A selection of new or upgraded instruments to propel discoveries in the natural sciences and engineering will be installed and made available for researchers at Princeton through the University’s Provost and Dean for Research Transformative Equipment Initiative.

Each year, the initiative provides funding to acquire entirely new instruments or replace existing equipment that enable investigations into the physical, biological and engineering questions, and that can eventually contribute to advances in areas such as healthcare, the environment, and new technologies. Support for the program includes funding from the University endowment.

This year’s selected equipment includes instruments that capture images of nanoscale structures in fossils, examine the molecular machinery inside cells, evaluate proteins as they perform functions in living systems, measure isotopes that reveal our planet’s climate history to understand the future climate, and probe the elastic properties of biological tissues to better understand diseases.

The decision to acquire the equipment was made following a competitive application process in which researchers submit proposals detailing the equipment’s potential impact on scientific discovery as well as information about the users and projects that the equipment would serve. In many cases, the equipment will be installed at the University’s shared user facilities where it can be accessed by researchers from across campus as well as other institutions.

State-of-the-art micro-computed tomography (CT) capabilities for research and innovation

• Richard Register, Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Director, Princeton Materials Institute
• Nan Yao, Professor of the Practice and Senior Research Scholar, Princeton Materials Institute; Director, Imaging and Analysis Center

Princeton’s capacity to analyze materials — ranging from 3-D-printed metal parts to precious vertebrate fossils, from strange crystals created during the testing of the first atomic bomb, to battery research, life sciences and more — will expand substantially with the acquisition of a new three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) X-ray microscopy (XRM) instrument. The new XRM, one of the most advanced instruments at any institution in the world, will analyze materials from the centimeter to submicron scale, enabling more rapid acquisition of higher-quality data. The system will be housed in Princeton’s Imaging and Analysis Center, where it is expected to be used by more than 35 university research groups as well as external users.

A sub-nanometer view inside the cells with cryo-electron microscopy

• Jonathan Bouvette, Professional Specialist, Molecular Biology
• Bonnie Bassler, Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology; Chair, Department of Molecular Biology

Cryo-electron microscopes are instruments that capture atomic-scale views of cellular machinery by rapid freezing of the samples to extremely low temperatures. However, existing equipment requires the samples to be highly purified rather than imaged in their normal environment. Two updates to Princeton’s two cryogenic transmission electron microscopes (cryo-TEM) will enable researchers to capture images of biological processes in their crowded cellular milieu. First, a new direct-electron detector will be added to offer better sensitivity and triple the speed of imaging. Additionally, a new energy filter will reduce the noise produced by the thicker samples, leading to higher-quality data. The upgraded cryo-TEMs, which will be housed in Princeton’s Imaging and Analysis Center, will be used across the departments of Molecular Biology, Chemistry, and Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Elevating Princeton's proteomics capabilities

• Martin Wühr, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics
• Bonnie Bassler, Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology; Chair, Department of Molecular Biology
• Coleen Murphy, James A. Elkins Jr. Professor in the Life Sciences; Professor of Molecular Biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics; Director, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics
• Joshua Rabinowitz, Professor of Chemistry and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics; Director, Ludwig Princeton Branch

Proteomics — the evaluation of the composition and functions of an organism’s proteome — enables researchers to answer fundamental questions such as how organisms develop and how diseases progress. To accelerate proteomics investigations, the University is investing in the latest and most powerful mass spectrometer. This state-of-the-art tool, used across various scientific disciplines, detects the mass of molecules to identify and quantify them. The acquisition of this equipment will enable more than 20 research groups across departments and institutes at Princeton to identify and quantify thousands of proteins within a single cell.

Establishment of the Princeton Geosciences Isotope Facility

• John Higgins, Professor of Geosciences
• Daniel Sigman, Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences; Professor of Geosciences

Climate change is a defining human challenge for the foreseeable future, and research in geosciences is central to understanding how Earth’s environmental conditions will change in the future. Two key approaches are the reconstruction of Earth’s history and the measurement of Earth’s present-day biological, chemical, and geological cycles. The analysis of isotopes — distinct versions of chemical elements — provides unique and quantitative insights into how the Earth operates, both now and in the past. Isotope analysis has helped researchers discover Earth’s oldest ice cores, understand the changes in Earth’s climate system and biogeochemical cycles that gave rise to the ice ages, and accurately determine the age (and causes) of Earth’s great mass extinctions. To further these studies, the University will purchase high-precision, high-sensitivity mass spectrometers that, when combined with existing instrumentation and other planned acquisitions, will enable highly precise measures of isotope ratio and abundance. The user community for the Princeton Geosciences Isotope Facility includes seven University research groups in the Department of Geosciences as well as collaborators across campus. 

High-throughput mechanical measurements and simultaneous fluorescence analysis of living biological samples

• Celeste Nelson, Wilke Family Professor in Bioengineering; Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Director, Program in Engineering Biology

The study of living cells, tissues and organs includes evaluating biomechanical properties such as their flexibility and squishiness, but most high-powered instruments such as atomic force microscopes are challenging to use for the imaging of living samples. The acquisition of a new imaging device known as a nano-indenter will allow mechanical measurements while keeping the cells alive and simultaneously monitoring signals such as gene expression. The resulting information can inform studies of how living cells and tissues develop and how diseases can progress and harm cells and organs. The instrument will serve the multidisciplinary Princeton community including nine research groups across five departments and institutes.