Our #LightSourceSelfies campaign has uncovered a wealth of talents among staff and users at light source facilities around the world. From skating to sculpting and painting to perennials, this Monday Montage illustrates the many hobbies and interests that those in our community enjoy in their spare time. With contributions from the ESRF, SESAME, LCLS and the European XFEL, this montage highlights the variety of activities that help people maintain a healthy work/life balance.
Light sources around the world are playing an increasingly important role in helping to uncover the past and protect historical objects for generations to come. Ida Fazlić is currently a PhD student at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. Her research is focusing on the use of metal catalysts that are used to speed up the drying reactions of historical and industrial paints. Ida’s project will provide valuable information to collaborator Rijksmuseum on the use or misuse of dryers throughout history and up to the current day. Also there effect on the stability and aesthetic of the painted objects.
Ida was attracted to this area of work through her valuable experience of working as a conservator and restorer at the national gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This work led her to question the chemical and physical processes that caused the degradation of the painted layers that she was seeing on a daily basis. Ida decided to study the crucial and very important role of science and technology in conservation of cultural heritage objects. For Ida, the best thing about working at a light source is that, “You have endless opportunities of going as far in your research as you want to go and in any direction that you want to go because at any moment you have the world’s most powerful material investigation techniques at hand.”
Forrest Hyler is a PhD student at the University of California Davis and regular user of the Stanford Synchrotron Lightsource (SSRL). Forrest’s research involves exploring the structural and electronic properties of materials that are used as catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction in the lab. In his #LightSourceSelfie, Forrest describes his work as all encompassing as it involves studying materials related to a broad range of applications such as batteries, catalysis and the storage of radioactive materials. Forrest’s journey has involved a large range of scientists and he says, “The greatest part about science is that it’s kind of that universal language. You get to interact with people around the globe working together for a common goal to push science beyond the boundaries that we’ve ever been at before.”
Finding ways to relax and recharge your batteries is really important and helps you maintain perspective, particularly during very busy periods at work. Participants in #LightSourceSelfies told us what they like to do in their spare time. This montage, with contributors from the Australian Synchrotron, CHESS, SESAME and the APS, shows the variety of interests that people within the light source community have. If you are looking for a new way to relax and unwind, you might find an idea that appeals to you in this #LightSourceSelfie!
Shiva Shirani is from Iran and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Malaga. Shiva’s research area is Synchrotron X-ray imaging applied to cementitious material with the goal to decrease our CO2 footprint and protect the planet. Many participants in our #LightSourceSelfies campaign have talked about the need to overcome setbacks and failure. There will always be challenges but success will come. Shiva’s research ideas led to her being granted an OPEN SESAME Fellowship to become a young scientific visitor at ID19 tomography beamline at the ESRF. But prior to this, there were setbacks. Shiva’s story, which she tells with honestly and passion, charts these setbacks and how she eventually found people who believed in her ideas. People who helped Shiva find her “two wings to fly”.
One of these people was the late Claudio Ferrero, one of Shiva’s supervisors at the ESRF. Claudio recognised the unique way that Shiva shares her passion for science with the world via Twitter and Instagram and encouraged her to continue this inspirational science communication. In the early stages of planning the #LightSourceSelfies campaign, Lightsources.org and SESAME recognised this too! We were delighted when Shiva agreed to participate in our campaign and we are very grateful to the ESRF who subsequently helped Shiva with the filming.
Here we present Shiva Shirani’s #LightSourceSelfie!
The #LightSourceSelfies video campaign highlights the dedication and enthusiasm that is felt by those working in this field. To maintain a sense of physical and mental wellbeing, it is also important to make time for non-work related things like family, hobbies and interests. This montage, with contributors from the ESRF, ALS, MAX IV and Diamond, gives a flavour of the wide range of activities that those in the light source community enjoy when they are not working.
Silvia Forcat is a mechanical engineer working at MAX IV in Sweden. Her role as floor coordinator involves coordinating a wide range of projects for the beamlines. Silvia says, “What inspires me to do my job is to know that I’m contributing to this country’s research and in science in general. There are so many experiments happening in this type of facility and many of them turn into publications. Also my dream would be that one of these publications will get the Nobel Prize. You never know!”
Michele Manfredda is an Italian physicist working at FERMI, the Free Electron laser Radiation for Multidisciplinary Investigations, near Trieste in Italy. Michele words in the PADReS group, which stands for photon analysis delivery and reduction system. The group’s role is to make experiments possible for FERMI users and they look after the optics and diagnostics of the light. As Michele explains, the role involves working in different places and with different teams. His #LightSourceSelfie takes viewers on a fantastic tour of FERMI.
Michele explains that he was first attracted to this field of research by the fact that simple things are done in a very complicated way. When it comes to advice that Michele would give those starting out in their careers, he says, “The advice I would give to someone entering the world of large facilities is go for it. They are crazy environments and you will enjoy it, but remember large facilities can be very time-consuming. So always keep in mind what you can give to science and what science can give you back. Also, find the right people. People you can learn from and people you like to work with because remember, science facilities are wonderful creations but the most wonderful creation is your career, your life. So, as an optical physicist, I tell you don’t be focused on your sample only, be focused mostly on you.”
