"Back our vision" demands north-west science lab

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"Back our vision" demands north-west science lab

Staff at Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire have called for support in their bid to establish a bright future for the north-west lab.



The request comes after the Department of Trade and Industry revealed today in its £10billion spending plan that it would only fund Daresbury’s synchrotron, currently the centrepiece of the laboratory, until the end of December 2008.

The 25-year-old synchrotron is a bright source of x-rays, ultra-violet and infrared light used by more than 1,000 university-based scientists every year. Results from an enormous range of experiments that use it are crucial to such diverse areas as fighting the AIDS virus, controlling greenhouse gases, and manufacturing better tasting chocolate. Work towards securing a futuristic project at Daresbury will continue, but around 150 job losses are expected.

Dr Steve Bennett, a Prospect representative and scientist at the lab said: "A highly dedicated team of scientists, engineers and computing experts have contributed to world-leading science over the past 25 years.

"Today's announcement signifies the end of this highly successful era. Although we're looking forward to the next big project coming to Daresbury, it is obviously a time of great concern for us and highly uncertain for the 300 specialists and support staff working on the synchrotron.

"It is essential that every effort is made to avoid compulsory redundancies and for any restructuring to be properly funded. Staff must remain at the centre of the plans, because only they can deliver the world-class scientific research until the end of 2008 and the future projects."

Plans are progressing with partners in the North West Development Agency, the universities of Liverpool, Manchester and Lancaster, and others for a new science park on the site. Besides the opportunities this would bring, the vision of those at Daresbury has already generated some £14 million from the government to develop an entirely new technology for a so-called fourth generation light source (4GLS).

The expected success of this prototype project will release funds to build a cluster of novel electron-lasers, unique in the world. Extremely bright flashes of light will enable the equivalent of ‘motion pictures’ of atoms to be recorded and allow scientists to see how atoms stick together.

Bennett added: "The north-west has always been a pillar of UK scientific research. With the support of laboratory management and regional partners it can continue to make a world leading contribution. Public money has been spent in training staff over the past 25 years and the government should be keen to retain their skills to enhance a knowledge-based economy in this region."

Notes to editors:

Daresbury Laboratory is part of the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils, the research council responsible for large-scale scientific instruments too big for universities to build and operate by themselves.

Prospect represents scientists, engineers, administrative and finance staff at the laboratory.

The synchrotron radiation source SRS is a particle accelerator in which electrons, circulating at the speed of light, emit beams of light from infra-red to x-rays. It was the first multi-user facility of its kind. Although it was always expected to close at the end of its working life, staff were angered when the decision was made to site its successor, Diamond, a third generation machine, in Oxfordshire.

The fourth generation light source (4GLS) will produce very short pulses of extremely high brightness light which will enable researchers to study how molecules work, for example by following chemical reactions as they happen, looking at clusters of atoms or even examining the 'spin' of electrons.

In the concept for the 4GLS, the light is produced by a combination of two new technologies, energy recovery linear accelerator and free electron lasers. Together these result in light up to a million times brighter than the conventional particle accelerator technology used in all current ‘third generation’ synchrotron sources.

Because it produces high intensity, low energy light researchers can examine the processes within living cells without destroying them and therefore, for example, study how medicines kill diseased cells.