The 8th quarterly “call for access” for NNUF facilities is now open. This is an opportunity for any UK-based university researcher (or employee of other organizations eligible to apply for UKRI funding), and their international collaborators, to apply to use these facilities for free. The closing date is 31st May 2022, and this call covers access commencing primarily during July – September 2022.
Experiments applied for under the NNUF access scheme can last up to 6 months in length – or longer if a compelling case is made in the application form.
*New*: international researchers have always been able to apply for our access scheme as part of a UK-based project team, but they are now eligible to apply in their own right, under certain circumstances. Please see point 11 of the rules of the access scheme for more information:
| Proposals from principal investigators not from a UK institution will be accepted as long as one of these two criteria is satisfied:
(i) the proposal includes a collaborator who is from a UK university (or an employee of another UK-based organization that is eligible to apply for UKRI funding). This collaborator must have a significant role in the experiment or project. (ii) The case is made in the application that the proposed experiment is part of establishing or expanding a substantial collaboration between the host institution and the external group. This can be evidenced by a clear commitment to joint publications arising and/or the access being the first stage in establishing a substantial new collaboration with benefits to the host institution. |
The facilities accepting user applications as part of this round are:
- The Active Nano Mapping Facility at the University of Bristol
- ADRIANA (Advanced Digital Radiometric Instrumentation for Applied Nuclear Activities) at Lancaster, Liverpool and CCFE
- BUFFF(Bangor University Fuel Fabrication Facility) at Bangor University
- The Centre for Radiochemistry Research at the University of Manchester
- The University of Manchester Dalton Cumbrian Facility – N.B. due to upgrade works at DCF, this call does not include access to DCF’s ion accelerator systems, but all other equipment at DCF is available.
- Diamond Active Materials Laboratory N.B. Please apply via the NNUF call for “standalone” use of the Active Materials Laboratory. Use of this lab to accompany beamtime is handled via the normal Diamond beamtime application process.
- The EXACT Facility at the University of Southampton
- FaRMS (Facility for Radioactive Materials Surfaces) at the University of Bristol
- The HADES Facility at the University of Sheffield
- The MC40 Cyclotron Facility at the University of Birmingham
- The High Temperature Facility hosted by Jacobs Engineering Group
- The Hot Robotics Facility – N.B. experiments scheduled at NNL’s Hot Robotics Facility under NNUF call 8 can commence in the period July 2022 – December 2022, to allow time for security clearance if required.
- Lancaster Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (LAMS-UK) at Lancaster University
- UKAEA’s Materials Research Facility
- The Molten Salts in Nuclear Technology Laboratory at the University of Manchester
- The National Nuclear Laboratory (electron optics capability) – N.B. experiments scheduled at NNL under NNUF call 8 can commence in the period July 2022 – December 2022, to allow time for security clearance if required.
- The Nuclear Materials Atom Probe (NuMAP) Facility at the University of Oxford
- PANAMA (Plasma Accelerators for Nuclear Applications and Materials Analysis) at the University of Strathclyde
- The Pyrochemical Research Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh
- The RADER (RADioactive waste management and Environmental Remediation) Facility at the University of Manchester
- Lancaster University’s UTGARD Laboratory.
Many of the facilities accepting applications for this call are able to facilitate both “in-person” and “remote” access (i.e. facility scientists conducting experiments on behalf of externals). Please get in touch with the contact listed on each facility’s page, to find out more.
For more information about the access scheme and NNUF as a whole, please consult the NNUF website.
Please feel free to contact Francesca McGowan, NNUF Administrator (francesca.mcgowan@materials.ox.ac.uk), with any questions about the access scheme. For further information about individual NNUF facilities, please contact the facility directly using the contact details provided on the facility pages of the NNUF website.
