Research facilities

3D X-ray histology facility

We provide micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging of soft-tissue samples.

3D X-ray imaging facility

We carry out advanced three-dimensional imaging and computed tomography.

Algal biomass facilities

We can carry out research using our water channel reactors and bioreactors up to production scale. Our facilities are located in Southampton and Spain.

Anaerobic digestion laboratory

This laboratory is home to more than 250 kinds of anaerobic digesters. We carry out research from lab study to commercial operating plant.

Bioinformatics Research Facility (BIO-R)

The BIO-R provides expert bioinformatics consulting and data analysis solutions.

Boldrewood towing tank

This facility supports a wide range of research and commercial activities across the maritime, aerospace, energy and transportation sectors.

Bushings and insulators research facility

Traditional insulator and bushing designs using either ceramics or glass have been superseded by polymeric and composite designs, areas in which we have a lot of experience.

Cable testing facility

We are very experienced in the testing of parent cable, joints and terminations and have developed facilities specifically for several bespoke electrical, thermal and mechanical tests.

Cancer Sciences Microscopy Facility

Cancer Sciences Protein Facility

Centre for Environmental Science

Our laboratory suite supports research and teaching in Environmental Science.

Chemical nanoanalysis scanning electron microscope

The Chemical Nanoanalysis Scanning Electron Microscope (CNSEM) facility offers a high resolution field emission SEM, in combination with dual-EDS and correlative Raman spectrometer.

Chromatography and mass spectrometry facility

We host 11 different mass spectrometry instruments with a range of ionisation techniques, analyser types and chromatography inlets.

Clinical research data services

Our informatics services cover clinical trials management, form design, data integration, health research analysis and clinical innovation.

Coastal Research Laboratories

The Coastal Research Laboratories are dedicated to the study of coastal, estuarine and shelf sea hydrodynamics and sediment transport, and interactions between flow, sediment, ecosystems and infrastructure.

Confocal microscopes

Our confocal microscope provides optical sectioning of samples. This allows us to create 3D reconstructions.

Containment Level 3 Suite

Our facility is designed to handle and contain the most dangerous human pathogens

Coral reef laboratory

Coral reef science: inspiring awareness of the need to protect marine ecosystems.

Deep-ultraviolet projection lithography facility

Our deep-ultraviolet scanner is a unique capability within UK academic research.

Digital humanities facilities

Use our immersive, virtual reality and digital production facilities to create and explore artefacts, environments and recordings for your humanities research.

Driving simulator facility

The driving simulator offers an immersive driving experience for human factors research.

E-textile Innovation Lab

We operate at the intersection of textiles and electronics, blending design with engineering.

Electron beam lithography facility

Our electron beam lithography facility hosts the first 200 kilovolt system outside of Japan.

Electron diffraction facility

Our electron diffraction facility enables single-crystal structure analysis of crystallites too small for single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) experiments.

Electrophysiology instruments

We have a range of electrophysiology instruments capable of measuring electrical fields in both sectioned explants and adherent cells

Environmental Processes Laboratory

This Laboratory Suite supports research and teaching in Physical Geography.

Environmental Sensing at Southampton

Uncovering new frontiers of understanding using environmental sensing.

Environmental Sequencing Facility

We perform a range of wet lab protocols, ranging from nucleic acid quality assurance to library preparation and in-house sequencing.

Eye movement recording facilities

Our eye tracking facilities can record human eye movement which helps us research language processing and visual threat detection.

Fermentation facilities

We explore the production of biofuels in our environmental biotechnology facilities. Equipment includes fermenters and downstream processors.

Field Spectroscopy Laboratory

Fully equipped dark room suitable for a variety of spectroradiometric experiments.

Flame hydrolysis deposition facility

The flame hydrolysis deposition facility supports the industrial process for producing planar lightwave circuits. This includes the array waveguide gratings used in telecommunication networks.

Flow Cytometry

Flumes and wave tanks

We investigate ways to create hydroelectric power using a range of small and large scale flumes and wave tanks.

Fluorescence and brightfield microscopes

Our widefield and zoom fluorescence microscopes permit the specific labelling of up to four targets simultaneously.

Focused ion beam facility

This facility supports research in nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, silicon photonics and quantum devices research.

Forensics research facility

As a laboratory that has a significant profile of insulation research, we are very well equipped with tools and measurement apparatus that are applicable to forensic study of dielectric materials.

Geomechanics laboratory

This facility is for standard and advanced soil element testing, including rail track bed materials.

Geospatial computing facility

The Geospatial computing facility is a specialised IT facility for Geospatial data.

Geotechnical Centrifuge

We research the effects of climate change on infrastructure without waiting for it to happen.

High voltage laboratory

The Tony Davies high voltage laboratory (TDHVL) is our centre for research into dielectric materials and insulation systems, as well as high voltage and related phenomena.

Histochemistry research facility

We process cells and tissue samples into a range of mediums including frozen, paraffin, and resin.

Histology microscopes

The facility provides histological microscopes for colourimetric imaging, plus additional equipment for the sectioning, preservation and processing of specimens.

Hybrid materials and devices facility

We specialise in processing and characterisation of thin film materials from solution, such as those employed in flexible or wearable optoelectronic devices and battery research. 

Imaging and Microscopy Centre

The Imaging and Microscopy Centre is a core facility for advanced life sciences imaging at Southampton University.

