The EPSRC Laser Loan Pool was established in 1985 and ran until 2015. The facility was funded by EPSRC and provided a wide variety of state-of-the-art commercial laser systems to UK researchers to use at their home institutions, underpinned by technical and scientific support from the Central Laser Facility. The aims of the Loan Pool were to:
1. Support newly appointed academics before they have acquired their own home-based lasers
2. Test the feasibility of experiments prior to a grant applications
3. Augment peer-reviewed and grant funded research which requires a laser or an additional laser for a series of experiments
4. Provide laser systems to researchers who have intermittent need
The Loan Pool was operated by the Central Laser Facility's Lasers for Science Facility (LSF) at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. CLF staff provided laser installations, support and expertise as well as on-site training to scientists in the use of lasers and instrumentation in a range of laser applications.
