New Centre for Analytical Science:

analytical.science@loughborough

Investing in People

The Department of Chemistry at Loughborough University has recently seen four new academic appointments in analytical science. Current members of the Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Section, Professor Roger M Smith, Professor Peter Warwick, Dr Barry Sharp and Dr Helen Reid, have been joined by two new chairs, Professor Colin Creaser and Professor Paul Thomas, a lecturer, Dr Nick Evans, and a senior experimental officer, Dr Jim Reynolds. These developments have led to the formation of a new centre for analytical science to be known as ‘analytical.science@loughborough’.

Renewing infrastructure The new centre was launched formally in March 2008, coinciding with the completion of a major refurbishment of research laboratories and offices in the Department of Chemistry and the installation of a comprehensive suite of mass spectrometry, chromatography and ion mobility spectrometry instrumentation. The new centre will provide a focus for analytical activities in the University and a point of contact for national and international collaborators from academia, industry and other research organisations. In addition to research and teaching, the new centre will be involved in outreach activities aimed at enhancing the recognition and activity of UK analytical science at all levels. These developments, together with the Department’s established undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in analytical chemistry, will maintain Loughborough’s position as a major national centre for analytical science with world-wide recognition.

Sustaining the science base The portfolio of  courses offered by the Department of Chemistry includes a range of analytical options at all levels. BSc and MChem degree routes in Chemistry with Analytical Chemistry and Chemistry with Forensic Analysis are both available with options for students to undertake industrial (or professional) training. At postgraduate level, the Department  offers PhD and MPhil research degrees,  as well as MSc courses in Analytical and Pharmaceutical Science, Analytical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Information Technology and Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science. The MSc degrees are taught through  Masters Training Packages (MTP), which have a short course format with intensive instruction over three days, making the courses accessible to full time and part time students, as well as those wishing to attend a single module.

Research expertise

Academic staff, researchers and students associated with the new centre are engaged in a range of research projects aimed at the development of novel methods and instrumentation for the structural and quantitative measurement of chemicals and biomolecules. Current expertise and instrumentation includes atomic spectroscopy, gas and liquid chromatography, ion mobility spectrometry, mass spectrometry,  gamma spectrometry, alpha spectrometry, liquid scintillation counting and chemometric / bioinformatics methods for processing data. The techniques and procedures developed are applied to solving problems in a variety of fields including biomedical, clinical, environmental, food, industrial process, forensic and pharmaceutical science.

Our webpages for the new Centre for Analytical Science will continue to develop and grow. We hope you will revisit us, and monitor developments as we add information about our research.

Further information is available from: Professor Colin Creaser, Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (c.s.creaser@lboro.ac.uk), or email the centre direct at analytical.science@loughborough.