Contact - NEOF - NERC Environmental Omics Facility

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Empowering the next generation of environmental researchers.

If you would like more information about NEOF, the services we offer or to access our facilities, then please select one of the enquiry options below.

Please note that the NEOF Visitor Facility is open for enquiries until 31/07/2026 (more info). The NEOF Visitor Facility will be closed for enquiries from 1st August 2026; the next application round will likely be 3 to 4 months later and will be announced later this year.

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"*" indicates required fields

Is your enquiry related to*

If you wish to apply for access to the NEOF Visitor Facility (NEOF-VF), please download and complete both the NEOF-VF Appendix (to enable us to assess feasibility and prepare a quote) and the Project Details form.

Both documents are available in the following Google Drive folder: Access the forms here . Please send the completed forms to Visitor Facility manager, Deborah Dawson ([email protected])

Is there a PhD student associated with this project?

PhD students are eligible to apply to access the NEOF Visitor Facility. The student does not need to be NERC-funded to apply for this route. The work must be within the NERC remit, which includes research related to terrestrial, marine, freshwater, science-based archaeology, atmospheric and polar sciences, and Earth observation. Students will attend the NEOF Visitor Facility in Sheffield, typically for 3–6 months, to complete their own lab work following training and under the supervision of Facility staff. Visitors do not need to have had any laboratory experience, as full training is provided. If this access route is of interest to you for this project, please select the "Visitor Facility" option for the question above. Applications can be submitted at any time of the year and a decision will be made by the NEOF Steering Committee, normally within 2 months.

PhD student name

PhD student email address

Contact details

Title

Name*

First Last

Position*

If other, please specify

Institution or Company*

Email*

Phone

Are you eligible to apply for NERC grants as PI?

in most cases, you will need to be eligible (see UKRI eligibility rules https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-to-apply/check-if-you-are-eligible-for-research-and-innovation-funding/eligibility-as-an-individual/). The exception is if applying to the NEOF Early Career Researcher pilot annual competition.

If you would like to share your Bluesky handle with us, please do so here

The handle is ‪@nerc-eof.bsky.social‬, consider following us for the latest news on NEOF funding and training.

If you are not the Principal Investigator, can you please provide their full name and email address.*

If you are a PDRA or postgraduate student, please provide the name and email address of your supervisor. Your project should be discussed with your PI/ supervisor before you submit an enquiry.

PhD deadline (if applicable)

If the project involves a postgraduate student, what is the submission deadline?

Which NERC grant scheme are you applying to?

When is the grant application deadline?

MM slash DD slash YYYY

If your enquiry is general/administrative, please describe your enquiry below.

Project details

Project title

Please provide the project abstract, if available.

Please provide a brief overview of your project aims and objectives. If in addition, you know which techniques you wish to use, please select from below.*

Please provide a brief description of availability of sample:*

e.g. 1. amount of material available; 2. are samples available as fresh or freshly frozen? 3. if samples are in long-term storage, how have they been stored? 4. if samples are being collected from the field, comment on the logistics of shipping samples. 5. Samples may either be prepared at NEOF, which houses expertise and equipment for high molecular weight nucleic acid extraction and QC. If this is required, please mention here.

Are the samples collected yet?

Please note: Sampling should conform with the Nagoya protocol and CITES and have all the necessary sampling, use and import permits.

What is the required biosafety level for handling these samples?

Please enter a number from 1 to 4.

Do the samples contain any “relevant material” under HTA regulations?

Sample type*

Please select

Nature of samples*

Additional sample information

Please provide any additional information about your samples here, especially anything that might affect the feasibility of your project (e.g. if the samples are expected to be degraded, contaminated, etc.)

The NEOF facility can provide 'omics services for the following applications. Please select all that apply:

DNA library preparation

RNA library preparation

Small RNA library preparation

16S amplicon library preparation

PacBio long insert DNA library preparation

PacBio IsoSeq RNA library preparation

Hybrid capture library preparation

Single-cell gene expression library preparation

Illumina sequencing

PacBio SMRT sequencing

Bioinformatics support

Metabolomics

Other (Please provide details in the project description field)

The NEOF visitor facility can provide training in the following techniques. Please select all that apply:

DNA extraction

Mitochondrial DNA genotyping

Mitochondrial DNA barcoding/metabarcoding

Development of SNP markers

SNP typing

ddRAD

Molecular sexing

Data analysis

Other technique (Please provide details in the project description field)

RNA extraction

Amplicon library preparation

Genotyping

qPCR (e.g. species detection)

If you are requesting access to the NEOF Visitor Facility, who is this for?

The NEOF visitor facility is located at the University of Sheffield NB. Please note Master students can not be NEOF visitors

Number of samples and markers*

Organism*

Binomial species name(s)*

Also provide the common name or brief description

Genome size*

Desired sequencing coverage/depth (if known/applicable).

Is this species found in Britain & Ireland?*

Yes

Does the sample originate in the Britain & Ireland?*

Yes

Is a high-quality specimen or tissue sample available from a single individual or clonal line?*

Single individual

Clonal line

When are you planning to submit the samples or visit the facility?*

Please note that sample delivery or access to the Visitor Facility is subject to Steering Committee approval, therefore immediate access cannot be granted without exceptional circumstances or prior approval.

Please provide any existing NERC grant, NEOF reference numbers for this project (if applicable)

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