Diamond Annual Review 2025-26

One of the most important developments during the year was the merger of the Industrial Liaison and Research Support teams to form an Industry and Innovation group. Bringing these functions together has transformed how industry engages with Diamond. Rather than having to navigate multiple interfaces, partners now benefit from a more joined up approach that covers funding, contracts, delivery and reporting in a single, coherent pathway. The merger has strengthened internal collaboration, sharpened our strategic focus, and ensured that industrial needs are embedded from the earliest stages of programme design. This integrated model has been particularly valuable as Diamond has embarked on increasingly complex, multi partner initiatives. A standout example is OpenBind, a project funded by the UKGovernment’s Sovereign AI fund, which has moved from its set-up phase into full delivery during the reporting period. OpenBind brings together academic researchers, industry partners and Industrial engagement continues to be central to Diamond’s role as a national research facility, helping companies of all sizes turn cutting edge science into real world impact. Over the past year, our Industrial Liaison activity has focused on streamlining howDiamond engages with industry, strengthening long termpartnerships, and supporting ambitious programmes that operate at scale across the UKand Europe. Industry and Innovation public funders around shared challenges in structure enabled drug discovery, using open science principles alongside industrial best practice and AI-ready data. Diamond has played a central role in convening this diverse community and delivering a programme that balances ambition with practical execution. OpenBind has also shown how Diamond can support new ways of working with industry: developing approaches to governance, contracting and risk management that are flexible enough for innovation while robust enough for large, funder backed programmes. The experience gained through OpenBind is already influencing wider research activity, strengthening Diamond’s ability to act as a trusted delivery partner for similarly ambitious initiatives in the future. As the programme moves into its next phase, it continues to demonstrate the value of Diamond’s facilities, expertise and collaborative culture. At the European level, the year also marked the successful conclusion of LEAPS INNOV, a major project under the League of European Accelerator based Photon Sources (LEAPS). Our group’s involvement in LEAPS INNOV focused on improving industrial access to light sources across Europe, with a particular emphasis on engaging SMEs and aligning facilities more closely with industrial needs. Diamond led the industrial engagement reporting for the project, drawing directly on extensive conversations with industrial partners. This work provided a grounded, honest picture of what industry really needs from research infrastructures, helping to inform future strategy across the LEAPS network. Crucially, LEAPS INNOV did not mark an end point. Building on its success, Diamond was awarded a leading role in the follow-on programme LEAPS TECH. This new project moves from insight to action, focusing on practical collaboration between facilities to improve technologies, methods and processes that support industrial users. Diamond has been closely involved in shaping LEAPS TECH’s industrial work, reinforcing its position as a European leader in industrial engagement and innovation within large-scale research infrastructures. Taken together, the past year marks a clear transition point for Industrial Liaison at Diamond. The merger with Research Support has laid the foundations for a more agile, user focused model of engagement. OpenBind has shown what is possible when long term partnerships are built around shared ambition and trust. And the journey from LEAPS INNOV to LEAPS TECH reflects Diamond’s growing role in shaping how industry engages with photon science across Europe. Looking ahead, the group will build on this momentum to support the next generation of industrial challenge led programmes, aligned with Diamond’s future strategic direction. The focus will be on earlier engagement, smarter access routes for companies, and deeper collaboration that spans facilities, disciplines and borders. As Diamond prepares for the future, Industrial Liaison will continue to ensure that industry is not just a user of the facility, but an active partner in shaping its impact – helping translate world class science into innovation, growth and societal benefit. 27 28 Annual review 2025/26 Industry and Innovation