About the Equipment Sharing Project

The University has introduced a System Management Policy to increase cyber security protection, and as the local equipment sharing database no longer conforms to the standards required in the policy, the database will be decommissioned on 13th April 2026. 

The University remains compliant with UKRI funder requirements and the Research Office, Research Strategy and the Department of Sustainability are working in unison to reimagine and rebuild the infrastructure to support academics and researchers and to improve wider work on sustainable research practices and the University’s commitment to the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice of which it is a signatory. 

In the interests of transparency and because the ethos remains the same even if the tools change, the information below relates to the infrastructure that was in place prior to the recent changes. If you require equipment locally or nationally, in the interim, we recommend searching the National Equipment Portal to complete your equipment searches.

 

Situation and standing prior 13th April 2026 -  

As a Cambridge member of Staff, PhD, MRes, or MPhil research student, you will have access to the Equipment Sharing Database via your university log-in. This can be useful if you are searching for particular or specific equipment to work with, or if you need to find replacement equipment at short notice. To widen collaboration and maximise opportunities to share, over 5000 items from Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, UCL, and Southampton can be accessed.

Alternatively, for those external to the University, a vast amount of records from the Cambridge Database are openly available via the National Equipment Portal. These and links to other useful resources are also available on the homepage.

Sharing equipment provides further opportunities to grow existing networks and facilitate equipment cost recovery and provides valuable real-world experience that enables the institution to remain at the forefront of science. This adds value to current research, raises impact at subject boundaries, and allows researchers to rapidly respond to emerging new areas. For our staff, the exchange of ideas, knowledge and experience enhances our local skills base and develops expertise in emergent and cross-disciplinary fields.

The Equipment Sharing Project aims to raise awareness of equipment sharing and drive efficiencies by maximising the opportunity for national and international collaboration. The project evidences our commitment to share equipment; a factor that is under increasing scrutiny when funders are considering grant applications and proposals.

The database is viewed as a touchpoint to creating new collaborations, as a way of developing contingency should existing equipment fail, as a way to provide proof of concept for novel research, and as a way to access equipment that may not be available in researcher's own laboratories. Overall, it is very much seen as a route to enhance the existing training and skills available to technicians, laboratory staff, general staff and students, while helping others access equipment that permits the sector to remain at the cutting edge of research and research thinking.

 

Benefits of Sharing in summary –

  • Institutional UKRI Compliance
  • Collaborative opportunity locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally
  • Maximising equipment-related funding and income
  • Planning future research projects and collaborations
  • Locating alternative equipment should current equipment fail or become inoperative (contingency planning inc. adverse event policies/strategies)
  • Conducting pre-purchase assessments
  • Facilitating researchers concept development without their own labs
  • Enhancing technical training available to technicians, staff, and students without or reducing the need to travel to access resources
  • Cost-effective rehoming, recycling and disposal of surplus or old equipment