£4 million sustainability boost for Liverpool City Region research campus

The investment includes £4 million to fund sustainability improvements at Sci-Tech Daresbury. The improvements will include the installation of solar panels and more electric car charging ports across the campus.

This funding boost comes as part of a government effort to upgrade the UK’s scientific infrastructure and includes further funding to upgrade the science research facilities Daresbury Laboratory, part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and which is located at the heart of Sci-Tech Daresbury.

Paul Vernon, Head of STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, said: “The facilities here at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, and across the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus, play an important role in driving essential growth in the north of England, creating jobs and escalating opportunities for collaboration and business. Thanks to this Government investment, we can continue to provide both academic and industrial researchers with invaluable access to world leading research facilities and technologies for many years to come, further establishing the North West as an outstanding place for scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to live and work.”

Upgrades to research facilities at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory include:

• The CLARA facility - dedicated to the advancement of technologies the world’s next generation of particle accelerator, CLARA is also a unique facility for groundbreaking experiments in many areas of research, including technologies to treat cancer. The investment will support a test lab infrastructure and support laboratories for CLARA. It includes enhanced laser systems and optics, instrumentation for extremely high vacuum research, and networked data acquisition systems, all of which will be used directly by universities and industry for their experiments with electron beams.
• The Hartree Centre – dedicated to accelerating the adoption of high performance computing, data analytics and Artificial Intelligence technologies, the Hartree Centre delivers transformative gains in industry performance and productivity. The investment will support improved power supply and cooling infrastructure.
• Advanced precision machining equipment to support a wide range of science and technology programmes, from nuclear and particle physics to cancer treatment technologies.
• Magnet testing equipment to support demand from researchers across STFC and UK universities. This includes testing new types of magnets that will power the world’s next generation of particle accelerator at a fraction of the energy cost.

These improvements will enable industrial and academic researchers from across the North West to meet some of today’s greatest challenges in physics and engineering, from Artificial Intelligence to new healthcare technologies and an ageing population.

Dr Neil Geddes, STFC Director of National Laboratories, said: “It is clear that these improvements will push forward world-changing research and innovation across an impressive range of science and technology projects at Daresbury Laboratory, strengthening its key role, both at the heart of the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus and as part of the Liverpool City Region.”

You can read more about the £213 million UK Government funding to help UK scientist HERE