Tag: early career scientists

From Light Sources to Innovation Ecosystems: The First IUPAP Hackathonino at IPAC2026

From Light Sources to Innovation Ecosystems: The First IUPAP Hackathonino at IPAC2026

Connecting Students, Research Infrastructures, and Industry Through Accelerator Science

Large-scale research infrastructures such as synchrotron light sources and neutron facilities are increasingly recognised not only for their scientific output, but also for their role in training talent, strengthening international collaboration, and building scientific capacity across regions.

This broader mission was clearly visible at the International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC2026), held in Deauville, France, from 17–20 May 2026, where the Working Group on Particle Accelerators (WG14) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) launched the first Hackathonino — an interactive initiative designed to connect students, research infrastructures, and industry around real accelerator challenges.

Image above: The 1st Prize team: (E) Develop an educational idea to introduce students
to accelerator simulations, by Sverker Werin & Francesca Curbis, MAXIV
Maria Ünal, SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Centre, PL
Helena Alamprese, Michigan State University, US
Hiiro Moriyama, University of Oxford, UK
Laury Batista, Paris Saclay University, CEA, FR
Weibo Hu, University of Science and Technology, CN
Wiktoria Wiatrowska, SOLARIS, PL


Supported by IUPAP WG14, the Accelerator Science and Technology Industry Permanent Forum (AIPF), Big Science Sweden, and industrial partners including ScandiNova, the Hackathonino demonstrated how relatively small, targeted initiatives can create lasting impact for the global accelerator and light-source community.

For organizations such as ESS, MAX IV, ESS , MAX IV , SNS, CERN, FZJ, University of Johannesburg and MIT, the event highlighted an increasingly important dimension of research infrastructures: their ability to serve as engines for capacity building, knowledge transfer, and international scientific development.

IUPAP and the Global Accelerator Community

As one of the official sponsors of IPAC, IUPAP has long played a central role in promoting international cooperation in physics. Through WG14, dedicated to particle accelerators, the organisation actively supports education, mobility, and collaboration across the global accelerator landscape.

The Hackathonino represented a practical example of this mission in action. Rather than focusing solely on conference presentations, the initiative created a space where students and early-career researchers could work directly on operational and scientific challenges inspired by major research infrastructures.

More than 65 students expressed interest in participating and were organised into multidisciplinary teams supported by mentors from laboratories, universities, and industry.

The Hackathonino focused on key accelerator-related themes connected to the broader missions of light sources and neutron facilities, including applications in Environment & Materials, Life Sciences, Energy, digitalisation, and accelerator operations. Nine challenges were prepared based on real research-infrastructure conditions and operational needs.

The challenges covered a broad and interdisciplinary spectrum, ranging from control-room first-fault identification and AI-assisted accelerator diagnostics to educational tools, new developments for accelerator infrastructures, medical accelerators, neutron scattering applications, large language models (LLMs), and quantum interfaces. Together, they reflected the diversity of expertise now required across modern accelerator-based facilities.

Students described the Hackathonino as a rare opportunity to collaborate across disciplines and sectors while gaining direct exposure to the research-infrastructure environment. “It was an amazing experience to work together with students, scientists, and industry around real accelerator challenges,” one participant commented. “We learned not only technical skills, but also much more about how research infrastructures operate and the career opportunities they offer.”

The initiative demonstrated how IUPAP can help create low-barrier, internationally accessible opportunities for young scientists to engage directly with accelerator-based science and technology.

ESS and Capacity Building Through Research Infrastructures

The Hackathonino also strongly reflected the broader mission of the European Spallation Source (ESS) and other major facilities: building sustainable scientific ecosystems that extend beyond a single laboratory.

As Europe’s next-generation neutron source, ESS is not only developing advanced accelerator and neutron technologies, but also investing heavily in competence development, training, digitalisation, and international collaboration. Events such as the Hackathonino align naturally with this vision by exposing students to real operational challenges while connecting them with experts across facilities and disciplines.

Several Hackathonino challenges were directly relevant to the evolving needs of neutron and synchrotron facilities, including reliability, diagnostics, AI-assisted operations, educational outreach, and knowledge transfer between laboratories. These are strategic areas where ESS, together with partner facilities such as MAX IV, contributes to a growing Nordic and European ecosystem for accelerator-based science.

