Faculty and student researchers across the University of Cincinnati will be able to expand the scope of their work thanks to new equipment funded, in part, by the Office of Research’s latest round of core equipment grants.

“Next Lives Here requires our faculty, staff and students to have the latest state-of-the-art capabilities across our campus, and this program—inspired by the successful core facility support initiative developed out of the College of Medicine—will increase our researchers’ capacity to explore new ideas and make important discoveries” said Pat Limbach, PhD, Vice President of Research, chemistry professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar. “The Office of Research is particularly pleased to create a model built by partnering with colleges to multiply the impact of these investments.”

Core equipment funding was awarded for:

• An integrated fluorescence microscope system that will allow researchers and students in Chemistry and Biological Sciences, in particular, to analyze images in a wide range of specialized ways. The cutting-edge microscope will allow faculty and students to combine multiple images from different angles to create a more realistic depth of field in a final single image. The equipment will also allow them to rapidly and efficiently evaluate their experiments, saving time and money and enhancing their research productivity. Fifteen faculty members across College of Arts & Sciences have already their interest in using the new microscope, which will also support the work of teaching labs in neuroscience, genetics and histology (the study of the microscopic structure of tissues). The College of Arts & Sciences provided a cost share for this core equipment purchase, which will be housed in Rieveschl Hall, a convenient location for a wide range of research scientists. Grant submitted by Elke Buschbeck, Professor, Biological Sciences.
• A differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) that allows scientists to measure the impact of heat on the structure of substances—a critical tool in fields such as Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, Chemistry and others. After a two-year loan of a different DSC, researchers across the College of Engineering and Applied Science realized its potential to support classes, the research of academic groups at UC across colleges and external customers (they will be able to pay for hourly use of the DSC). The instrument comes with a freeware software package, which means that students and other users can download their data and work on it on their own computers. Overall, it will increase users’ access to the information they need, when and where they need it. Because of its capacity to measure changes during both high and low temperature extremes, the DSC will not only save researchers time, it increase their ability to share their findings and refine their research questions. CEAS is sharing in the costs of the DSC, which is expected to have a lifetime of more than a decade. Grant submitted by Melodie Fickenscher, PhD, Director of the Advanced Materials Characterization Center.