THE development of a new research facility in Cheshire to allow cutting edge research using light has taken a step closer after the project was awarded a '11.5m funding boost.

The 4th generation light source (4GLS) research facility planed for Daresbury Laboratory will enable scientists to conduct research and experiments on molecules in real time and follow chemical reactions as they happen.

And the project is closer to fruition after the DTI provided an '11.5m funding boost to explore the technology behind the innovative facility, and construct a prototype system.

The Office of Science and Technology is funding '8m of the award, with the remainder coming from the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils. Over the next three years, the exploratory phase of the project will study how the facility would need to be constructed, and develop a prototype to ensure its feasibility.

'This 3-year study into the technology behind 4GLS is an important step towards placing Daresbury at the cutting edge of accelerator science,' said science and innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury.

'4GLS would provide scientists with a first-class facility to conduct vital experiments in many disciplines. Its potential capability is unique in the world, and its capacity to combine a wide range of experiments would establish the UK as a major international player in this technology.'

The facility would work by producing very short, intense pulses of light, more than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 times brighter than a household light bulb and ' at its peak ' equivalent to the light needed to illuminate every home in London.

Originally part of a proposal to develop a proton cyclotron, that part of the project has been put on the backburner while the new 4GLS system goes into its exploratory phase.

Professor Elaine Seddon, project manager for 4GLS, said the news was a 'great recognition' of the staff on the project ' who are drawn from Daresbury, UMIST and Liverpool University.

'This is a tremendous day for Daresbury Laboratory ' twenty years ago Daresbury demonstrated that it could lead the world with the building of the world's first 'second generation' source ' the current SRS. Nowe we have shown that we can lead the world again with 4th generation technology'

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