Dohyun Moon, Beamline Senior Scientist at Pohang Light Source II in Korea, and Michele Manfredda, Scientist in the Photon Transport Group at FERMI in Italy, talk about new technology that is delivering remote control, automation and robot systems. All of these advances reduce the need for humans to be on the beamlines round the clock.
As Michele says, “The best science that we can do at a light source is the one that we do when we sleep and the machines and computers work.”
Johanna Hakanpää is the beamline scientist for P11, one of the macromolecular crystallography beamlines at PETRAIII at DESY in Hamburg. Originally from Finland, she studied chemistry and then did her masters and PhD work in protein crystallography. Johanna was drawn to the field because she wanted to understand how life really works. Supporting health related research is important to her and Johanna is especially inspired by her son who is a patient of celiac disease. Together they hope that one day, with the help of science, he will be able to eat normally without having to think about what is contained in his food. Johanna started her light source journey as a user and was really impressed by the staff scientists who supported her during her experiments. This led her to apply for a beamline scientist position and she successfully made the transition, learning the technical aspects of the beamlines on the job.
In her #LightSourceSelfie, Johanna highlights the adaptability of light sources during the pandemic as a key strength. Being part of a team that was able to keep the lights on for users via remote experiments is a reflection of the commitment that Johanna and her colleagues have when it comes to facilitating science. Thousands of staff at light sources all around the world have shown the same commitment, ensuring scientific advances can continue. This is particularly true for vital research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself. Learn more about this research here: https://lightsources.org/lightsource-research-and-sars-cov-2/
Dan Olds is an associate physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory where he works as a beamline scientist at NSLS-II. Dan’s research involves combining artificial intelligence and machine learning to perform real-time analysis on streaming data while beamline experiments are being performed. Often these new AI driven methods are critical to success during in situ studies of materials. These include next generational battery components, accident safe nuclear fuels, catalytic materials and other emerging technologies that will help us develop clean energy solutions to fight climate change.
Dan’s #LightSourceSelfie delves into what attracted him to this area of research, the inspiration he gets from helping users on the beamline and the addictive excitement that comes from doing science at 3am.
We know by now that coffee ranks highly on the list of things that help get light source users through their night shifts. This #LightSourceSelfie also include insights on positive thinking that can provide a much needed boost to get you through to the morning. These insights are brought to you from staff scientists at LCLS and NSLS-II in the USA and Diamond in the UK.
Nina Vyas (PDRA in correlative microscopy) and Nina Perry (Diamond Year in Industry student) filmed their #LightSourceSelfie on Diamond’s B24 beamline. B24 is a correlative cryo-imaging beamline offering 3D imaging with soft X-ray tomography (cryoSXT) complemented by super resolution fluorescence structured illumination microscopy (cryoSIM).
With only a few places in the world where researchers can access this type of equipment, working at B24 is exciting as the experiments being done are destined to have a positive impact on global health. In their #LightSourceSelfie, Nina and Nina recall their first day working on the beamline. They also describe the collaborative, supportive environment that exists, ensuring early career researchers are given the help they need to learn new skills.
Beyond B24, Diamond’s other beamlines are supporting science across a wide range of fields and, as Nina Perry says, “Some of the best things about working at light sources is the variety of science and experiments that are going on around you. We work in a biological lab but just next door there is chemistry and physics experiments, cultural heritage investigations and all sorts. The variety is endless.”
Learn more about Diamond’s B24 beamline here
Science is ever-evolving. This is particularly true in the world of light sources. As science, technology and computing advances are made, the machines that enable all the amazing scientific research advance too.
Kentaro Harada is an Associate Professor in the Beam dynamics and Magnets Group at KEK’s Photon Factory in Japan. As an accelerator scientist, his research is centred around magnets, power supplies, beam diagnostics and the operation of accelerators. The goals of Kentaro and his colleagues are to improve present accelerators and to design accelerators that will drive the science of the future. In his insightful #LightSourceSelfie, Kentaro says, “I think research and engineering are like the arts. The expression of uniqueness is first motivation. My goal is to do what only I can do.”
Experimental time at light sources is very precious. When a synchrotron or X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) is in operating mode the goal is to allocate as many experimental shifts to external scientists and in-house research as possible. This includes night shifts! So, how do light source users survive the night shifts? #LightSourceSelfies brings you top tips from scientists based at, or using, 5 light sources in our collaboration – the ESRF, Advanced Light Source (ALS), ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron, CHESS and the PAL XFEL.
Marta Krasowska (Associate Professor), Sarah Otto (PhD Student) and Stephanie MacWilliams (Early Career Researcher) are scientists based at the University of South Australia. They share a passion for soft matter research and conduct experiments at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. Their research questions relate to structural ordering in soft matter and its relevance in applications such as food, personal care products, biomaterials and pharmaceuticals.
In their #LightSourceSelfie, Marta, Sarah and Stephanie discuss what attracted them to this area of research, how they felt the first time they conducted experiments at the Australian Synchrotron, the support they receive from the team based at the facility, their top tips for surviving night shifts and how their research will benefit from the new BioSAX beamline, which is part of the synchrotron’s major upgrade. When it came to single words to describe their research, they agreed on “Challenging, unpredictable and super rewarding!”
