Beam Time: artist's research residency at Central Laser Facility

The Arts Catalyst and Artquest are pleased to announce a new artist research residency at the Central Laser Facility, Oxfordshire. The residency aims is to give an artist the opportunity to develop their practice (and potentially a new body of work) through a period of research and engagement with science specialists. The artist will have access to staff and research at the Central Laser Facility, making at least 10 visits between February to May 2014, and be required to present their work and research in a public facing event in May 2014.

Developed using ideas proposed by Einstein in 1917, laser technology has evolved into a huge variety of fields, with applications reaching almost every aspect of society as well as shining a light on fundamental concepts in chemistry, biology and physics.
The Central Laser Facility produces some of the world’s most powerful light beams, providing scientists with an unparalleled range of state-of-the-art laser technology. These high-powered lasers can be used, for example, to recreate the extreme conditions inside stars and planets by focusing pulses down to a tiny spot where the temperature reaches millions of degrees and the pressure rises to billions of Atmospheres. In contrast advanced, compact, tunable lasers can reveal intricate detail on a microscopic scale enabling scientists to build up a complex picture of the exact molecular interactions that lead to disease, and laser beam 'tweezers' are capable of holding individual micro-droplets that make up clouds helping scientists gain an insight into climate change.  The laser pulses are so short that they can even take snapshots of chemical reactions in action and electricity travelling through material.

On Offer

• £3000 artist fee
• £350 travel expenses
• £1000 for an event related to the research conducted
• Curatorial and professional development support and opportunities from both The Arts Catalyst and Artquest staff
.

Key Dates

Deadline for Applications: Monday 25 November 2013
Shortlist Interview: Wednesday 11 December 2013
Successful candidate announced: Monday 16 December 2013.
Research Residency Period: February – May 2014
End of Residency/Public Event: Spring 2014

Eligibility

Any visual artist living and working in England who has been practising outside of undergraduate education for a minimum of 5 Years is eligible to apply. Applicants may not be enrolled on a course of full-time or part-time study during the residency period.

To apply

For detailed information on the residency and how to apply please download: Beam Time application procedure
Supporting information about Central Laser Facility

• Central Laser Facility Overview
• Lasers at Central Laser Facility
• Central Laser Facility Highlights

Partners and Funders

Artquest is an organisation dedicated to supporting artists at all stages in their careers. It does this by connecting them to the resources, networks and opportunities they need to develop their practices and creating projects and events for the benefit of artists and their work.
Beam Time is a part of KiiCS (Knowledge Incubation in Innovation and Creation for Science) - a 3-year European Commission-funded project which is supported by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme.
Central Laser Facility STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxfordshire