UK science and research facilities will receive £103 million for upgrading the UK’s world class research infrastructure and opening the doors for new breakthroughs. 

The government investments will ensure UK researchers have access to the best labs and equipment they need to keep producing world-class science. Funding recipients will use the investment to provide new state-of-the-art equipment for their world-leading scientists or upgrades to existing facilities, and they are based across the country, including in Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Leicester, Bristol, Hull, Nottingham, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Belfast, Warwick and here, in Southampton.

The Cox Analytical Itrax FleXRay

Maintaining capability at cutting edge of environmental science research

BOSCORF provides the science community with a suite of non-destructive core scanning instruments and £1.6 million of this investment is to support services and facilities across five institutions that help deliver unique and in-demand capability to the UK’s environmental science community. BOSCORF is to receive £594,000 funding for a state-of-the-art Itrax FleXRay X-ray fluorescence sediment core scanner based at the National Oceanography Centre, providing the only wet or dry sediment Itrax FlexRay scanner in the UK.  The facility has operated an Itrax core scanner since 2004, which has led to over 300 papers, with 100 of these being in high impact journals. The Itrax can measure elements between Al and U, at resolutions of 200um to 1cm, making it invaluable for high resolution studies, pollution studies and provenance assessment, and is capable of analysing both wet and dry samples.  

Supporting research and innovation communities

UKRI International Champion, Professor Christopher Smith, said: This crucial support for UK research infrastructure is part of the package of support provided by government so that our research and innovation communities can carry on with their essential work notwithstanding the delay to association with Horizon Europe. The investments, made across the UK, will provide UK researchers with advanced equipment, facilities and technology, and help maintain the UK’s position as a leader in research and innovation. This support will ensure the UK is an attractive place for scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to live, work and innovate.