This includes funding of £73.5m for the ISIS Endeavour Programme, including future funding years.
Starting in FY23/24, Endeavour will provide new instruments and significant upgrades of several others at ISIS. The Endeavour instruments will further ISIS' international scope, attracting global talent and encouraging further international investment. Endeavour will enable research in areas such as advanced materials and manufacturing, clean energy technologies, and biosciences and healthcare.
Also receiving funding is the ISIS-II project with an investment of £3.9m over the next 3 years, £5.1m from the Infrastructure Fund in total, including future funding years. This scoping funding will enable initial feasibility and design studies on the high-level parameters, proton driver and target system architectures, and sustainability considerations required to develop a next generation facility in decades to come.
Roger Eccleston, ISIS Director, says, “I am delighted with today's announcement of funding for both the Endeavour Programme and the ISIS-II feasibility studies. The Endeavour Programme will deliver a significant increase in the capabilities and capacity of ISIS, and provide new opportunities for our national and international users, creating new knowledge and addressing global challenges such as the drive to carbon net zero. ISIS-II will be the UK's next generation neutron and muon source providing a step-change increase in capability. Together these exciting projects will ensure UK researchers have access to the unique insights neutrons and muons provide as part of our world-class research infrastructure."
Funding is subject to business case approvals, but Endeavour passed another milestone this week with the approval of the outline business case by HM Treasury. The full business case will be submitted in September 2022, and the project is planned to start in the 2023/24 financial year.
