Yes! We encourage people from all backgrounds to join us in the lab, no experience required. We will however need to give you a lab induction so you can become familiar with the space, learn about the equipment and all the health and safety measures we have in place.

We no longer offer Open Sessions, however, the lab is available for booking Mon-Fri 10am-6pm.

We unfortunately do not have any residency openings at the moment, however if you have a project that has funding and requires lab space and development of lab skills, please do get in touch as this is something we could be able to offer.

It’s always worth reaching out to us as we might know someone who fits your requirements, or send out a request on our mailing list, however we cannot guarantee any partnerships.

Our lab is not a conventional science lab so you might not get the experience you are looking for with us. Unfortunately we don’t have capacity at the moment to offer mentorship and paid work experience but our lab manager would be more than happy to show you lab skills through our one-to-one-training.

We are able to cover some of our operational costs through the income generated through our lab access, training and microscopy sessions. However, as a non-profit organisation, we are dependent on external funding and donations to cover the costs of delivering workshops, programmes and courses to keep our lab prices as low as possible. If you would like to make a donation, please visit our “Support ASCUS” page.

Absolutely! However, we are a biosafety level 1 lab so there are some restrictions. We are only allowed to work with microorganisms that have been identified as being part of Hazard Group 1. In other words, microorganisms that are not harmful to healthy adults. If you are not sure if the sample you are interested in would pose a risk to our lab, please get in touch.

We recommend getting in touch with us first or booking a slot online as we sometimes have offsite meetings where the lab will be closed.

An ascus is a saclike structure found in fungi and lichens. The ascus is the place where spores are produced which then spread across new, barren areas of the world, just like our passion for making science as accessible as possible. Lichens are structures formed by a symbiosis of organisms from two very different kingdoms (fungi and plants), just as we are a symbiosis of creative practitioners and scientists.