Closure of the National Ultra-high Field NMR Facility for Solids

[FFX-ME]

In 2005 the Government of Canada funded the purchase of an 11M $ NMR spectrometer, a powerful instrument used by chemists, physicists, and biologists in order to understand the nature of materials and biological processes. The National Ultra-high field NMR facility in Ottawa was born and became a unique facility that is to this day the highest magnetic field spectrometer dedicated to studying solids. With the advent of this new facility in Ottawa, Canada was now at the forefront in magnetic resonance. Unfortunately, the massive funding cuts by the Harper government have led to the announcement today that the facility must be closed. The 11M $, unique in the world, instument must be shut down since there is no funding to keep the instrument running. This is a gross waste of taxpayer money and a huge loss for science in Canada.