Discover and share good practice for smarter working universities

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16 – 17 September: Supporting World Class Science conference: Leeds

Booking is now open for S-Lab's Supporting World Class Science conference, focusing on all aspects of laboratory design, management and use, which will appeal to managers, researchers and teachers, estates, facilities, procurement, technical and other support staff. Many of the sessions are drawn from the shortlisted entries for the 2015 S-Lab Awards.
Scientist using electron microscopy equipment

Sharing equipment – a welcome efficiency?

The dramatic cuts in capital funding in 2011 rocked academics working in scientific research. However as Lancaster University VC Mark Smith reports, this shock to the system has enabled the concept of equipment sharing to gain real ground.
Scientific research equipment

Raising the return: the benefits and opportunities from equipment sharing

Sharing equipment will be a key theme in Professor Sir Ian Diamond’s forthcoming report on efficiency in higher education. Sarah Jackson and Luke Georgiou introduce findings from the study of this activity which show that it is helping to advance scientific research while delivering value to the public purse.
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Sharing made easy – Jisc support for equipment sharing

From anechoic chambers to wind tunnels, mass spectrometers to supercomputers, institutions are increasingly looking to share high value items of research equipment. Martin Hamilton outlines how Jisc is working with a variety of partners to help embed and accelerate asset sharing.
Bottles in a lab

Raising the return – how do we do it?

In the final blogpost in our series on asset sharing, Sarah Jackson and Luke Georghiou say that despite the progress in this area, more work must be done to deliver full benefits.

Portsmouth University investigates sharing IT facilities with city schools

Portsmouth University, together with Portsmouth City Council, has won funding from the Higher Education Funding Council (Hefce) to investigate ways of sharing resources.

Sir Ian Diamond: ‘We can improve… by sharing best practice’.

In an interview with Efficiency Exchange, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reflects on how universities have adapted to become more efficient.
Unit DX Bristol Large Lab

Unit DX – a leaner approach to creating bio incubation centres

Unit DX opens its doors this month in the centre of Bristol, providing evidence of how universities' expertise is benefiting local economies. Created to solve...

Deal improves access to cloud and high performance computing for scientists

Researchers are beginning to rely on cloud computing to drive breakthrough science at breakneck speeds. An agreement between Jisc and Amazon Web Services in the UK makes it possible for all scientists to have their very own supercomputers in the cloud.
Scientist using electron microscopy equipment

The future for sharing

Professor Sir Ian Diamond’s report on efficiency in higher education highlighted universities’ achievements in asset sharing and called on them to build on this work. Rosie Niven rounds up the views of leading thinkers in the sector around the future of sharing and collaboration in research.