CHRONO: Institute for Heritage and Environmental Science

Queen's University Belfast has a distinguished history as a world leader in enhancing understandings of the human past and heritage through leading edge scientific techniques. This includes pioneering dating and analytical science through the flagship 14CHRONO Centre established in 2003, which has provided analytical capacities fundamental to research, the wider heritage sector and collections-based infrastructure of Northern Ireland, Britain and across the Island of Ireland.

Funding is sought for a major upgrade of 14CHRONO to provide a new, state-of-the-art facility: 14CHRONO: Institute for Heritage and Environmental Science. This new facility will be a global leader in dating and isotopic analysis, and as an all-island facility, provide much needed conservation infrastructure and analytical capacities for collections-focused research in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

This proposal is supported by the Historic Environment Divison (NI Department for Communities), National Museums Northern Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland. NMNI lack RO/IRO status, and hence, are unable to apply for funding from many research councils or capital schemes. As a result, Queen's University Belfast has long provided the analytical capacities and laboratory needs for the museums and wider heritage sector in Northern Ireland, with 14CHRONO constituting a regional hub, and previously housing a conservation laboratory shared with the Ulster Museum.

This application seeks to harness these cross-sectoral collaborative partnerships and the long-standing reputation as a world-leading facility, to realise a new state-of-the-art institute for heritage and environmental science. Reflecting the strategic priority of this application for creating a regional hub for Northern Ireland, this application is accompanied by a contribution by Queen's University Belfast of £189,840 towards estates costs, and £1,944,258 towards equipment costs, with the aim of securing a further £3m to realise the new facility.

Equipment needed entails a new Accelerated Mass Spectrometer with gas interface, two IRMS, a Triple Quad ICP-MS interfaced with Laser Ablation and Ion Chromatography, alpha counters for 210Pb dating, a Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometer, an Electron Probe Micro Analyser, a bench-top Helium Purge Micro-XRF complemented by portable handheld XRF and an ELIO Micro-XRF mapper; and a large chamber and sensor X-Ray machine. Together this equipment provides state-of-the-art techniques in dating, isotopic analysis, elemental analysis and conservation, complemented by an established technical team in post.

This will be unique in the UK, a hub for the Northern Ireland heritage sector, and the first all-island facility with complete dating, isotopic and combined conservation laboratories.

14CHRONO's track-record as a self-sustaining facility ensures a comprehensive long-term sustainability and management strategy that will be transformative for the heritage sector of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. This facility will be established with a commitment to providing up to 20% of laboratory time and samples for free or at cost to support key heritage stakeholders across Northern Ireland.

Continuing 14CHRONO's long-standing record as a major facility that attracts researchers from across the globe, through the realisation of this facility, this grant addresses a structural inequality and lacunae in the heritage sector of Northern Ireland, while enabling the strategic need for a major upgrade and replacement of the ageing equipment in the existing facility.