The participation of students and mentors from different continents also reflected the international model on which ESS itself is built. Remote mentoring from institutions such as the University of Johannesburg and MIT demonstrated how expertise can be shared globally, independent of geography.

For emerging facilities and developing scientific communities, this type of distributed collaboration is increasingly important. It allows knowledge developed at large infrastructures to support broader international capacity building and helps create pathways into accelerator science for students who may not yet have direct access to major facilities.

2nd Prize Team: (B) RF window failure detection, by John Moss, Charles Peters, Sung-Woo Lee, SNS
Axel Perez Ruiz, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, Orsay, FR
Dinghui Su, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Shanghai, CN
Johan Lundquist, MAX IV/Lund University, Lund, SE
Joel Valerian, University of Melbourne, AU

Light Sources and Knowledge Transfer Across Regions

One of the strongest themes to emerge from the Hackathonino was the importance of transferring expertise across the global light-source community.

Several teams explored how operational experience and accelerator knowledge from established facilities could support newer or developing infrastructures. This theme culminated in the winning project, which focused on leveraging expertise from MAX IV to support education and accelerator design activities connected to the SESAME synchrotron in Jordan.

The project illustrated how facilities within the Lightsources.org community can contribute not only to scientific discovery, but also to regional scientific development and long-term human capacity building.

This model is closely aligned with the missions of both ESS and IUPAP: strengthening international scientific cooperation while creating opportunities for future generations of researchers and engineers.

For the light-source community, the Hackathonino also demonstrated the value of creating informal, highly collaborative environments where students can engage directly with real-world infrastructure challenges. Even within a short timeframe, participants produced solutions and concepts that impressed mentors, industry representatives, and the independent jury.

3rd Prize Team: (F) Decision-Making for a Compact Neutron Source (CANS) Upgrade Strategy, by Mina Akhyani (FZJ)
Jordan Byrne,
Aras Amini,
Oliver Betteridge,
Filip Peczek,

Building Future Scientific Ecosystems

The Hackathonino reinforced a broader lesson about modern accelerator-based facilities.

Research infrastructures such as ESS, MAX IV, ESRF, SOLARIS, and SESAME are far more than experimental platforms. They are ecosystems where science, technology, education, and industry intersect. By connecting students, researchers, engineers, and companies, they help create resilient international networks capable of addressing future scientific and societal challenges.

The initiative also showed that impactful capacity-building activities do not necessarily require large or complex structures. A lightweight and flexible format, supported by committed mentors and international organisations such as IUPAP, can already generate meaningful collaboration and long-term engagement.

As discussions begin around future editions of the Hackathonino, the event offers a promising model for how the accelerator and light-source community can continue strengthening international cooperation, supporting emerging talent, and expanding access to accelerator science worldwide.

In this sense, the Hackathonino was more than a student competition. It was a demonstration of how facilities like ESS and the broader Lightsources.org community can help shape the next generation of global scientific collaboration.

Find out more about IUPAP Working Group 14 here

Follow IUPAP on LinkedIn: IUPAP Accelerator Science Communication: Posts | LinkedIn

Interviews with the winners of the Student Clips challenge at FASEM 2026, which was sponsored by Lightsources.org

1st prize winner was Maimunah Fa Izun Haji Abdul Rahman, a PhD student at the ESRF in Grenoble

Can you tell us about your background?

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemistry from Malaysia and a Master’s in Materials Science and Chemistry through the Erasmus Mundus MESC+ program, where I studied across Poland, France, and Spain with a focus on energy storage systems. I am currently a PhD student at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) working on biomass-derived hard carbons for sodium-ion batteries, with an emphasis on understanding structure-property relationships at multiple length scales using advanced characterization techniques.

What attracted you to the FASEM school?

My background is more centred on materials and chemistry, so I wanted to build a stronger understanding of characterization techniques, especially X-ray scattering, which is central to my PhD. FASEM appealed to me because of its broad scope, covering not only SAXS and WAXS but also complementary methods like neutron scattering and XRR, all with a strong emphasis on practical understanding.

