The History
From the opening of the first Medical Research Council laboratory in 1945 to the opening of the Diamond Light Source Synchrotron in 2007 and the launch of the HealthTec Cluster in 2016, Harwell is rich in world-firsts and proud of its direct role in scientific leaps forward.
1940s
1945 RAF hands over site to Ministry of Supply
1946 The Atomic Energy Research Establishment is founded
1947 GLEEP test reactor generates nuclear energy for first time in Europe
1947 Harwell’s first tenant, Medical Research Council (MRC), sets up its Radiobiology Unit
1940s
1950s
1950s
1953 Harwell’s Electronics Division assemble CADET, the world’s first transistorised computer
1954 The world’s first experimental ‘fast’ reactor, ZEPHYR, is housed at Harwell
1957 Rutherford Laboratory (now Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, RAL) is established to handle high energy physics work
1960s
1961 Dr Mary Lyon, working with the MRC, discovers X chromosome inactivation
1963 Work by the MRC Harwell Radiobiology Research Unit leads to ban on the atmospheric testing of atomic weapons
1960s
1970s
1970s
1975 Frozen Embryo and Sperm Archive is established by researchers at MRC
1973 Dr Martin Wilson and team start manufacturing ‘Rutherford Cable’, now world famous and a fundamental component inside Large Hadron Collider at CERN
1980s
1985 MRC researchers discover genetic imprinting in mice
1985 Harwell earned over £50M p.a. from 1200 R&D contracts
1987 Harwell carried out numerical simulations of the flow and temperature distribution of the King’s Cross Underground Fire, using the HARWELL-FLOW 3D model software
1980s
1990s
1990s
1990 Major nuclear research projects finish at Harwell
1992 Computer scientists at Harwell discover the world’s largest prime number
2000s
2000 Harwell Innovation Centre opens with support from the UK Atomic Energy Authority
2004 RAL Space engineers the Ptolemy instrument for the Philae lander on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta expedition
2005 ISIS Neutron Source conducts the first experiment to develop glass to replace bone transplants
2006 Science and Innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury announces £26 million Government investment in construction of a new Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH)
2007 Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is founded, taking control of RAL
2007 The £260 million Diamond Light Source Synchrotron produces its first user beam and is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II
2008 ISIS Neutron Source discover a new family of high temperature superconductors
2000s
2010s
2010s
2010 MRC researchers discover that the FTO gene leads to obesity
2012 Diamond Light Source Synchrotron allows British researchers to engineer new synthetic foot-and-mouth vaccine without relying on the use of a live virus
2013 Inauguration of ESA’s first UK facility – the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT)
2013 The Satellite Applications Catapult is established by Innovate UK
2014 ESA’s Rosetta mission is first to rendezvous with a comet and lands Philae probe on its surface
2017 Government Business Secretary, Greg Clarke announces £100m investment into the Rosalind Franklin Institute.
2018 The Faraday Institution is headquartered at Harwell, with £65m backing for research into developing and scaling up new battery technology, from the government’s recently announced £246m Faraday Challenge Fund.