A confocal imaging system to support interdisciplinary EPSRC-remit research

我们建议使用核心设备项目提供的资金来投资对我们目前的共聚焦显微镜设备进行实质性升级，该设备现在即将结束其使用寿命。这笔投资将使我们的世界一流实验室的供应得以延续，为位于基尔大学的多学科epsrc研究机构提供高规格的共聚焦系统。之前由EPSRC核心设备和世界一流实验室资助的设备元件的合并证明了物有所值，利用了“投资以节省”的战略。新仪器将大大提高显微镜提供的用户从事回答高质量，复杂的，研究问题，这将有利于我们的早期研究人员不断增长的队列，以及支持我们的博士培训计划。能够以高分辨率询问2D/3D样品，同时采用新的量化模式，将有助于扩大我们现有的用户专业知识基础，涵盖再生医学，组织工程，疾病治疗，糖科学以及生物材料和纳米技术研究领域的先前工作。作为基尔成像设施的一部分，现场多用户可用性将提供卓越的支持和培训能力，使我们自然科学学院、医学和健康科学学院的教职员工和学生受益。升级后的共聚焦设施靠近北米德兰兹大学医院（UHNM），将促进与NC3Rs议程相关的基于人体模型的体外和离体实验文化。除了研究，显微镜也将有利于教学活动，包括我们已经建立的组织工程研究生课程和我们新成立的组织工程本科课程，现在是第二年。

We propose to use funding provided under this Core Equipment call to invest in a substantial upgrade to our current confocal microscope facility, which is now coming to the end of its useful life. The investment will enable a continuation of our World Class Lab provision by providing a high specification confocal system to the multidisciplinary EPSRC-remit research body located at Keele University. The incorporation of equipment elements previously funded by EPSRC Core Equipment and World Class labs demonstrates excellent value for money, exploiting an 'invest to save' strategy. The new instrument will greatly enhance microscopy provision for users engaged in answering high quality, complex, research questions, which will benefit our growing cohort of early-stage researchers as well as underpinning our doctoral training programmes. The ability to interrogate 2D/3D samples with high resolution whilst employing new quantification modalities, will help to expand our established user expertise base, covering prior work in the areas of regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, disease treatment, glycoscience, as well as the study of biomaterials and nanotechnology. The on-site multi-user availability, as part of the Keele Imaging Facility, will provide exceptional support and training capabilities benefitting staff and students from across schools within our faculties of Natural Sciences, and Medicine and Health Sciences. In close proximity to University Hospitals North Midlands (UHNM), the upgraded confocal facility will promote a culture of relevant human model-based in vitro and ex vivo experimentation linked to NC3Rs agenda. In addition to research, the microscope will also benefit teaching activities including our well-established tissue engineering postgraduate programmes and our newly established tissue engineering undergraduate programme, now in its second year.