Europlanet Distributed Research and Technology Infrastructure (RTI) Facility – Open University (OU) Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) Facilities
Average Transnational Access (TA) visit: 5 days
Preferred timeframe for TA visits: April/May and December 2026
Three instruments can be used in isolation or combined to gain an insight into a range of organic compounds from real time analysis of very volatile compounds with a SIFT-MS Tracer® to near real-time volatile and semi-volatile compounds by utilising a TD-GC-MS and then metabolomic analysis with the GCxGC-MS.
With the volatile and semi volatile analyses – any sample, solid, liquid or gas can be tested alongside samples collected in field. Therefore these analyses have huge application range to different planetary science disciplines and sample types e.g. sediments, microbial mats, culture preparations, microcosms or solid rock/mineral samples can all be tested. For the GCxGC-MS preparation and discussions will be needed to organise extraction methods from the samples.
Contact
You must get in touch with the host facility (email the Facility Lead with the Administrative Contact in cc) to discuss the technical feasibility of your proposal before submitting an application. If you do not contact the host, your proposal will not be approved.
Lead Facility Contact: Claire Batty, School of Physical Sciences, Robert Hooke Building, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA. Claire.Batty@open.ac.uk
Administrative Contact: Louise Thomas. Louise.Thomas@open.ac.uk
Images
Publications
- Batty, C. A.; Pearson, V. K.; Olsson-Francis, K. and Morgan, G. (2025). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in terrestrial extreme environments: implications for life detection beyond Earth. Natural Product Reports, 42(1) pp. 93–112.
- https://www.europlanet.org/europlanet-magazine/issue-8/planetary-perspectives-geraint-taff-morgan/ – all work done in this article at the Open University.
- Batty, C.; Burke, A.; Wilkinson, C.; Franchi, F.; Olsson-Francis, K.; Lebogang, L.; Schwenzer, S.; Macey, M.and Morgan, G. (2024). Exploring the volatilomic and metabolomic signatures of the Makgadikgadi salt pans (Botswana) – Implications for Astrobiology. In: European Astrobiology Network Association EANA 2024, 2-6 Sep 2024, Graz, Austria.
