A 'supercool' focus for space science in Cardiff

A multi-million pound investment in laboratories at Cardiff University has created a new national focus for space science and technology research, supporting the scientists who are investigating how the primordial fluctuations of the Universe developed after the Big Bang into the stars and galaxies we see today.

The Laboratory for Experimental Astrophysics enable Cardiff scientists to develop new technologies for astronomy research. A major feature is the ability to create new instruments and to conduct experiments at the lowest possible temperatures - at just one-tenth of a degree above absolute zero, or minus 273 degrees Celsius.
Such capabilities, built into new ground-based telescopes, satellite and balloon-borne observatories, are vital to detect faint radiation signals in space, such as the Cosmic Microwave Background, a remnant of the Big Bang. As an example of the sensitivity and sophistication of the facilities, if the Sun was replaced by a single bar electric fire, instruments designed at Cardiff would be able to detect the heat from it from here on Earth!
At a launch event for the laboratories on Friday November 21st, Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister for Wales, described the facilities as "a major step forward in cosmology and astrophysics work at Cardiff." "The accumulation of global top level research, with its spin out and job creation capabilities is impressive to the funding world. It presses all the right buttons for me," he said.
The technology has applications in other fields, such as medical imaging and atmospheric studies. The laboratories are funded by grants totalling nearly £2 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) - an initiative of the Wellcome Trust and the Department for Trade and Industry's Office of Science and Technology, and administered by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.
The new facilities are home to the Astronomy Instrumentation Group, part of the School of Physics and Astronomy. Since its creation some four years ago the Group has attracted research funds in excess of £10million and has created 40 new high-tech posts in Cardiff. QMC Instruments Ltd, a spin-out company marketing some of the technology developed in the lab, has also expanded with the group and now has an annual turnover of £1million and employs five people. The Group also supports local industry by contracting out many tasks such as machining, electronic design and manufacturing.
The Group's experiments probe the very early Universe and answer questions about how stars, planets and galaxies have evolved from the tiny seeds created at the time of the Big Bang. Experiments also look at questions closer-to-home like how planetary systems form the atmospheres of planets and our own Earth.
The Group delivers training to undergraduate and postgraduate students and hosts visits from other world class institutions including the universities of Princeton, Stanford, Caltech and Pennsylvania and laboratories at NASA and the European Science Agency.
"Astronomy has always grabbed the imagination of the public, but at Cardiff we're demonstrating that skills in physics and mathematics can be vital for the economic future health of the nation," said head of the Group, Professor Walter Gear. "The calibre of the work undertaken at Cardiff enhances the skills of those employed or trained within the Group, and enables our students and visitors to go out into the world spreading the name of Cardiff University and Wales as a major centre for technical and scientific excellence in astrophysics and space science," he said.
NOTES TO EDITOR:,(1) A range of images that illustrate work in progress in the laboratories are available. For example state of the art technology designed by the Astronomy Instrumentation Group will be built into the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory - due to be launched into space in 2007. Components are precision-manufactured of gold plated copper to ensure good thermal conductivity when operating at -273 Celsius, less than one degree from absolute zero. See www.pparc.ac.uk for images.,(2) The Joint Infrastructure Fund is a £750million initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Wellcome Trust, and the Higher Education Funding Councils. Launched in 1998, the Fund enables universities to invest in new facilities and equipment that will underpin basic research projects and ensure that British universities remain at the forefront of international scientific research.,(3) Independent government assessments recognise Cardiff University as one of Britain's leading research and teaching universities. In the 2001 national assessment of research quality, the University was ranked seventh of more 106 universities in the UK. Eighty seven percent of the University's academic research staff work in departments assessed as undertaking work of national and international excellence, and the University is, by invitation, a member of the Russell Group of leading research universities. Twenty-one subject areas have been assessed as "Excellent" for teaching, one of the highest totals in Britain. The University was founded by Royal Charter in 1883. Visit the University website at: www.cardiff.ac.uk ,(4) The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK's strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and public understanding in four areas of science - particle physics, astronomy, cosmology and space science.
PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), and the European Space Agency. It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank observatory. PPARC's Public Understanding of Science and Technology Awards Scheme funds both small local projects and national initiatives aimed at improving public understanding of its areas of science.
Further information,Professor Walter Gear,Head of the Astronomy Instrumentation Group,Cardiff School of Physics and Astronomy,Tel: [phone],E-mail: [e-mail] ,http://www.astro.cardiff.ac.uk/groups/instrumentation/
Debra Freemantle, Public Relations Office,(ac am ymholiadau trwy'r Gymraeg),Tel: [phone],Mob: [phone],E-mail: [e-mail]
Julia Maddock,PPARC Press Office,Tel: [phone],E-mail: [e-mail],

Countries

United Kingdom