Specialist Equipment and Facilities for Hire

Regional businesses can now access research equipment and facilities at the Institute of Research in the Applied Natural Sciences (LIRANS), University of Bedfordshire. The service specialises in four areas: imaging, molecular biology, chemical analysis and fabrication. Professor Tiantian Zhang, Director of LIRANS, said: “LIRANS is equipped with a wide range of modern imaging technologies. Scientific equipment such as the confocal laser scanning microscope, the 3D surface confocal microscope, the cryomicroscope and the real-time PCR machines might be valuable for some small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but are not cost-effective to procure. Through LIRANS services, SMEs can access these instruments at an economical hourly or daily rate, allowing them to develop new and improved products and processes without the potentially

substantial investment needed in equipment, staff and training costs.

” Experts are also on hand to offer training to company employees who can then undertake work at the research facility, or who can assist businesses in their required area of research, from experimental design through to data processing and analysis.

LIRANS is located at the new Butterfield Business and Technology Park on the outskirts of Luton, near to the University’s Putteridge Bury campus. For more information, visit www.beds.ac.uk/research/lirans/services or telephone LIRANS on 01582 489 333 or 01582 743 724.