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
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