What did you get out of attending the school?

What I valued most was the exchange with people working on very different fields but facing similar questions involving X-ray and neutron-based analyses. It really broadened how I think about my own work. At the same time, the school filled in a lot of gaps, from new characterization approaches to practical things like writing beamtime proposals. It also made concepts I’d seen before feel much more concrete and usable.

How will you build on what you learnt in your own research?

FASEM broadened how I think about designing experiments and interpreting data. In addition to SAXS and WAXS, I’m particularly interested in incorporating techniques like X-ray tomography to better understand morphological features, and neutron scattering to probe low-Z elements that are otherwise difficult to resolve. More broadly, I aim to take a more integrated approach to characterization, combining multiple techniques to gain a more complete understanding of my materials.

2nd prize winner was Sagar Jathar, Uppsala University

Can you tell us about your background?

I am a PhD student in Inorganic Chemistry at Uppsala University, working in close collaboration with Westinghouse company on developing chromium-based protective coatings for applications in harsh environments, particularly for nuclear fuel rod cladding.

 What attracted you to the FASEM school?

FASEM attracted me because of its strong focus on synchrotron and neutron-based techniques and its close connection to major large-scale research facilities such as MAX IV, ESRF, and ILL, which are highly relevant to my work. It was particularly exciting to gain first-hand insight into how these facilities operate and how advanced experimental techniques can be applied in real research. Understanding how to design experiments and effectively use these tools is very valuable for my PhD. In addition, the school provided an excellent platform to interact with researchers from different backgrounds, build a professional network, and exchange ideas. Such programs are extremely helpful for developing collaborations and broadening perspectives in advanced materials research.

 What did you get out of attending the school?

I gained deeper insight into advanced scattering techniques such as XANES and EXAFS, particularly for probing the local atomic structure in complex or amorphous materials. In addition, I learned how neutron scattering can be used to study hydrogen-related phenomena in nuclear reactors, such as ZrH₂ hydride formation, which is one of the key causes of cladding embrittlement and loss of structural integrity. Because neutrons are highly sensitive to light elements like hydrogen, these techniques enable mapping of hydrogen distribution and provide a clearer understanding of hydride formation and its impact on material performance.

 How will you build on what you learnt in your own research?

I will apply synchrotron based X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to better understand local structure and bonding in my Cr–Nb–N coatings, helping to establish stronger structure–property relationships for nuclear applications. Also, with operando neutron radiography/tomography to physically see the hydrogen uptake and embrittlement deep inside the cladding tube.

3rd prize winner was Marcus Liljenberg, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm

Can you tell us about your background?

I have a MSc in Chemical engineering with a focus on material science from Uppsala University. After graduating I was working for a few years in industry. I’ve always wanted to do my own research, so when the opportunity came I started as an industrial PhD student at KTH and PowerCell in Sweden. My topic is intermediate temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells, where I’m focusing on optimizing the catalyst layers.

What attracted you to the FASEM school?

Many of the papers I’ve been reading include methods using small angle scattering techniques. Interpreting these results is not trivial and I’ve been looking for some course to study these methods. I was lucky to find FASEM and that the focus this year is on energy materials is a happy coincidence! 

What did you get out of attending the school?

A broad introduction to many techniques using x-rays and neutrons, which I hope to incorporate in my own research. I’m also hoping on getting some advice on how to proceed to make proposals to get to do my own experiments. I’m not experienced in this and neither are my supervisors, which makes it a bit difficult to start. This is also a very good opportunity to network and I’ve met many nice persons, some that I could perhaps even collaborate with.

How will you build on what you learnt in your own research?

I will have a much better understanding of reading literature where these techniques are applied. I’m also hoping to be able to consider designing my own experiments that can compliment other methods that I’m currently using. I’ll try to keep in contact with others that attended, perhaps we can continue with collaborations.

Early career scientists celebrate their success in Lightsources.org sponsored awards

Early career scientists celebrate their success in Lightsources.org sponsored awards

A group of early career scientists participating in two established training schools have received Lightsources.org awards recognising the work they presented during the 2026 editions of the schools.   

