Diamond celebrates its 10th birthday at Harwell Oxford
Diamond, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility and one of Oxfordshire’s flagship science institutes, is celebrating its 10th year at Harwell Oxford today. A decade ago, on the 27th March 2002, the Wellcome Trust and the UK Government signed the Joint Venture Agreement and Diamond Light Source Ltd was born that day.
The facility is located at Harwell Oxford, a world leading location for science, technology and education. It forms part of a unique community of businesses, academics and entrepreneurs involved in cutting edge research and innovation, supported by world-class scientific facilities.
To celebrate this 10th Anniversary milestone and join in with Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, Diamond is asking local people in Oxfordshire, “What were you doing on the 27th March 2002?” If this date is a special one for you because you were born on this day, or were married on it, then Diamond would like to hear from you. This is so that you and your family can be special guests at one of the Inside Diamond public open days that are being held in June 2012.
Diamond is also calling on any couples in Oxfordshire who are celebrating their Diamond wedding anniversary in 2012 as they will also receive a special invitation to visit the science facility where light that is a billion times brighter than the sun is used by scientists who are investigating everything from how to treat serious diseases more effectively to how to meet the planets energy needs in a more environmentally friendly way.
Dr Sally-Ann Forsyth, Director of Science Parks, Goodman, said:
“Diamond is one of Harwell Oxford’s greatest assets and we are delighted to be welcoming the ‘special guests’ to the science park as part of the anniversary celebrations. The Diamond facility is not only impressive to look at, it is also a place where scientific discoveries which are vital to our everyday lives are made. Harwell Oxford is home to over 140 companies, creating a globally significant community of some of the greatest minds in the world of science and innovation, working across a wide range of sectors.”
Gerd Materlik, Diamond’s Chief Executive, comments: “It’s been a real honour to lead this project and be part of a team who in less than five years got the facility constructed as well as up and running for scientific users and all this on time, on budget and to specifications. The following five years were spent delivering science as well as building up the next Phase of construction. We have achieved around 1600 scientific publications so far and over 3,000 researchers are now making up the user community. With a team of 430 strong, Diamond is now on the way to deliver its full potential.”
For its 10th birthday, Diamond has launched a blog www.diamond10.org where everyone who has had a connection to the project can contribute and leave their perspectives. It’s also where anyone new to Diamond can find some useful facts and background to the project. Diamond will continue 2012 celebrating its 10th anniversary with a Special Series of ‘Inside Diamond’- open days which will run from 16th to 20th June. These events will be ticketed and more information is available at www.diamond.ac.uk/Home/Events/InsideDiamond
Professor Materlik continues, “Looking back over the past 10 years, there have been many challenges and achievements. People we lost, talents we gained, challenges we have faced… and in the midst of these remaining focused on our vision to be a leading edge facility for scientific research, supporting a wide range of users from both academia and industry, thereby delivering benefits to the UK society and economy.”
The latest achievements include the Oxford University’s world leading biomolecular biology department’s solving of the Enterovirus 71 (EV71) - a major agent of hand, foot and mouth disease in children that can cause severe central nervous system disease and death. This Virus is a serious public health threat in the Asia South Pacific region and this achievement opens new opportunities for therapies being developed.
As Diamond serves the whole of the UK, many more are being added to Diamond’s list of successes. Other scientific highlights include; gaining a better understanding of hypertension in the pre-natal condition pre-eclampsia, learning how earthworms can help clean up contaminated land, understanding the link between trace metals in the brain and Alzheimer’s Disease, helping to preserve the Tudor warship the Mary Rose, and revealing the mechanism used by HIV to attack the body.
To register as a special guest, please e-mail diamond.communications@diamond.ac.uk or call 01235 778639.ENDS
About Harwell Oxford
Harwell Oxford is a science, innovation and business campus based in South Oxfordshire at the heart of Science Vale UK. It is being developed as a world-class centre for science, technology and innovation and was recently names as part of one of the Government’s new Enterprise Zones.
Over 4,500 people are part of this vibrant community, working in some 150 organisations including key UK Research Councils, start-ups and multi-national organisations focussing on a range of commercial applications including healthcare, medical devices, space, detector systems, computing, green enterprise and new materials.
About Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Goodman Group is an integrated property group with operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Goodman Group, comprised of the stapled entities Goodman Limited and Goodman Industrial Trust, is the largest industrial property group listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the largest listed industrial property groups globally.
Goodman’s global property expertise, integrated own+develop+manage customer service offering and significant fund management platform ensures it creates innovative property solutions that meet the individual requirements of its customers, whilst seeking to deliver attractive long-term returns for investors. In Europe, Goodman has offices in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
Please visit: www.goodmanbusienssparks.co.uk/ www.goodman.com
For further information on Goodman please contact:
Sarah Bishell 020 7269 9361 sarah.bishell@fticonsulting.com
Philippa Murray 020 7269 9300 philippa.murray@fticonsulting.com