ISIS is a world-leading centre for research in the physical and life sciences at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford in the United Kingdom. Our suite of neutron and muon instruments allow the properties of materials to be understood at the scale of atoms.
We support a national and international community of more than 2000 scientists for research into subjects ranging from clean energy and the environment, pharmaceuticals and health care, through to nanotechnology, materials engineering and IT.
News and Events
Tuesday 20 July 2010
Engineers from ISIS have teamed up with students and teachers at local Harwell Primary School to enable them to enter the Greenpower Gathering of Goblins at Goodwood Race Circuit, racing against other schools from across the country.
Thursday 15 July 2010
The new Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH) is now open to users, with the official declaration ceremony led by Sir Lezek Borysiewicz (Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council (MCR)) last week.
Friday 02 July 2010
For more than 20 years, ISIS has hosted a suite of muon beamlines owned and operated by a team of scientists and engineers from the Japanese RIKEN Nishina Centre for Accelerator-based Science. A new agreement signed on Friday 2 July extends one of the largest research collaboration projects between the UK and Japan until 2018.
Making an impact
Thursday 09 July 2009
ISIS helps mobile phone component manufacturers keep up with next-generation demand.
Thursday 09 July 2009
Experiments at ISIS are helping companies to understand why oil pipes get blocked and how best to extract oil from its source.
Thursday 09 July 2009
ISIS is giving a specialist bioscience spinout the fundamental knowledge needed to make more accurate biosensors to diagnose potentially fatal diseases.
Science at ISIS
Tuesday 13 July 2010
Partnership with world-class ISIS neutron source helps Oxfordshire business develop state-of-the-art products.
Wednesday 30 June 2010
New experimental data by from the ISIS neutron source on how ring-shaped molecules pack together in liquids could lead to more efficient drug design.
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Researchers from the universities of Liverpool and Durham have used ISIS muons as part of a study published in this week’s Nature, showing how structural control of superconductivity can be used to discern the way electronic correlations underpin the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity.
Wednesday 24 March 2010
The quantum phase transition paradigm for a 1D Ising chain placed in a transverse applied magnetic field has been realised experimentally for the first time, at ISIS.
Target Station 2
The £145 million ISIS second target station project was completed in 2009 on time and to budget. All seven Phase One neutron instruments are operational.
Friday 08 January 2010
First published science results from new UK neutron source support Newton’s ideas and quantum theory
The Phase Two Instruments Project at the ISIS second target station will build four new instruments together with the necessary advanced detectors, electronics and software.
Three key research themes guide the design of the Second Target Station.
