manchester at Harwell

The University of Manchester at Harwell is a unique structure for national laboratory science that provides a transformative resource for the university in Manchester and the facilities in Harwell. The collaboration has created a portal for university researchers to access world-class research that builds upon the longstanding relationship with Diamond and now also includes the facilities of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), including the ISIS neutron source and the Scientific Computing Department (SCD).

It has created a baseline structure to support and strengthen access for The University of Manchester and other university researchers. This is being extended across all central facility research in partnership with Diamond and STFC. There is also a cadre of Fellows based under this umbrella, at Harwell and in Manchester, to lead and develop themes within schools across the Faculty of Science and Engineering. They forge the link to Harwell and bring new users from the faculty to Diamond, stimulating research. Future collaborations with the Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI), the Faraday Institution (FI) and the Ada Lovelace Centre (ALC), developing in parallel at Harwell, will place ten fellows within this year.

The University of Manchester at Harwell is a unique opportunity to bring new users to the synchrotron and advance strategically important research themes within a multidimensional science-space. Collaborators are excited to work with Diamond to exploit our world-class and expanding research tools to add to the resource base in national facilities science.

UK Catalysis Hub

Catalysis is a core area of contemporary science, engineering and technology that has substantial economic and societal impact, and is of significance to the UK’s Industrial Strategy, making it a strong area of focus for Diamond. The physical home of the UK Catalysis Hub – a national network with over 35 collaborating universities – is located next to Diamond at the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH). It provides a platform for researchers to work collectively, and to gain frequent access to the synchrotron, alongside other facilities at Harwell.

The UK Catalysis Hub was established in 2013 with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). An additional £14 million in funding from the EPSRC was committed in October 2018. The Hub seeks to coordinate, promote and advance the UK catalysis research portfolio. The project has four new interrelated themes:

Core
Optimising, Predicting and Designing New Catalysts
Catalysis at the Water Energy Nexus
Catalysis for the Circular Economy and Sustainable Manufacturing

The Hub promotes a ‘whole system’ approach to the study of catalysis combined with high throughput, which allows optimal experiments to be carried out which shorten the path to development of commercially useful products and promote the UK catalysis effort and expertise on a global stage.

One of the main continued benefits of the Catalysis Hub is sustained access to a synchrotron radiation source. Professor Andrew Dent, Diamond’s Deputy Director of Physical Sciences, explains, “The UK Catalysis Hub has a Block Allocation Group (BAG) on the X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) beamline B18 at Diamond. The Hub coordinates the experiments they perform in that time, which allows them to more effectively carry out their research.”

This access route increases the efficiency of data acquisition and allocates small amounts of time for proof of concept investigations and rapid access for in situ and ex situ applications before a full study starts. Applications are judged by a panel of expert academics and beamline scientists, who consider (i) the quality of the underpinning science, (ii) the likely success of the experiments, (iii) bringing in new users of synchrotron radiation, and (iv) coordinating time effectively to maximise efficiency. This opportunity is open to every academic working in catalysis in the UK.

Prof Dent concludes: “Diamond’s strong partnership with the Hub is emphasised with links to their Spring and Winter Conferences and its involvement in workshops that we have run exploring future research opportunities. We will continue to grow this great relationship, as it is helping to provide key science areas for opportunities such as the proposed Diamond-II upgrade.”

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