Ana Belén Martínez, Head of Communications and Outreach at ALBA and Chair of Lightsources.org, comments, “An important goal for Lightsources.org is to support early career STEM professionals and highlight both the career opportunities and experimental capabilities of the facilities within our global membership. Partnering with HERCULES 2026 and the FASEM school has enabled us to recognise outstanding contributions during these two schools, both of which provide incredible experiences for those looking to build their knowledge and experience within a range of world class European facilities. Our congratulations go to all the winners and everyone who took part in these training schools.”

The HERCULES EUROPEAN SCHOOL, which celebrates its 35th Anniversary this year, runs over five weeks and provides training for students, postdoctoral and senior scientists from European and non-European universities and laboratories, in the field of Neutrons, X-ray Synchrotron Radiation, and Free Electron Laser for condensed matter studies.

It’s coordinated by the Université Grenoble Alpes in collaboration with the ESRF, ILL and counts with the support of other European facilities (ALBA, DESY, Elettra, KIT, MAX IV, SLS, SOLEIL, European XFEL, ESS and FERMI). Each year, four of these partner large scale facilities give participants the opportunity to gain practical experience.

For HERCULES 2026, they were ALBA in Spain, KIT in Germany, MAX IV and the ESS in Sweden and SOLEIL in France. The students who spent time at the ALBA synchrotron near Barcelona could learn from the scientists about different techniques, sample preparation and data collection process, combining talks and practical sessions at the beamlines. They worked in teams and presented their experimental reports in groups of four on the last day of the school. Lightsources.org awards were presented to the group who the local jury selected as having given the best presentation.  

The winning group at ALBA with members of the local jury

As a complementary educative initiative, the French-Swedish Academy for Scattering Experiments and Modeling (FASEM) is a one-week, biennial advanced-school, that rotate across three key thematic areas: Scattering Techniques for Environment & Materials, Life Sciences, and Energy Applications. The third version was coordinated by ESS, ILL and the French Embassy with support from ESRF. “Its goals are to prepare the future generation of users of large-scale facilities for synchrotron and neutron scattering; to develop and strengthen sustainable scientific exchanges driven by the French and Swedish communities on the use of large-scale facilities, in connection with the forthcoming ESS operation; to reinforce links between research infrastructures, academia and industry; and to strengthen collaboration between institutes in France (ILL, ESRF, SOLEIL) and in Sweden (ESS, MAX-IV),” explains Christine Darve FASEM coordinator. “The 3rd edition organized at ILL, was held in a hybrid format, bringing 30 in-person participants and more than 55 online students to learn scattering techniques (small-angle, diffraction, spectroscopy, etc) applied to energy materials ,” adds Peter Fouquet, ILL local organizer.

During FASEM 2026, students participated in a Student Clips challenge where they were invited to present their research to camera. Lightsources.org sponsored this challenge and prizes were awarded to the students who produced the top three clips.

Maimunah Fa Izun Haji Abdul Rahman, a PhD student at the ESRF in Grenoble, won 1st prize in the FASEM 2026 Lightsources.org Student Clips challenge. 2nd and 3rd prizes went to Sagar Jathar, Uppsala University, and Marcus Liljenberg, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, respectively.

Maimunah Fa Izun Haji Abdul Rahman receiving 1st prize certificate at FASEM 2026

Reflecting on the week at FASEM, Maimunah comments, “What I valued most was the exchange with people working on very different fields but facing similar questions involving X-ray and neutron-based analyses. It really broadened how I think about my own work. At the same time, the school filled in a lot of gaps, from new characterization approaches to practical things like writing beamtime proposals. It also made concepts I’d seen before feel much more concrete and usable.”

Sagar adds, “I gained deeper insight into advanced scattering techniques such as XANES and EXAFS, particularly for probing the local atomic structure in complex or amorphous materials. In my own research, I now plan to apply synchrotron-based X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to better understand local structure and bonding in my Cr–Nb–N coatings, helping to establish stronger structure–property relationships for nuclear applications.”     

Read full interviews with Maimunah, Sagar and Marcus here

The one-week FASEM2026 material is available here

The Student Clips and other talks from the school can be found here