Diamond Light Source to join CaSE

CaSE are delighted that Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron and one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world, has become a member. 

Commenting on the announcement, Professor Sarah Main, Executive Director of CaSE, said:

“Diamond Light Source are a unique and valuable asset in the UK’s science economy and I am delighted to welcome them to add their distinctive perspective to CaSE, further strengthening our membership at a time when our work has never been more important. We look forward to working closely with Diamond to harness their expertise and pioneering science capabilities to ensure their voice is heard at the highest levels of government, alongside all of our members. Working together we can help shape a more favourable policy environment for science and engineering, and bring about our shared vision of a society and economy that uses research, technology and innovation for the benefit of all.”

Prof. Andrew Harrison, CEO of Diamond, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire added:

“A key part of our mission is building partnerships across academia, industry and government. Being a member of CaSE will be a great support in our work to inspire, educate and enable researchers and scientists to break boundaries and fast forward scientific achievements to help tackle if not solve, many of the most challenging scientific questions we all face in the 21^st century.”

About Diamond Light Source

Diamond Light Source is a not-for-profit limited company funded as a joint venture between UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and Wellcome Trust.  Diamond provides national science infrastructure that is free at the point of use. Primary facilities are the national synchrotron along with cryo-electron microscopy at the Harwell Campus, all available to researchers through a competitive application process, provided that published results are in the public domain.

Over 14,000 researchers from across life and physical sciences both from academia and industry use Diamond to conduct experiments, assisted by approximately 760 staff. Head of Communications for Diamond, Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke commented; “Since we started operations in 2007,  Diamond has experienced considerable growth and helped its strong user community achieve many science breakthroughs.  A study published in 2021 estimated a cumulative monetised impact of at least £1.8 billion from Diamond reflecting very favourably with the £1.2 billion investment made in the facility to date. And all for less than a cup of coffee as each taxpayer contributes only £2.45 a year towards it.” (See https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4769839 ).

Diamond works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to produce bright light that scientists can use to study anything from fossils to jet engines to viruses and vaccines.  The machine accelerates electrons to near light speeds so that they give off light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. These bright beams are then directed off into laboratories known as ‘beamlines’. Here, scientists use the light to study a vast range of subject matter, from new medicines and treatments for disease to innovative engineering and cutting-edge technology.

Whether it’s fragments of ancient paintings or unknown virus structures, at the synchrotron, scientists can study their samples using a machine that is 10,000 times more powerful than a traditional microscope.