About

NPSC is a world-class phenotypic screening facility run by an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers who collaborate to advance the use of complex biology and to drive innovation. High throughput phenotypic screening (often referred to as “high content screening” or HCS) uses quantitative image-based readouts of cell and tissue models to measure the effects of molecular perturbations on cell and/or tissue models of biological systems and functions.  Examples of assays runs in NPSC include:

• Nuclear translocation assays: measurements of transcriptional regulators into nucleus
• Live cell assays: quantitative assays of cell dynamics in response to drug treatments
• Cell Painting: cell organelle labelling to reveal mechanism of action
• Pathway reporters: antibody and fluorescent protein-based reporters of expression for assessing effects of targeted degradation approaches

Examples of cell and tissue models run in NPSC:

• Immortalised and patient-derived cancer cell lines
• Human-derived keratinocytes and germ cells
• Human induced pluripotent stem cells

NPSC’s facilities include all necessary cell and tissue culture, automated liquid and compound handling, plate handling and data acquisition for running large-scale screening assays.  Advanced computational resources (compute cluster, fully backed up data storage, OMERO Plus data management, CellProfiler and R workflows, Jupyter Hub server) are available for data reduction and analysis.

We have a proven record of working with Academics from within the University of Dundee, other universities in the UK and EU and biotech and pharma companies around the world.

Equipment

Microscopes

• Yokogawa CV7000
• GE InCell2200
• Molecular Devices IXM XLS

Functionality

• 1 dual spinning disc confocal, with integrated liquid handling and full environmental control
• 2 fluorescent widefield systems with temperature control - up to 5 channels in parallel
• DIC, Phase-Contrast and brightfield imaging
• 2D/3D/4D imaging, extended focus and deconvolution
• Time-lapse imaging
• Fast acquisition (>100 fps)
• Slide and 6- to 1536-well plate compatible
• 4x-60x magnification objective lenses
• Integrated software for macro programming and on-line cell counting
• Whole well recording
• Transwell imaging
• Hardware and software autofocus
• Plate mapping, Well ID in image metadata

Flow Cytometry

• NovoCyte Advanteon
• Sartorius iQue

Functionality

• FACS tube, 24-, 48-, 96- and 384-well plate compatible
• 3 excitation lasers, 14 fluorescence detection channels
• High dynamic range (>107 intensity levels)
• Detection rate 100,000 events/second

Plate Reader

• Tecan M1000 pro
• PerkinElmer EnSpire

Functionality

• Multimode fast acquisition – luminescence, fluorescence, and absorbance
• Flexible wavelength and bandwidth selection
• Time-resolved fluorescence (TRF, TR-FRET)
• Fluorescence polarisation
• Temperature control up to 42 °C
• Orbital shaking & injection module
• 6- to 1536-well plate
• Liquid injectors

Liquid Handlers

• Agilent Bravo
• Labcyte Echo550/555
• Formulatrix Tempest
• Formulatrix Mantis
• MultiDrop Combi
• Biotek 405LS

Functionality

• Robotic liquid handling platform for tip-based transfers (96- and 384-pipette heads)
• Highly accurate, low volume acoustic (tip-free) liquid transfers with unsurpassed accuracy and reproducibility
• Reagent dispensers for up to 12 reagents, highly accurate to 1 μL (Tempest) or 0.1 μL (Mantis)
• Cell or reagent dispenser
• Plate washer for fast, whole plate washes (dispense and aspirate, ≥50 μL/well)

Automation

• 6-star (Denso)
• 9-star (Staubli)

Functionality

• Interchangeable modules
• Biological Safety Level 2 compatible (9-star)

Funding bodies

• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• European Union – Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 806948

People

Publications

Gruber FS, Johnston ZC, Norcross NR, Georgiou I, Wilson C, Read KD, Gilbert IH, Swedlow JR, Martins da Silva S, Barratt CLR. Compounds enhancing human sperm motility identified using a high-throughput phenotypic screening platform. Hum Reprod. 2022 Mar 1;37(3):466-475. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deac007. PMID: 35048946; PMCID: PMC8888995.

