UK Dark Matter Collaboration

The UK Dark Matter Collaboration (UKDMC) (1987–2007) was an experiment to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs).

UKDMC began in 1987, with principal participants from several notable institutions, including the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, the CCLRC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and the University of Sheffield.

Funding for the programme was provided by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), as well as Cleveland Potash Ltd. which operates the mine where the experiments were conducted.

The underground laboratory was officially opened on 18 April 2003, and the experiment ran until 2007 when collaborating institutions and scientists moved on to the related projects ZEPLIN-III and DRIFT-II.

[1] NAIAD was an array of NaI(Tl) crystals that ran 2001–2003, collecting 44.9 kg×years of exposure, setting spin-independent and spin-dependent limits on WIMPs.