New Year Message

As we start a New Year, it is appropriate to reflect how Diamond’s achievements to date will impact 2024 and shape our future. The year 2023 closed with the huge success of the Covid Moonshot - opening a new era in drug discovery,  the first measurements carried on Bennu asteroids sample showing the confidence of the National History Museum on the science produced in our facility, a renewed collaboration with Johnson Matthey that demonstrates the industrial relevance of our facility, and the celebration of the 13,000th publication with a high impact paper on Fischer−Tropsch Synthesis Catalysts, which is so important for a more sustainable future. 

In recent times Diamond’s staff and collaborators from STFC have also developed and improved our data acquisition capabilities through the adoption of machine learning (ML) techniques on multiple beamlines and built on these early successes to start the development of an AI/ML road map.  New world class capabilities have also been developed to characterise nuclear materials; and in our Optics and Metrology laboratory, new tools enable the delicate fabrication and measurements of optical components that are adopted or manufactured on our premises. All these latest highlights showcase the expertise and dedication of our staff as well as the scientific, societal and economic impact of our facility. These accomplishments together with the vision, ambitions and the efforts of our dedicated people are the reasons that we were able to celebrate the show of confidence from our funders with the Diamond-II funding announcement last September. This long-term project will renew the competitiveness of Diamond on the world stage and ensure that our 14,000 strong user community will have access to the best analytical tools for years to come.   All this work is grounded on decades of hard work, excellence and dedication from staff across the organisation, too often going unnoticed.  

One of the many challenges ahead is the mitigation of the “dark period” – an 18-month long shutdown starting in about four years from now to allow for the machine upgrade for the Diamond-II project – a time during which our researchers will need to find alternatives to carry out their measurements. Diamond is currently welcoming many users from the scientific community of the Advanced Photon Source, a Department of Energy facility in the USA, currently upgrading to the next generation light source technology.  For Diamond, plans will be needed to ensure the user community, especially in the UK will be supported in similar ways through our “dark period”. 

Science is also about impact. This year, we will be updating our impact framework anchored in a 2021 set of methodologies developed in collaboration with Technopolis, which outlined a cumulative monetised value of Diamond’s scientific, technological, societal, and economic benefits of £ 2.6 billion, and this rooted in the research carried out within our facility. This compares very favourably with the £1.4 billion investment made in the facility (up to 2021) and underlines the significant impact Diamond continues to achieve.  

Whether an experiment is a success or deemed a failure it advances precious knowledge that advances humanity… In the words of the French chemist and bacteriologist Louis Pasteur who echoes our endeavours: “Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.” ¹ 

I am privileged to be at helm of such an organisation bringing together a team to deliver the best for the UK and beyond as together we make great science happen! 

Gianluigi Botton,
Chief Executive Officer

¹ Toast at banquet of the International Congress of Sericulture, Milan, 1876. Source: Oxford Essential Quotes, 2016. DOI: 10.1093/acref/9780191826719.001.0001