A Pan-European Solid-State NMR Infrastructure for Chemistry-Enabling Access

ongoing

The objective of this project is to establish an integrated Infrastructure that will cater to a starting community of multi-disciplinary chemistry users in need of cutting-edge instrumentation and experimental expertise in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). At the heart of the European economy the wider Chemical Industry is one of the largest manufacturing sectors. Development of modern chemistry relies on the capacity for atomic level investigation of increasingly complex solid substrates in frontier research areas crossing disciplines from catalysis and energy materials through polymers to pharmaceutical formulations and medical implants. Among the range of physical and analytical techniques used for atomic level characterisation, breakthroughs have been made since the beginning of the century in the development and use of solid-state NMR spectroscopy, enabling the characterisation of structure and dynamics, at the atomic-level. This project aims at advancing knowledge and fostering innovation by providing the European chemistry community with effective and convenient access to the best research infrastructures in solid-state NMR available worldwide. For this, we aim to bring together and integrate on the European scale seven national infrastructures across Europe and to incorporate one infrastructure in the United States, and open them to all European researchers, from both academia and industry, ensuring their optimal use and joint development. Our ambitious and far-reaching aims will be broadly achieved by a close synergy between networking activities, provision of transnational access, and joint research activities, additionally involving two industrial technology partners and two of Europe’s leading research groups, so as to improve the quality and quantity of the services provided by the infrastructures, and facilitate the use of modern solid-state NMR by non-expert users, widening the opportunities for novel application areas in chemistry.