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The CIO offers radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating services of the highest quality, as well as stable isotope measurements on C, H, N, O obtained by IRMS.

The Centre for Isotope Research (CIO) conducts radiocarbon-based research, and offers a radiocarbon dating service. Operating continuously since the early 1950s, the CIO now houses the longest-running radiocarbon dating laboratory in the world. The facility recently received a major upgrade, which included the installation of a state-of-the-art MICADAS accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS).

Radiocarbon dating can be used to determine the age of any carbon-containing material (such as bone, wood or shell) that is less than 50,000 years old. The CIO accepts samples for a variety of academic and publicly funded research projects, and our staff work closely with all submitters, advising them on sample selection, pretreatment and data interpretation.

We only provide services for scientific, forensic and industrial purposes. Thus:

• We do not date samples of artwork, craftwork, antiques or antiquities for commercial customers. For scientific or governmental organisations wishing to investigate such samples, our declaration form must be completed before submission (contact cio rug.nl );
• We do not accept any ivory samples unless they relate to governmental forensic investigations;
• We do not accept samples from private customers;
• On 1 September 2021, we ceased conducting ¹⁴C analyses on the proportion of biogenic carbon in volatile liquids for batch control purposes. See this notification for more information about the services we offer for liquid samples.

General enquiries

Email | cio rug.nl
Phone | +31 (0)50 363 9295