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Launch WUR shared research equipment platform

Published on: May 26, 2025

With enhanced features that make it easier to search for, reserve, and use advanced research equipment, the WUR Research Equipment Platform provides access to state-of-the-art research facilities to research organizations and companies. The platform facilitates the shared use of research infrastructure, fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and innovation. The WUR Research Equipment Platform is an initiative of WUR Shared Research Facilities.

What does the platform offer?

The platform provides an advanced reservation system for more than 450 devices, with the number still growing. Every year, over 40,000 reservations are made through the platform.

It enables users to quickly identify available devices and easily contact the administrator. Following appropriate training, the administrator can grant access rights, allowing users to make their own bookings. Furthermore, each device is supported by an administrator to ensure correct and efficient usage of the equipment.

For example, the XRT (X-Ray Tomography Scanner) at Wageningen Food & Biobased Research (WFBR) attracts many researchers from various companies and research institutions. This device allows users to study structures in both food and non-food materials through 3D scans, similar to CT scans. WFBR's expertise is also available to interpret these analyses. Additionally, the device manager can provide user training to ensure the equipment is used correctly.

The platform also provides access to devices such as the XRD (X-Ray Diffractometer), owned by Unilever. Unilever has made this equipment available through the WUR Research Equipment Platform, allowing it to be shared and reserved for use, subject to a clear user agreement with conditions around privacy and data. This ensures safe use of the equipment by multiple parties, including university researchers and other companies, such as those based at Wageningen Campus.

Whether it's process-supporting equipment, preparatory tools like freeze-dryers, or analytical equipment with software capabilities, the shared access to these research facilities allows researchers to collaborate more effectively, share knowledge, and enhance their research. The facilities are available within WUR, as well as at other organisations that have made their equipment available for shared use through the platform

Who is the platform for?

The platform is intended for:

Researchers at companies and research institutions who wish to make use of shared facilities.
Companies and research institutions looking to make their own equipment available for shared use through the platform, in order to maximise the efficient use of existing capacity.

What are the benefits?

Ease of use: search, book, and receive support for research equipment.
Knowledge sharing: in addition to access to equipment, the platform offers the opportunity to benefit from training and the expertise of device managers.
Cost-efficiency: shared access to high-quality equipment helps reduce costs.
Optimal use of capacity: organisations can offer their own lab equipment for shared use via the platform, ensuring maximum utilisation of available capacity, by third parties under pre-agreed terms.
User agreements: the Shared Research Facilities team at WUR provides support throughout the process, including ready-to-use user agreements.
Up-to-date information: the platform provides real-time information on equipment availability, including technical specifications and details on applicability.

Facts and figures:

Over 450 active devices are currently available through the platform.
More than 40,000 bookings are made via the platform each year, demonstrating both the breadth of usage and the system’s effectiveness.

How to get started?

You can now visit the platform and explore the available equipment via the Research Equipment Platform. If you need more information or assistance in using the platform, please contact Oscar de Vos at sharedresearchfacilities@wur.nl.

With this renewed platform, we hope that researchers can more easily find the right tools to enhance their projects and foster collaboration and knowledge sharing.