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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 , 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)