What we do in Technical Services

Teaching and Research
 
  • Ensure robust communication between Schools and Technical Services
  • Seek feedback
  • Work with Schools to ensure technical provision develops to meet evolving needs
  • Provide advice for large‑scale technical infrastructure projects (e.g., new buildings)
  • Provide support for Major Incident Planning and Business Continuity         

Practical Classes

Indirect Research
  • Academic consultation
  • Practical area timetabling
  • Development and trialling
  • Provide equipment and produce materials
  • Preparation
  • Layout
  • Technical delivery notes / class sheets
  • Demonstration of techniques
  • Clear down and process results
  • Upkeep of practical teaching areas
  • Service and repair of teaching equipment
  • Recommendations on teaching equipment requirements and replacements
  • Construct equipment where agreed
  • Induction of students into research areas
  • Training of students in research areas against SOPs for safety‑critical equipment
  • Core equipment training
  • Perform or organise programmed maintenance, calibration and monitoring
  • Supervise students (for defined period)
  • Stock agreed consumables
  • Manage controlled temperature environments
  • Training on procedures, specialist techniques and equipment
  • Provide technical advice and problem solving
  • Order specialist materials and equipment
  • Design, maintain and construct specialist research materials/equipment for students (for defined period

Project Students

Field Courses and Field Work
  • Understand technical objectives and agree requirements and timelines
  • Consumable procurement advice
  • Introduction and core equipment training where agreed
  • Area induction
  • Method or equipment advice & consultation
  • Academic consultation
  • Development and training
  • Demonstration of techniques
  • Demonstrate on‑ and off‑site technical equipment for field classes and fieldwork
  • Pack goods and equipment

Teaching Collections

Funded Research Support
  • Make acquisitions where required
  • Record and database management
  • Arrange transfers and loans
  • Maintain specimens or equipment
  • Undertake disposal where required
  • Method development and experiments
  • Expand research stock materials
  • Develop/optimise specialist processes
  • Analyse and interpret results
  • Assist in manuscript creation prior to publication
  • Design, maintain and construct specialist research materials and equipment for researchers

Shared Research Facilities

Outreach and Impact
  • Liaise with customers to determine requirements
  • Method development and advice
  • Provide experimental data/services
  • Interpret experimental results
  • Manage charging
  • Student recruitment – Open Days
  • Outreach activities
  • External conferences and courses

Operations

Technical Infrastructure Support

Core Equipment Compliance & Maintenance
  • Provide advice on specialist technical systems and procedures
  • Manage P2W system
  • Direct project support for refurbishment of technical/specialist areas
  • Advise on large‑scale technical infrastructure projects
  • Legislative checks (LEV, pressure systems, lifting gear, etc.)
  • Manage equipment breakdowns and disposals
  • Manage service contracts
  • Asset tracking
  • Report on equipment lifespan, usage, and condition

Stock Control

Workshops
  • Delivery, receipt & returns
  • Procurement advice
  • Manage and control stock items, gases & cryogenics
  • Design and build services
  • Fault find and repair
  • In‑house preventative maintenance as requested
  • Manage ticketing system
  • Manage outsourcing services

Core Services
  • Specialist cleaning
  • Glassware processing
  • Autoclave processing (sterile preparation)
  • Laundry processing
  • Hazardous waste processing

  

*Note: Variations in levels and requirements will apply to individual schools*

 

As well as the expertise that you will find in some of our research facilities including Chemical Analysis Facility, Crops Research Unit and the Crops Environment Laboratories other skills in use across Technical Services include:

Life Sciences

(Contact James Magee)

Environment

(Contact Dr Karen Wicks)
  • Performing titrations
  • Making chemical solutions
  • Preparation of agar and media
  • Precision weighing
  • Centrifugation, open brackets, high speed closed brackets
  • Tissue culture - passaging cells
  • Morphological and biochemical testing
  • Tableting and formulation
  • Radio ligan binding
  • Gel electrophoresis
  • PCR
  • Cloning
  • Plasmid prep
  • RNA isolation
  • SDS - page
  • Western blotting
  • Freeze Drying
  • HPLC analysis
  • Gas Chromatography Analysis
  • Viscosity determination
  • Benchtop NMR
  • UU/VIS spectrophotometry
  • Drone and Photogrammetry and Radar survey
  • Field sensors and electronics
  • Data loggers
  • Telemetry systems
  • Remote sensing (automated weather systems, stream flow metres, stilling Wells) Close brackets
  • Time lapse photography
  • Illustration
  • Radar rigging
  • ICP-OES for soils, plants, dairy
  • Greenhouse gas GC on soils
  •  GC-FID on soils
  • Continuous flow analysis on soil extracts and water.
  • Ion Chromatography on soil extracts and water
  • Cavity ring-down spectroscopy for water quality analysis
  • Automatic elemental analysis (Flash) for C&N
  • Hyprop analysis for soil water characteristics
  • Spectramax Multi-Mode Microplate Analysis on soil, plant and dairy bacteria
  • Particle Size Distributions of soils and sediments
  • Soil characterization (texture, CEC, LOI, bulk density)