New Funding Stream for the KU NMR Core Lab

A New Funding Stream for the KU NMR Core Lab

As you may know, scientific funding in the US in 2026 faces significant challenges due to a temporary pause on billions in approved funding and ongoing uncertainty about federal support, particularly from agencies like the NIH and NSF. This has led universities to seek alternative funding sources as they navigate this precarious environment.

The KU NMR Core Lab is not immune to such challenges.  In fact for over a year we have been in a very dire situation.  A few weeks ago, it looked as if Shelley and Gina were going to close the lab permanently! 

Fortunately, we have devised a new business model for the KU NMR Core lab that we are excited to share with the faculty, post-docs and students.  

You may have noticed that we recently moved the shelves from the south wall of ISB room B143A.
 

The reason we have moved the shelves is to make way for our new money-making venture.  We are going to convert one side of our lab into a BOWLING ALLEY!  We are calling it NMR Lanes and we think it will be one of the best bowling alleys in all of KU!

We are still testing things out with some friends and family.  

Here is my cousin Walter rollin'  

Sarah, Laurie and I also took turns bowling a few frames.  Below you can see your truly picking up the spare, Sarah celebrating the first Turkey ever at NMR Lanes, and Laurie eyeing that tough 7-10 split.

We want to remind the users about basic bowling etiquette.  Remember if someone is standing in the lane preparing to roll, you should NOT load your sample onto London to avoid distracting the bowlers.  

Some researchers may be concerned about the impact of a bowling lane on the quality of NMR spectra obtained from the instruments in ISB.  It is true to vibrations of the bowling alley may have a small impact on the spectrometer, but this is a small price to pay for the financial windfall to the lab that will enable us to continue operating the spectrometers.  

If you are interested in bowling at NMR lanes, please email me at strike@nmrlane.ku.edu to reserve your time.  The lanes costs $10/hour and we rent shoes and balls for $5 each.  We hope to get a liquor license and will be selling beer soon, too.

Finally, so researcher in SBC don't feel left out, we will soon decommission Yosemite and install a pinball machine in SBC room 1004.  

We feel like fools for missing these money-making opportunities for all of these years!  We look forward to bowling with you all soon.

Justin Douglas

Director, KU NMR core lab (and Manager, NMR Lanes)

4/1/26