Image credit: Tom Smith Photography
Access to cutting edge research infrastructure and facilities is essential for delivering excellence and impact in research. Ensuring our research community not only has access to the facilities and equipment they need, but also the provision of training and support associated with correct usage is one of my key priorities as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) here at Bath.
In order to ensure the long term operational, financial and environmental sustainability of our research facilities and infrastructure, we have developed a centralised Core Research Facility (CRF) service at Bath.
The CRF brings together the University’s existing state-of-the-art equipment along with the teams of expert staff, to facilitate delivery of research excellence and skills development. The CRFs are accessible to stakeholders at the University of Bath, as well as researchers at other higher education institutions (HEIs) and to external industry, business and civil society partners.
With the launch of the CRF, we have also welcomed Dr Christy Waterfall to the University who leads on the operational management of the CRF as Head of Core Research Facility Operations. Christy is working closely with Director of Research Infrastructure and Facilities (RIF), Dr Anneke Lubben, who leads on the strategic direction of RIF across the Institution.
The RIF team was established in Nov 2023 and has been running for 9 months, during which time a substantial amount of work has been happening to establish the new teams, create a professional and recognisable web presence and to use various communication channels to build awareness of the services available. We have even welcomed the addition of a new motion capture facility, CAMERA - The Centre for the Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research and Applications who will bring a fresh new set of services and creative ideas to the team.
A next step, already in progress for many facilities, will be setting up User Groups. These groups will input into the decision making about how the facilities services should evolve, advising on aspects such as increasing collaboration opportunities and income generation through partnerships, as well as ensuring the facility is meeting the needs of our own Bath-based researchers. A collaborative working relationship between facility operators and users is a basis for continued success.
The newly formed CRF structure, leading the way in UK HEI, will be essential to ensure the operational, financial, and environmental sustainability of our infrastructure and facilities at the University, so I am really excited to see the developments that are already underway.
In addition to launching the CRF, the University is continuing to invest in world-class instrumentation. The University Major Research Infrastructure Fund (UMRIF) continues to identify and secure new pieces of equipment, some of which will be embedded in the CRF. The 2022/2023 UMRIF funding was able to support a new solid state NMR facility, and our instrument specialists are currently working hard to develop methods and expand the application areas so that the expertise and equipment can be utilised by researchers, both within, and external to, the University.
Image credit: Tom Smith Photography
In 2023/2024, UMRIF funds supported investments in new X-ray crystallography equipment for single crystal analysis. This equipment is already regularly accessed by internal and external customers. The 2023/2024 funds also supported a new a nitrogen generation plant which will provide a cost-effective solution to three facilities requiring expensive nitrogen gas for their equipment operations. The prioritisation process for the 2024/2025 funds is underway, with initial ideas from any Bath staff ranked within faculties and a university-wide priority investment list being established in October. The CRF management team are working closely with Bath users to develop business cases to ensure that the instrumentation needed remains fit for purpose and up to date. One of the benefits of having equipment within the CRF structure is that investment benefits can be immediately realised, with the support of trained staff, correct lab infrastructure, financial administration and promotional mechanisms, equipment is available rapidly for multi-user access.
More broadly across the Institution, the RIF team are leading work looking at the digital infrastructure needs of the University and the process of supporting grant proposals that include consideration of research infrastructure requirements. These forward-looking initiatives along with many other workstreams, will ensure that the infrastructure and facilities at Bath continue to meet the research demands of our academics and our external users.
I am also pleased to see our RIF team feeding into our broader research culture initiatives. Our instrument specialists make a huge contribution to the generation of high-quality research and impact, and the RIF team is carrying out work to raise the visibility and recognition of the work they do. The CRF structure also advocates the support of career pathway definition and progression, delivering a collaborative and supportive ecosystem for our instrument specialists, as well as providing leadership and development opportunities. This will ensure that the University of Bath continues to be an attractive place to work, retaining talent, and driving excellence in all aspects of our research and environment.
I would like to give special thanks to Anneke, Christy and the CRF team members who have been working hard to get to the point that we are. They could not have achieved this without support from a huge range of departments and individuals, including the faculties within which the facilities reside geographically, the finance teams, campus infrastructure teams, web design, marketing and communications, HR, internal system process teams … the list is endless.
I look forward to seeing the CRFs develop, and how this new structure will impact on key aspects of research at Bath, such as the delivery of high-quality research, success in grant applications, attraction and retention of talent, and external partnership and engagement activities.
If you would like further information about the facilities we have, or how to work with our facilities and access our services please see our new webpages, or contact the team directly on: research-facilities@bath.ac.uk