Facilities

Centre for Cell Manufacturing

The Centre for Cell Manufacturing at NUI Galway is the first and only approved facility on the Island of Ireland. The custom-built licensed centre is designed to manufacture Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products such as stem cells for use in human clinical trials. Cellular therapy is not a technology of the future, it is having an impact now, with thousands of ongoing clinical trials using stem cells as the preferred treatment option. Visit http://www.nuigalway.ie/stem-cells/ for more.

Flow Cytometry Core Facility

• BD Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer
  The BD Accuri C6 flow cytometer is a small benchtop anlyser equiped with 2 lasers, blue (488nm) and red (633nm) and is capable of 4 colour, 6 parameter analysis (4 colour + FSC + SSC). Further details on usage and booking can be found by visiting here.
• BD FACS Canto A
  The BD FACS Canto is capable of detecting up to 6 fluorescent parameters and 2 physical parameter per sample. The Canto can process up to 10,000 cells per second. Further details on usage and booking can be found by visiting here.
• BD FACS CANTO II
  The BD FACS Canto II is capable of detecting up to 8 fluorescent parameters and 2 physical parameters per sample. The Canto can process up to 10,000 cells per second. Further details on usage and booking can be found by visiting here.
• BD FACS AriaII
  Staining cells with fluorescently-labeled antibodies or cell surface-binding molecules allows the identification of subpopulations within a heterogeneous mixture. Subpopulations of cells thus identified can be isolated, or sorted, from the mixture at speeds of approximately 40,000 cells per second and with a purity approaching 100%. Further details on usage and booking can be found by visiting here.
• Biorad Bioplex 200
  The Bioplex 200 is a multiplex array system which allows the detection of multiple analytes from a single sample. It can multiplex up to 100 analytes per well in a 96 well plate, analytes include cytokines, chemokines, apoptotic markers and phosphoproteins. Further details on usage and booking can be found by visiting here. 
• Tali Image-Based Cytometer
  Automated fluorescent cell counter. For further details please contact shirley.hanley@nuigalway.ie or visit the Tali Image Based Cytometer here.
  
• 2 X Data Analysis PC Workstations
  Analysis software: Flowjo with online training and tutorials. Further details on usage and booking can be found by visiting here. 
• Class II Biological Safety Cabinet

Mass Spectrometry

• Mass spectrometer 1 - Agilent 6460 triple quadrupole LC/MS/MS system. This instrument is the best system for quantitative analysis. It has capillary and nanoflow HPLC systems to maximise instrument sensitivity. Dr David Finns research group in pharmacology are major users and use it to quantify bioactive lipid mediators.
• Mass spectrometer 2- Agilent 6510 QTOF LC/MS/MS system. This electrospray enabled system features sub 5 ppm mass accuracy in ms and ms/ms mode making it ideal for either proteomics, metabolomics and environmental applications. Best system for SILAC and iTRAQ proteomics applications.
• Mass spectrometer 3 - Bruker HCT Ultra ion trap with Electron Transfer Dissociation(ETD). A high capacity ion trap with ultra fast scanning and ETD functionality and great sensitivity. Proteomics workhorse but can also be used for biomolecule or environmental quantitation. Best system for peptide phosphorylation site analysis. 
• Mass spectrometry protocols. Suggested resource for users to peruse foe methods etc

Centre for Microscopy and Imaging Shared Resource Facility

The Centre for Microscopy and Imaging is a core facility dedicated to providing scientists with a variety of high-end light and electron microscopes along cutting-edge imaging software and analysis tools.  The Centre has multiple functions, in that it:

• Provides access to high-end acquisition and analysis workstations
• Provides expertise in microscopy, imaging and analysis.
• Maintains instruments and workstations to ensure quality and efficiency.
• Maintains an institute-wide image database for better and safer archiving of all image or image-related documents.
• Links to other European and worldwide microscopy and imaging networks.

