MRC Biomedical NMR Centre

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About us

The NMR Centre is a nationally accessible facility for biomedical nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) which was established by the MRC in 1979 and was originally located at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill. We are now located in the new building of the Francis Crick Institute in Central London. The Centre has excellent and well-supported facilities for liquid-state NMR studies of biological macromolecules, consisting of five spectrometers with 1H operating frequencies spanning 950 MHz to 600 MHz. All five spectrometers are equipped with cryogenically cooled probes. Three of the instruments have high-capacity automated sample-changers.

Users of the Centre come from the Crick and from universities, colleges and research institutes from all over the UK. The Centre plays an important role in training scientists and PhD students in advanced NMR methods.

The 950 MHz instrument is proving to be a major asset for the UK NMR community.  It was funded by a substantial award in 2012 and became fully operational in August 2014.  The Centre's facilities were further enhanced in the latter part of 2020 by the addition of a capability for biological solid-state NMR at 700 MHz, funded by the MRC. 

The Centre is a participant in the London NMR Forum, an informal discussion group focussing on biomolecular NMR. The Forum meets monthly at the Crick.  For further information please see londonnmr.wordpress.com .

On 1 April 2015, the National Institute for Medical Research became part of the new Francis Crick Institute (the Crick). The Francis Crick Institute is a unique partnership between the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King's College London.