The CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory's "DARTS" data collection service is now well established for industrial users. You may remember an article in March 1997's "Crystallography News" about the launch of DARTS, in which it was stated that a proposal to fund the extension of DARTS to academics had been submitted to EPSRC. That proposal has been successful, and so CCLRC is now pleased to announce that DARTS is now also open for academic business !
The Service will be run as one of the National Services under the Chemistry Programme, similar to that for single-crystal data collections run by Prof. Mike Hursthouse at Cardiff. It is a National Service for synchrotron radiation data collection. Academic access to the Service is available to any researcher eligible to apply for research grants from EPSRC. Demand for time is subject to scientific peer review. The Service is intended to support those inexperienced in the use of SR techniques, and is intended for projects that involve small scale SR use as part of a wider research scheme or where the use of SR is likely to remain infrequent.
The Service will be available mostly through a six-monthly call for applications, with a small amount of time set aside for faster access for ongoing work, the criterion for eligibility being as above. Allocations of time will only be awarded (by a 7-member committee) where the quality of the research concerned is judged as being appropriately high and would benefit from the application of SR techniques. In some cases, priority may be given to experiments related to research programmes directly supported by Research Council studentship awards or research grants.
So if you think your work may benefit from the collection of powder diffraction, EXAFS or Small Angle Scattering data on the Synchrotron Radiation Source at Daresbury, and you are not already using the facility, this is your chance ! The Service has one full-time member of staff and is managed and run by the same team who run industrial DARTS. If you are unfamiliar with what synchrotron radiation may be able to offer your work, then please get in touch using the addresses below.
To apply for time under DARTS, forms are available from the Service Manager,
Dr. Steve Maginn, at the CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD,
phone 01925 603141, e-mail [email protected].
DARTS has a website -
http://www.dl.ac.uk/SRS/DARTS - and application forms will soon be
available electronically there too.
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