Johnston ZC, Gruber FS, Brown SG, Norcross NR, Swedlow J, Gilbert IH, Barratt CLR. High-throughput phenotypic screening of the human spermatozoon. Reproduction. 2021 Dec 27;163(1):R1-R9. doi: 10.1530/REP-21-0372. PMID: 34882578.

Gruber FS, Johnston ZC, Barratt CL, Andrews PD. A phenotypic screening platform utilising human spermatozoa identifies compounds with contraceptive activity. Elife. 2020 Jan 28;9:e51739. doi: 10.7554/eLife.51739. PMID: 31987071; PMCID: PMC7046468.

Franz S. Gruber, Anthony Richardson, Zoe C. Johnston, Zoe C. Johnston, Rachel Myles, Neil R. Norcross, David P. Day, Irene Georgiou, Laura Sesma-Sanz, Caroline Wilson, Kevin D. Read, Sarah Martins da Silva, Christopher L. R. Barratt, Ian H. Gilbert, Jason R. Swedlow. Sperm Toolbox—A selection of small molecules to study human spermatozoa Published: February 20, 2024

About

Spinning, turning, mounting, making, designing – when it comes to timber, The Wood Workshop is the place to be. Run by four very experienced technicians, you’ll be led by their expertise and will gradually become more independent as your own skills develop.

Students' creations vary. From pieces of furniture to prototypes and installations our facilities include all the industrial tools you need to get your job done - such as saws, drills, sanders and lathes. And our materials include sheet materials such as plywood and MDF, linear timber such as redwood and oak, plastics and different types of expanded polystyrene and some other modelling materials such as cardboard – giving you a great selection to work with.

About

As well as large format ink-jet printing and water-based screen printing, the workshop has provision for the following techniques:

• Etching - use chemicals to produce carved lines in a metal printing plate to hold ink.
• Lithography - use a chemical process to apply a design to a grained surface (traditionally stone but other materials can be used such as aluminium). The image areas are worked using a greasy substance and ink will stick, while the non-image areas are made ink-repellent.
• Intaglio - images or designs are imprinted into a surface, the sunken area holds ink.
• Screen printing - woven mesh is used with an ink-blocking stencil to transfer ink to a surface to receive a desired image.
• Papermaking from sheet forming to sculptural
• Relief and structural printing – protruding surfaces are inked, recessed areas are ink free
• Film processing and printing 

About 

You’ll get the opportunity to print with a variety of dyes and pigments, dictated by the fabric and end purpose of the print which can then be steamed on-site to fix the dyes and washed on site to remove excess dyes and alginates.

You can also use our digital printers such as our large format Mimaki TX2 which uses reactive dyes and digital prints can be fixed and washed on-site.

Equipment and facilities

• large format Mimaki TX2 digital printers

About

Our knit workshop gives you the opportunity to develop, create and craft knitted garments, fabrics or samples.

Our facilities include various industrial, domestic, manual and electronic machines so you can experiment and explore different techniques to produce innovative and impactful pieces.

The workshop is run by highly skilled staff who offer support and expertise in your practical work. 

Equipment and facilities

• Yarn store with natural and pre-dyed yarns like Italian silks and merino wools
• knitting equipment with domestic, industrial Dubied and Passap manual and electronic knitting machines
• a flock workshop with a Fabricoater
• a textile stitch room with Bernina sewing machines
• embroidery machine
• overlock
• needle felter

About

Ear cuffs, rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, silver, platinum, copper, stones, fabric, fastenings – our aim with our jewellery workshop is to make you feel that you’ve struck gold when you discover all the fantastic jewellery-making facilities on offer. Here’s a list of everything you’ll find there (you’ll also work within The Foundry for white metal and iron casting).

Equipment and facilities

• Vacuum Casting Facility
• Electroplating
• Electroforming
• Puk welding
• Precious Metal Soldering Stations
• Polishing and Surface Finishing facility
• Precious Metal Clay and Enamelling Kilns
• Silversmithing Hammers, Stakes and Forming tools
• Metal Etching Facility
• Hydraulic and Fly Press
• Draw Bench
• Rolling Mills
• Metal Turning Lathe
• Bandsaw
• Bench Drills
• Guillotines

About

It allows you to cast using a number of different materials including aluminium, and bronze.