Cutting-edge tools and services include:

• Transmission Electron Microscopy

• Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX elemental analysis  
• TEM section preparation - Ultracryomicrotome, Metal Mirror Cryofixation, Freeze Substitution
• Scanning FT-IR Spectrometer
• Atomic Force Microscope
• Confocal Microscopes
• Raman Microspectroscopy and Imaging
• Fluorescence lifetime Imaging
• Upright and Inverted widefield imaging microscopes
• Upright and Inverted brightfield imaging microscopes
• Darkfield Imaging
• Image analysis and deconvolution software

Histology Laboratory

• Tissue processor
• Parrafin Wax embedder
• Rotary Microtome, float out bath
• Cryostat
• Vibratome
• Slide Staining equipment 

DNA Analysis Laboratory Equipment

• Rapid Plate & Twister Arm Liquid Handling
• Agilent Bioanalyser
• Microarray Scanner and printer
• Real time quantitative PCR machine
• ABI 96 well real time PCR fast system
• Standard PCR set-up gel rigs and image capture & densitometry apparatus
• Bacterial cloning equipment - incubators & centrifuges
• Kodak IS4000MM Imaging system

Protein Vector Analysis Equipment

• GC/LC Mass Spectrometer with QTof
• Acta FPLC system for vector isolation
• Acta FPLC Chromatography system for liposome experiments
• N5 Submicron Particle Size Analyser Beckman Coulter
• High speed Sorvall and Beckmann centrifuges
• Nanodrop Spectrophotometer
• Ultra Low Temperature Freezers
• Plate readers, luminometry and fluorescence capabilities
• 2-D gel electrophoresis equipment and image analysis equipment
• 2 x Guava Easycyte System
• FACS Canto â„¢ and FACS Aria â„¢ Flow Cytometers
• Bio-Plex 200 System array & microplate reader 

Materials and Mechanical Testing Equipment

• Differential Scanning Colorimeter (DSC)
• Origin 3800 High Performance Computer with SGI workstations
• Universal Stress Rheometer
• Coordinate Measurement Machine
• Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analyser
• Sinterstation 2500plus Rapid Prototyper
• Femtosecond Laser
• Axial Torsion Testing Machine
• Nano-Indenter with AFM head
• Pin on Disc Tribometer
• High Frequency Fatigue machine

Tissue Culture Laboratories

• Fully equipped tissue culture suites (centrifuges, incubators, class II safety cabinets etc)
• Cell storage for master cell/virus banks
• Hypoxic Chamber
• Cell storage bar code identification and labelling software
• Controlled Rate Freezer

Biomaterials

• Varian 920 HPLC system with IR detector and Cirrus Gel Permeation Chromatography software
• Varian 610-IR FTIR Microscope with ResolutionsPro software
• Malvern Nano ZS-90 Zeta Potential and Size analyser
• Biochrom amino acid analyser
• Virtis freeze driers
• Electrospinning rig and high voltage power supply
• Multiple illimination image documentation systemThermo Scientific Varioskan Flash Spectral
• Scanning Multimode Reader
• Varioskan Flash Spectral Scanning Multimode Reader with Skanit software (UV/Vis,
• flourescence, TRH, luminesence)
• Lab-on-a-chip reader for nucleic acid analysis.
• Nanodrop spectrophotometer
• Biaxial Mechanical Testing Equipment for Planar Tissues
• Quantitative Sterological Image Analysis System

GIS Facility

The Informatics/GIS facility has the capability to process, manipulate, analyse and display spatial information.  The facility consists of a GIS Training Suite, an informatics office suite, and a depository of imagery datasets.

Carron Field Research Station

The Carron Field research Station is located in the botanically and topographically unique Burren Region in North West County Clare.  The station was established in"75 as a base for research personnel exploring the Burren, and is now also open for use by visiting parties.  The station sleeps 24, has modernized cooking and dining accommodation, several meeting rooms, and a fully serviced teaching laboratory.

Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station

The Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, in Carna, County Galway has been a site for atmospheric measurements since"58.  The station offers westerly exposure to the North Atlantic ocean  and the opportunity to study atmospheric composition under Northern Hemispheric background conditions, as well as European continental emissions when the winds favour transport from that region.  Facilities include state-of-the-art aerosol and gas instrumentation, cloud and wave radar instrumentation, aerosol and meteorological profilers, micrometeorological flux equipment, and a marine meteorology and chemistry buoy facility.

Rapid Compression and Shock Tube Laboratories

The rapid compression and shock tube laboratories in NUI Galway include state-of-the-art experimental equipment to study the chemistry of combustion and its application to the development of energy-efficient engine and gas turbine combustion systems and the impact of their use on toxic and greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping address the problems of climate change.

Materials Characterisation

• Raman spectroscopy/microscopy
• Fluorescence spectroscopy
• Fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy
• Reflectance spectroscopy
• Scanning White-Light Interferometry 

Laser Materials Processing

• Marking Micro-machining Ultrafast (Femtosecond)
• Machining
• Surface Activation
• Laser Ablation Computational Modelling
• Cutting
• Drilling Welding
• Nanotechnology