A new initiative funded by the UCL Research Culture Seed Funding programme is laying the foundations for a UCL wide Research Facility Network.
The Research Platforms and Facilities: Connecting the People Who Drive Innovation and Make Research Possible initiative officially launched on 3 February 2026 at a hybrid event hosted at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre.
The event brought together more than 80 facility leads and research technical managers from across UCL. Attendance was strong both in person and online, signalling clear demand for stronger connections across UCL’s research platforms.
The programme included short presentations, cross faculty discussions, and interactive networking sessions. Conversations highlighted shared challenges, overlapping expertise, and a strong appetite for collaboration across facilities.
The project is funded by the UCL Grassroots Research Culture Seed Fund. This support enables the creation of a dedicated space to strengthen collaboration, increase visibility, and promote strategic dialogue across UCL’s research facilities.
About the project
The Research Facility Network aims to support the technical professionals and facility leads who play a central role in enabling UCL’s research and innovation.
The project focuses on:
- Building a cross UCL community that connects people, platforms, and expertise
- Creating a forum for shared challenges, best practice, and collective problem solving
- Increasing visibility and recognition of research platforms and their staff
- Strengthening alignment with institutional priorities and strategic planning
- Developing recommendations to support sustainability, operational consistency, and long-term resilience
The strong turnout at the launch reflects both commitment and need across UCL’s 180 plus research platforms. By bringing people together across faculties, the initiative aims to build a more connected, collaborative, and strategically aligned research environment.
Project leads
The initiative is guided by a cross faculty working group that reflects the breadth of UCL’s facilities landscape:
- Giovanna Vinti, Head of Technical Services, Faculty of Life Sciences
- Nadine Simons Weidenmaier, Research Facilities Coordinator, Life and Medical Sciences
- Jemima Burden, Head of Electron Microscopy, Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology
- Daria Gavriouchkina, Single Cell and Spatial Omics Platform Manager, UKDRI
- Jamie Gould, X ray Diffraction Facility Manager, Department of Chemistry
- Fidel Peacock, Senior Laboratory Manager, Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences
- Reshma Tilwani, Technical Manager, People and Nature Labs, Division of Biosciences
- Rachel Williams, Head of Sequencing, UCL Genomics, UCL Institute of Child Health
Looking ahead
As part of the next phase of this project, we are hosting three online workshops focused on the priority areas identified during the launch event.
Each workshop will include:
- Introducing the key topics and highlighting existing resources
- Identification of shared challenges and barriers
- Collecting your views on potential solutions and enablers
- Interactive discussions
This will be followed by a Network Launch and Insights event where the findings of the project will be shared with the community, as well as key stakeholders.
Registers for these events using this link
These next steps will help define shared priorities and support the development of a sustainable Facility Managers Network that extends beyond the funded period.
