Facilities and Equipment

The University offers access to facilities, equipment, services, and expertise to meet challenges and to progress projects. Businesses of all sizes, from all corners of the globe, have utilised our facilities to enhance their business operations and innovation.

Whatever the size of your business, or the focus of your work, you can get access to the University's services. You can find some useful links, helpful contacts, and examples of what we have to offer below.

Featured facilities

Data Safe Haven (DaSH)

The DaSH team supports researchers through the robust governance processes to ensure safe research projects are undertaken by appropriately trained researchers.

Data management services

We can build bespoke applications to support your data-related research ambitions or help you host your own application development projects.

National Decommissioning Centre (NDC)

With over 20 years' experience, we offer a range of bespoke and specialist services as well as testing equipment for subsea engineering and offshore equipment in our purpose-built facility located in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire.

High Performance Computing (HPC)

Our consultancy service is open to all staff and commercial partners. We have many years of expertise in delivering HPC services and supporting research.

Incubation units

The University offers flexible space where start-ups and early-stage companies can find a creative and inspiring environment that will act as a catalyst for their growth and development. Our incubators provide a range of services and facilities that will support innovation and exchange of ideas.

Space to be creative

ABVenture Zone

This unit is for new start-up and spin-out companies. It is a comfortable, collaborative working space with state-of-the-art equipment, and is particularly suitable for the development of ideas in the digital and IT sectors but is open to entrepreneurs targeting other sectors.

Realise your ambitions

ONE BioHub

ONE BioHub on Aberdeen's Foresterhill Health Campus will provide the support programmes and physical infrastructure to grow businesses, nurture new commercialisation opportunities and connect academics and health researchers to industry.

Contact us

More information

If you require more information about our Incubation Units or if you have any questions regarding the working spaces that we have to offer, please email res-innov@abdn.ac.uk.

Our science facilities

Please contact res-innov@abdn.ac.uk or visit the facilities section of our website to find out more about our available science equipment and facilities.

Environmental and biological sciences

We offer a range of analytical services and facilities which cover areas such as marine biodiscovery, trace element speciation, fish immunology, and plant, soil, and food systems.

Engineering and physical sciences

We have many facilities for areas such as energy, chemistry, and fluid mechanics. We also offer access to equipment such as high-resolution Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopes as well as power systems, communication, and optics production and testing equipment.

Medical and life sciences

The University has world-class expertise in life science and medicine and a wide range of services and facilities accessible for use. These cover areas such as biomedical imaging, applied health sciences, medical sciences, and nutrition and health.

Engaging with the life sciences industry

We offer many opportunities for industry representatives to work with our academics and their research groups to foster links and establish new partnerships with a view to developing long-term collaborations.

We aim to promote collaboration and engagement between academia and the life sciences industry. There is a wealth of health research and expertise at the University of Aberdeen which represents the link between academics, industrial partners and the business sector.

Life science facilities and research

Aberdeen Cancer Centre

The University has a multidisciplinary cancer research programme. Core facilities within the Institute of Medical Sciences provide access to specialised equipment, supported by trained personnel, to allow cutting edge research using the latest technologies. We are also pleased to offer lab tours.

Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre (ABIC)

We have impressive clinical imaging research infrastructure with state-of-the-art MRI facilities and associated expertise in imaging and data analysis. Our strong scientific team has also led the creation of a new imaging technology, Fast Field-Cycling MRI.

Scottish Biologics Facility

The facility is set up within our Foresterhill Health Campus, with dedicated labs for: molecular biology, phage work, antibody expression in mammalian and E. coli systems, purification, biochemical characterisation (including affinities) together with labs for functional characterisation of binders.

Aberdeen Centre for Health Data Science (ACHDS)

ACHDS works with complex health data, including data that follows people over time - from second to second as well as over years from birth to end of life. We can assist researchers to access local population datasets and we have an accredited Data Safe Haven (DaSH).

Our expertise

Our world-leading expertise is accessible to businesses of all sizes through a number of routes. The breadth of our research expertise means that we can work with businesses across a multitude of disciplines.

Explore more of our services

The University's facilities have made a crucial difference in the development of life-changing industry projects. You can discover more about the available facilities, services, and expertise that we can offer by clicking on the links below.

Explore our facilities

Research facilities

We have facilities suitable for organisations engaged in anything from engineering and geosciences to medical and life sciences.

Find out more

Our facilities in action

If you want to find out more and see some of our facilities in action, you can view some videos and photos of them here.

Contact our experts

Access our expertise

Regardless of whether you are a SME, large multinational, public sector, charity, or non-governmental organisation, our experts will be happy to discuss your needs.

Contact us

Please email res-innov@abdn.ac.uk if you are not sure which of our services would work best for you, or if you would like to discuss our facilities and equipment further.