Accessing the NGR material collections

The majority of borehole cores and samples are available for study and subsampling by bona fide academics and commercial companies, details of lab charges are below.

Please complete the Core Store Viewing and Sampling Application Form as well as reviewing all of the instructions below for safe working practices and sampling instructions.

Boreholes may be selected using the GeoIndex or the borehole materials database.

The online database also provides information on available sample depths and types.

For all Core Store materials enquiries, including visitor bookings and available dates etc., please contact the Core Store (kwcorestore@bgs.ac.uk).

The NGR holds an extensive archive of over 3 million minerals, rocks and fossils split between Keyworth and Edinburgh, the majority of which are available for study.

Commercial companies or grant funded visitors are charged for access; non-funded academics will need to complete an academic waiver form. We are happy to consider the provision of letters of support with cost estimates for academics applying for grants or those involved in commercial work.

Petrology and minerology specimens can be selected using the BRITROCKS database. Palaeontology and biostratigraphy specimens can be selected through the PalaeoSaurus database.

For all collections materials enquiries, including visitor bookings and available dates etc., please contact the BGS Collections team (collections@bgs.ac.uk).

Access to the laboratories and sample retrieval are charged at the rates below.  If you are UKRI/NERC grant funded or funded via another grant or commercial organisation you are expected to apply for funding to cover the costs of the core store via your grant. This charge is waived for non-funded academics on production of evidence, e.g. letter from supervisor and signed academic waiver form, stating all works are for academic purposes only.

Access to the Keyworth core store

The cost of laboratory hire is based on the staff time to facilitate the visit and a standing charge for the lab hire per visit.  The minimum booking fee to secure one lab is £479.89 + VAT.

If the retrieval of the requested material is expected to be particularly complex (i.e. because the material is stored in multiple separate pallet locations and therefore it will take longer than normally expected to service the laboratory) we may apply an additional cost recovery rate of £60.30 + VAT per hour.  We will assess the complexity of the request in advance (i.e. the amount of staff time to retrieve the core/material requested) and prepare a quotation for the visitor to approve before arrival.

If visitors request additional material to be brought out during their visit, and it is resource intensive or complex to facilitate, an additional cost recovery rate of £60.30+ VAT per hour may be applied.

Access to Edinburgh Scottish Teaching Collection at the George Bruce Building

The cost of access to the Scottish Teaching Collection at the George Bruce Building is based on the staff time to facilitate the visit and a standing charge for the lab hire per visit. The minimum booking fee for a visit is £212.95+ VAT

If visitors request additional material to be brought out during their visit, and it is resource intensive or complex to facilitate, an additional cost recovery rate of £70.98+ VAT per hour may be applied.

Access to Biostratigraphy and petrology collections in Keyworth or Edinburgh

The BGS Biostratigraphy and petrology collections are also housed within the NGR in England and the GBB in Scotland. As above commercial or grant funded visitors are expected to apply for funding to cover the costs of administering their enquiry or visit, unless an academic waiver can be applied.

Visitor access to the biostratigraphy and petrology collections (Keyworth and Edinburgh) starts at £212.95+ VAT per visit for up to two people. This covers the typical retrieval and return of requested material, and any necessary supervision during your visit. If your visit is expected to be particularly complex (i.e. you require scientific input about our collections) or will take extra staff time, then we may apply an additional cost recovery rate starting at £70.98+ VAT per hour. We will assess the complexity of the request in advance and will prepare a quotation to cover your visit before proceeding.

Academic waivers will entitle each visitor one two-day visit, or two one day visits per year. If multiple researchers visit together on sperate academic waivers it will count as one visit for per visitor. Visitors will not be granted multiple academic waivers within the same financial year

Other professional services including specimen photography, 3D scanning and 3D printing are available on request. These can vary significantly depending on the specimen(s) but indicative starting prices are given below, we are happy to provide a quotation on request. Please note that not all services are available on both sites.

Unless otherwise agreed, the digital assets created will be registered into our corporate asset management systems and then made available to you and any other subsequent enquirers under the Open Government Licence version 3.0.

Sampling must follow the procedure described in “Record of Samples Taken during Inspection” i.e. all subsamples taken during the visit must be bar-coded and referenced by these unique numbers in all data and reports produced. A sampling fee of £13.50 + VAT for each sample taken from cuttings and *£20.00+ VAT is charged if sample is taken from core.

Sampling will not normally be allowed at intervals less than 1m, unless a significant scientific reason has been submitted and agreed with the NGR. This fee is subject to change to reflect staff costs.

Loans of samples, slides, fossils, etc. are regularly made from the collections to BGS staff and researchers following approval of borrower status. Some limits are in place to protect the integrity of the collections, and we may charge to cover time preparing the loan and for shipping costs depending on the complexity and time it takes to service the loan.

Researchers are expected to return or extend any expired loans prior to a visit being arranged

• Loans can be extended one year at a time up to a maximum of five years
• If a researcher has held a specimen for more than five years and does not return the specimen, BGS will not facilitate future visits or loans

Academics and private individuals are required to sign an academic waiver form (⁠⁠85 KB pdf⁠) stating that the work will not be used for commercial gain, otherwise they will be charged at commercial rates.

BGS staff carrying out commercial work and requiring access to the collections are legally required to cost the commercial access rates into their quotations.

Academics and private individuals signing the waiver form may use the results for commercial gain only after they have been published in full in a recognised academic journal.

Anyone signing a waiver form and then found to have benefited from access to unpublished results will become liable to full commercial charge.