Solid state NMR service across the world

In 2013 the EPSRC published a report on the NMR equipment base serving the physical and life sciences community in the UK. Whilst this included both solution and solid state NMR, the report omitted equipment from industry or outside of the UK. This report originated as a means of benchmarking industrial solid state NMR facilities around the world. A survey of 24 SSNMR laboratories was conducted in the first half of 2019, primarily by face-to-face interviews or via telephone. Aggregated statistics relating to service throughput, equipment, and staff are presented, along with discussions about barriers to accessing SSNMR. We found that the hardware profile seen in the earlier UK-only report was representative of the worldwide view, and that the main barrier to access was a lack of knowledge about what SSNMR can do. Publishing this survey provides a strong benchmark for SSNMR laboratories, which will hopefully allow them to identify barriers that might be preventing them from performing to their optimal level in solving materials science problems.