Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The National Ultrahigh-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility for Solids is a national scientific user facility originally funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Recherche Qubec, and the National Research Council Canada (NRC). This facility is seen as the most cost-effective way to provide the Canadian NMR community access to a world-leading NMR centre for advancing the science of materials and the innovative development of technologically advanced products. The University of Ottawa manages the NMR facility. It is an outstanding example of the results which can be obtained through synergistic collaborations between academic researchers, government researchers, and industry. The equipment consists of a 900 MHz NMR spectrometer with magnet, console, probes and ancillary equipment to acquire ultrahigh field static and fast spinning spectra of solid materials. This type of dedicated solids instrument is not available elsewhere in Canada. Since 2005, hundreds of scientists from more than 20 institutions across Canada have used the Facility. It continues to have a transformative impact on the research programs of rising stars and established researchers across the country. This proposal requests operations and maintenance funding of the Facility Managers position and for equipment service contracts, which are absolutely critical to Facility operations. The request is for $150k per year, for two years. Remaining expenses are covered through membership dues, user fees, and cash contributions from industry.