By pouring molten metals into moulds you can create anything from intricate, detailed pieces to large scale, complex structures.

The facility is run by experienced, friendly and talented technicians who help you create your work in a safe environment. 

Equipment and facilities

• Morgan Furnace - the Morgan furnace is fired with gas and air, with a top temperature of 1100°C, and a 50kg capacity crucible. The furnace has an overhead hoist for handling the crucible and large moulds.
• Metals - we use two different metals in the foundry - aluminium and bronze and the finishing of these involve grinding, polishing and patination.
• Mould Processes - there are a variety of mould processes available including sand-moulding and lost wax casting.  Sandcasting is supported via the wood workshop and uses Oilsand, Greensand, and CO2 sand. You can also use white metal and iron casting mould methods, lost-wax ceramic shell process and silicone moulds/ modelling techniques.

About

We instruct students in the use of many types of digital fabrication equipment and attendant software and techniques. Our main practices include 3D printing, laser cutting and engraving, CNC milling, vinyl cutting, digital electronics and programming, 3D scanning and photogrammetry.

3D Printing

We have a wide range of 3D printers available for use with a variety of materials and to different scales:

• 6 x UP! Box/Box+ printers (max. build volume 255×205×205mm)
• 6 x UP! Mini2 printers (max. build volume 120×120×120mm)
• 7 x UP! Plus2 printers (max. build volume 140×140×135mm)
• 2 x Ultimaker 2+ printers (max. build volume 223×223×205mm)
• 3 x Ultimaker 2+ Extended printers (max. build volume 223×223×305mm)
• 2 x Ultimaker 3 Extended dualextruder printers (max. build volume 197×215×300mm)
• 1 x LulzBot Taz 6 w/dual flex extruder (max. build volume 280×280×250mm)
• 1 x Formlabs Form1 resin printer (max. build volume 125x125x165mm)

We mainly use ABS and PLA thermoplastics, as well as specialist materials including filaments impregnated with copper, bronze, wood and carbon fibre, and flexible and electrically-conductive plastics.

Laser Cutting

We have six laser cutters ranging in size from 600 x 300mm to 1500 x 1000mm, which students can use to work in a variety of sheet materials such as woods, plys, MDF, papers, fabrics, stone and concretes, glass and acrylics. We can also laser cylindrical objects such as bottles, bowls and other vessels. We mainly use Adobe Illustrator and Autodesk Autocad to send files to the laser cutters.

All students are given a comprehensive induction in laser cutting and etching.

Use of the lasers is controlled by an online booking system.

CNC Milling

We have 2 CNC milling machines, allowing us to mill a variety of materials such as wood, foams, plastics and non-ferrous metals:

• Roland MDX-40a CNC mill (max. milling volume 305x305x105mm)
• Denford 6600 Pro CNC router/mill (table size 1080x640mm) 

Vinyl cutting

We have a large-format (1200mm-wide) Summa D120 vinyl cutter which is perfect for making adhesive signage, but can also be used as a plotter.

3D modelling and photogrammetry

We have access to most popular 3D modelling/design software titles, such as Rhinoceros 3D, Autocad, Fusion 360, Solidworks and Sculptris for creation of 3D parts which can then be presented to our 3D printers or CNC mills. We also use Agisoft Photoscan to render 3D models from photogrammetry image sets.

Electronics

We have six electronics workstations equipped with soldering stations, bench power supplies, measurement meters and extraction, so that students can build working electronic circuits. We also have expertise in the use of microcontrollers such as Arduino, Electric Imp and Raspberry Pi, and assist students in embedding working technology into their designs, products, artworks and installations - we do anything from simply adding illumination to making objects communicate over the internet.

About

Students have the opportunity to realise projects in ceramics, with the assistance of an experienced ceramics technician. You can be as creative as you like with these tools and equipment – from rudimentary glass fusing and enamelling to making more sophisticated objects.