Test Days for New Users
The NRF is keen to encourage new UK-based users to access the high-field NMR instrumentation. For new users who are not currently collaborating with a solid-state NMR expert group, we offer this access mechanism:
Contact the Facility Management TeamLink opens in a new window to discuss the systems that you wish to analysis. The FMT will then offer up to 3 test days to check feasibility – the PI and / or members of their research team are encouraged to attend in person during the measurements (travel and accommodation costs are funded).
To enable the transition from these initial test days to becoming a regular user via the time allocation processLink opens in a new window, the NRF is trialing (as of September 2026) being more proactive at brokering collaborations between new users and established NMR groups (note that the focus here is on new users who have contacted the NRF without any previous contact with an established solid-state NMR expert PI). Such initial test day measurements with the FMT are a way of getting started, but turning such work into an on-going, more extensive programme of work, especially when access to lower magnetic fields would be best done in collaboration, needs a different approach. The evidence we have collected strongly points to applications for time from new users generally being much more competitive if an experienced NMR spectroscopist is part of the team. Noting that there is absolutely no compulsion on the new user to take this approach or an established spectroscopist to be part of this scheme, new users who have carried out test days will be asked if they wish to put in contact with an established spectroscopist to continue the integration of solid-state NMR into their research program.