I note with interest the publication of the Science and Technology Committee report on the science budget – and your coverage of its recommendations on the underuse of major facilities (“New labs ‘lying idle’ due to science budget mismatch, MPs warn”, 9?November).
However, it is important not to lose sight of the need to also get the best value for money from other research assets owned by the sector.
A good deal is already being done in this area. The website – an online catalogue of research equipment – provides details of more than 10,000 items of high-value research equipment such as mass spectrometers and gene sequencers, with a combined value of more than ?200 million.
Jisc is currently looking to develop the website into a national service that streamlines the equipment-sharing process and enables universities to report back on the extent of their equipment utilisation and sharing.
Given the scale of the asset base, even a marginal improvement in equipment sharing across the sector could result in millions of pounds of efficiencies. I would encourage your readers to get in touch with us via if they would like to be involved in this work, or to discuss making data on their own equipment available.
Paul Feldman
Chief executive, Jisc
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