Instrumented vehicle facility

Our on-road instrumented vehicle can be used for naturalistic studies of driving and driver behaviour.

Interdisciplinary Centre for Magnetic Resonance

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Magnetic Resonance hosts 9 NMR spectrometers, as well as customised and ancillary equipment.

Iridis research computing facility

Learn more about the Iridis, University’s High Performance Computing System

Large anechoic chamber

Our anechoic chamber is a silent room 'without echoes' used for carrying out standard acoustical tests.

Large structures testing laboratory

This facility tests structures, components and materials at a range of scales across a wide range of application areas.

Live imaging system

We have a live imaging system that allows us to investigate living cells using time lapse microscopy.

Marine Electromagnetics

We carry out marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) surveys - for both academic and applied research topics.

Maritime Robotics and Instrumentation Laboratory (MRIL)

The Maritime Robotics Laboratory at the University of Southampton aims to develop the next generation of ocean going robots.

Materials characterisation research facility

We specialise in the characterisation of materials in terms of electrical, mechanical and thermal properties, which plays an important role in product development. 

Nanofabrication cleanrooms

The nanofabrication cleanrooms houses a fully featured suite of semiconductor processing tools as well as a planar fabrication laboratory.

National Infrastructure Laboratory

This facility contains 5 engineering laboratories. It carries out research into improving and developing infrastructure.

Novel and compound glass facility

We specialise in advanced material development. This ranges from exotic 2D semiconductors to bulk glasses with wide optical transparency.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy facility

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a highly effective analytical tool that enables the assignment of functional groups, atom connectivity, and 3D molecular structures by combining a wide range of 1D and 2D NMR experiments.

Nutrients and Carbonate Chemistry Facility

We provide expert analyses for dissolved inorganic and organic nutrients, as well as carbonate chemistry, in diverse freshwater and seawater samples.

Observation laboratory

With a 1 way mirror and recording suite we use this lab to observe and investigate social interactions.

Ocean Bottom Instrument Consortium (OBIC)

We aim to provide the academic and commercial communities with access to multi-sensor, versatile seabed instruments to enable sub-surface geophysical imaging at high vertical and lateral resolution.

Organic geochemistry laboratories

We have a dedicated sample preparation lab, wet chemistry lab space, and an instrumentation lab.

Pain research laboratory

We have a dedicated temperature-controlled laboratory, with specialist equipment for understanding pain response.

Paleoenvironmental Laboratory

We specialise in the study of environmental change over recent Geological time.

Plant growth facility

The plant growth facility provides a glasshouse and a selection of Controlled Environment Rooms (CERs) capable of housing traditional and novel plants.

Powder and materials x-ray diffraction facility

The powder and materials diffraction facilities offer a range of capabilities from simple phase identification through to complex materials analysis.

Pressure laboratory

We are a purpose-built laboratory designed for evaluating medical and consumer products.

Printed electronics and materials laboratory

Here we make novel thick-film sensors, actuators and systems printed using silk screen and inkjet printers.

Psychophysiology laboratory

Using equipment like facial electromyography we explore the relationship between the mind and body to see how they interact.

Radiochemistry facility

NNUF-EXACT is a centre for radiochemistry. We provide research and training in the accelerated nuclear characterisation and remediation technologies.

Railway equipment research facility

We have worked with many clients who require use of our facilities for testing a varied range of components and equipment for the railway industry. 

Research aquarium

Our multi-purpose research aquarium houses a variety of tanks and facilities for keeping and handling live specimens.

Research vessel

R.V.Callista based at NOCS, is available to staff and students of Ocean and Earth Science

Reverberation chambers

We have a large and a small reverberation chamber which we use for acoustic testing.

Scientific glassblowing workshop

This workshop is furnished with all the equipment needed to design and make scientific glassware for research and development.

Silica fibre facility

We specialise in the manufacture and research of doped and structured fibres. Our equipment includes fibre towers and modified chemical vapor deposition lathes. We also house a range of preform and fibre characterisation tools.

Single crystal X-ray diffraction facility

We provide a structure characterisation service and conduct research in chemical crystallography. We are home to four extremely high powered rotating anode diffractometers, with two copper source and two molybdenum source instruments.

Super-resolution microscope

We have a super-resolution microscope which provides a range of advanced imaging techniques.

Switchgear research facility

We are very experienced in testing of switchgear and associated plant as well as enclosures.

Testing and structures research laboratory

This regional and national centre for experimental mechanics research contains equipment capable of testing materials and structures across a range of scales.

Thermosense laboratory

We are a purpose-built laboratory designed for researching how skin responds to thermal environments.

Transformers and reactors research facility

We have experience of testing medium voltage and current transformers and our impulse generators can be adapted to meet most test waveform requirements.

Visual haptics laboratory

Our human computer interface technology lets us mimic physical sensations. We explore the way humans combine vision and touch to work out shape and material properties.

Wind tunnel: 2.1m by 1.5m by 4.4m

This is one of our larger wind tunnels. We use it for student research projects, wind engineering studies and marine industry work.

Wind tunnel: 3.5m by 2.4m by 10.5m

The R J Mitchell Wind Tunnel is the largest of our wind tunnels. It's ideal for vehicle aerodynamic work and performance sport testing. It can also be used for consultancy.