Context: In January 2022, the Newcastle Material Culture Analytical Suite (NeMCAS) was established through CapCo, with support from Newcastle's World Class Laboratories fund, upgrading and expanding equipment for imaging and analysis of archaeological and heritage collections. We offer an unrivalled range of expertise in heritage materials including glass, metals, ceramics, environmental and organic artefacts, and are one of the few places in the world that can offer integrated thin section analysis and µCT imaging, optimised for humanities research. NeMCAS has seen considerable internal and external demand in the first 18 months of operation, and the potential applications and benefits are diverse. We have already supported work by academics and stakeholders for example: Additional research for projects funded by AHRC, Leverhulme, EPSRC Enabled new research funded by BBSRC, British Academy, AHRC, EU commission Contributed to research and an exhibition for the Great North Museum Conservation work for English Heritage and Norwich Castle Museum Commercial analysis of concrete additives for a British building materials company Other applications include non-destructive internal imaging of a wide range of cultural objects and archaeological materials, taphonomic experiments to inform preservation and conservation including impacts of climate and environmental change, and multiproxy analysis of archaeological sediments and heritage materials to understand the local environment in which objects have been deposited. Challenge 1: there is a huge demand for sample preparation for large-format thin section analysis (required for a wide range of analytical techniques). Following the closure of facilities at Stirling, there is nowhere else in the UK that can provide this for external users. Researchers now outsource to Europe and USA, where facilities uniformly have backlogs of >6 months. This includes the academic and UK commercial archaeology sectors and IROs such as Historic Environment Scotland. Challenge 2: The combination of 2D and 3D imaging is becoming the standard in areas such as soil science to provide the most comprehensive information on composition and structure. In archaeological and heritage science research however, µCT has not been easily accessible. The majority of µCT facilities in the UK are designed for STEM or Medicine, and are not easily accessible for SHAPE research, especially for the research base in the north. The demand for access to our µCT facilities highlights a growing interest in the potential of this approach to investigate questions related to object composition, ancient technology, for informing conservation, and for recording materials such as teeth/bone and their micro-environmental context prior to destructive sampling for isotopes and aDNA. Crucially, there are no UK facilities where researchers can combine both of these methodologies. Aims and Objectives: Our aims are to: Provide a new dedicated, fully accessible laboratory facility to co-locate equipment for sample preparation and analysis with capacity for large numbers of users Purchase an additional bespoke µCT and high specification PCs, to increase capacity, resolution, and enable rapid automated analysis of high-demand objects Provide a space where materials and their surrounding soil/sediment matrix can be simultaneously sampled for further analyses, in combination with µCT and ultra-high-resolution microscopy Establish the administrative and management infrastructure to enable external users to access the facility for collaborative and commercial work.