Maintaining access to leading edge experimental facilities, either in the UK or abroad, is an essential part of keeping UK researchers competitive and at the forefront of their fields of research.
Working together, the Research Councils are responsible for producing the Large Facilities Roadmap. This Roadmap provides UK policy makers and researchers with a clear, strategic view of how best to provide scientists access to world class research facilities and also how best to manage the investment of public funds in such facilities.
Covering all academic disciplines, the RCUK Large Facilities Roadmap provides a comprehensive picture of the new facilities which are already under construction in the UK or internationally, and provides details of potential large facility and infrastructure projects that UK researchers would like to see available over the next 10-15 years.
Please note that the RCUK Large Facilities Roadmap 2010 does not contain every conceivable project in which UK researchers might wish to be involved, rather it concentrates on those identified by Research Councils, following consultation with their communities, as being of the highest strategic importance.
RCUK will prioritise some projects from the Roadmap for possible support from the Large Facilities Capital Fund (LFCF) held by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). This may apply in particular to ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) projects, many of which are included in this consultation draft. Most of these currently have Preparatory Phase studies, supported by EC funding, with decisions on prioritisation for UK financial support not yet taken. It is expected that the UK will eventually support only some of these projects. It is also recognised that the availability of funds for large capital projects, through the Research Councils, is, in the current economic climate, likely to be rather more limited over the next few years than historically has been the case.
The 2008 Roadmap was published in July 2008. It can be accessed here 
RCUK Large Facilities Roadmap 2010 Consultation
NOTE: This consultation is now closed
The draft 2010 RCUK Large Facilities Roadmap is now available here for consultation.
The purpose of the consultation is to seek the views of the community on:
- the overall balance of activities represented;
- the strategic importance of these facilities to the UK;
- emerging opportunities not covered in this draft.
The outcomes of the consultation, in addition to other inputs and factors, will be used by the Research Councils to inform the future support of facilities. The final version of the Roadmap will be published in early 2010.
This document is now open for consultation. Please complete the proforma 
with your comments and send to Saffron Townsend by 9th November 2009.
We may publish the responses, or extracts from them, following the consultation. Please indicate in your response if you would prefer that we did not publish your input.
The RCUK Large Facilities Roadmap 2010 Consultation document is available here