The Cambridge Royce facilities were officially opened on 17th October by Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, who unveiled an official plaque at the Maxwell Centre. The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Stephen Toope, also gave a welcome address, highlighting the breadth of the research areas supported by the Cambridge Royce facilities, and its alignment with the broader vision for energy materials research at the University. The event also featured a series of short talks from early career researchers, highlighting the new cutting-edge science that is enabled by the new facilities. The Henry Royce Institute’s Chief Scientist, Regius Professor Philip Withers, gave an overview of the national programme of activities undertaken by the Henry Royce Institute. Industrial researchers also gave their perspective on the benefits interacting with the Henry Royce Institute.
The Henry Royce Institute was created as the UK’s national institute for materials science research and innovation in 2016, through the allocation of £235 million capital for the provision of a new building at the Royce hub in central Manchester, and for the purchase of advanced scientific equipment within the nine partner Royce institutions (Universities of Manchester, Cambridge, Oxford, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds, Imperial College London, and to the National Nuclear Laboratory and the UK Atomic Energy Authority).
As part of the Henry Royce Institute capital spend, £10 million was awarded to the University of Cambridge for the purchase of state-of-the-art research equipment, focussing on the theme of Materials for Energy-Efficient ICT, which promotes materials research for energy generation, energy storage, and efficient energy usage. The equipment comprises advanced wafer-scale research facilities, including a range of chemical synthesis suites, UHV and ambient thin film deposition, nanofabrication tools, in situ characterisation, packaging, and electrical testing facilities.
Cambridge Royce operates as a national facility, and the equipment is available for use by all research institutions and industry. The equipment suites are all well-supported by expert technical staff, and provide access to powerful materials analysis software.
The majority of equipment suites are now available for booking. Please contact Dr Lata Sahonta, Programme Manager of Royce@Cambridge (royce@maxwell.cam.ac.uk), or visit the Maxwell Centre web site for more information.