Tag: strategic plan

Lightsources.org appoints new Vice-Chair and launches its Vision and Strategic Goals for the next decade

Lightsources.org appoints new Vice-Chair and launches its Vision and Strategic Goals for the next decade

Lightsources.org, the international collaboration of light source science communicators, has appointed Ana Belén Martínez, Head of the Communications and Outreach Office at the ALBA Synchrotron near Barcelona in Spain, as the collaboration’s new Vice-Chair.

Ana joins Sandra Ribeiro, Communications Advisor at the Canadian Light Source (CLS), who is the Chair of Lightsources.org. Together they will lead the collaboration and guide it at a strategic level. Silvana Westbury, the Project Manager, manages the collaboration’s online activities and supports the 26 member organisations by facilitating opportunities for knowledge exchange and delivering communications activities aimed at a range of audiences including facility staff, existing and potential users, early career professionals and specialist publications.

Lightsources.org starts 2025 will a clear vision for the next decade. Ana’s appointment coincides with the publication of the collaboration’s 10-year Vision and Strategic Goals (link below), which gives Lightsources.org defined goals and tactics for supporting the communications activities of all its members.

Commenting on these exciting developments, Sandra Ribeiro says, “We are delighted to have Ana on board as Vice-Chair following a recent vote by our members. She replaces Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke, former Head of Communications at Diamond Light Source, whose energy and support was instrumental in making Lightsources.org the success it is today. Having built up the Communications and Outreach Office at ALBA over the past decade, Ana brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our collaboration. In addition, Ana has been an active member of Lightsources.org since 2016 and her passion for our field and willingness to support communications colleagues around the world make her ideal for the role of Vice-Chair”.

Ana Belén Martínez adds, “I’m thrilled to take on this new role in our collaboration, particularly at such an exciting time. Lightsources.org celebrated its 20th Anniversary last year and this milestone prompted us to focus on the vision and strategic goals for the next decade. As the home for the global light source community, we have exciting plans to help our members to attract the next generation of STEM professionals; provide training opportunities aimed at keeping members at the forefront of the ever evolving field of science communication; showcase the science enabled by light sources and its impact on society as a whole; and support members in important areas such as equality, diversity and inclusion and staff wellbeing.”    

Lightsources.org creates one voice for the field, ensuring member facilities are well positioned for funding, access, and research, to make use of each facility’s unique capabilities, and to enhance the effectiveness of the science carried out.

The Lightsources.org website is a global resource, providing information and updates about light sources research and achievements, and opportunities for careers and international collaboration. This is made possible by financial support from the member facilities, whose contributions enable further promotion and international coverage of their innovations and capabilities.

Light sources are large science facilities that create hubs of research and technical expertise. Scientists from both academia and industry can access and use the light produced in the form of beams of X-rays, Ultra-Violet and Infrared. The scale of their impact can be evidenced in the output. Since the collaboration’s member facilities came online more than 183,000 unique articles* have been published by the user communities and staff. Most of the light sources have capabilities in protein crystallography and there have been over 130,000 protein structures* deposited by our user communities and staff in the Worldwide Protein Data Bank. Light sources also employ large teams of scientists, engineers, data scientists, software engineers, along with support teams that include experts in technical support, procurement, finance, legal, user support, communications and human resources. These teams currently make up 8,000* staff spread over the 32 facilities within Lightsources.org.

*as of December 2023

The Lightsources.org 10-year Vision and Strategic Goals plan, can be viewed via the link below:

https://www.diamond.ac.uk/docroot/lightsources.org/ls.org-vision-goals/: Lightsources.org appoints new Vice-Chair and launches its Vision and Strategic Goals for the next decade

Image: Lightsources.org members at the 20th Anniversary in person meeting at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory, October 2024. Left to right – Shelly Kelly, APS physicist and group leader, Marie Gray, Argonne Integrated Communications Manager, Photon Sciences, Ana Belén Martínez, Head of the Communications and Outreach Office at ALBA & Vice-Chair of Lightsources.org, Ricarda Laasch, Manager, SSRL User Research Administration (SLAC), Beth Schlesinger, Agronne Head of Communications, Photon Sciences, Paul Jones, Project Manager and Coordinator for LCLS (SLAC), Silvana Westbury, Project Manager, Lightsources.org, Katelyn Towner, CHESS User Office Manager (Cornell), Cindy Lee, Senior Communications Specialist at the ALS (Berkeley), Mirjam van Daalen, Head of Communications at PSI, Gianna FazioLiu, Director of Communications at the ALS (Berkeley), Denise Yazak, NSLS-II & LBMS Science Communications Manager (Brookhaven), Sandra Ribeiro, Communications Advisor at the Canadian Light Source and Chair of Lightsources.org, Rick Ryan, Science Communicator at CHESS (Cornell), Stefania Mazzorana, Event and Development Manager at Diamond Light Source.

Credit: APS/Argonne

SESAME: The road ahead for the next five years

SESAME: The road ahead for the next five years

The Members of SESAME have recently approved a Five-Year Strategic Plan that sets their vision and goals for the Center during the next five years (2024-2028).

SESAME now has five operational beamlines, three that have been hosting users for a few years and two that have come on stream this year. A sixth is under construction. The Center has a 48-room Guest House where it may accommodate users and a solar power plant that covers all the energy needs of the accelerators, beamlines and SESAME building.

It has an ever-increasing number of registered users (currently 1,538) and if one adds the one call for proposals issued in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, as well as those received for the first call in 2023, this amounts to a total of 572 proposals. Of these, 294 had been approved.

At today’s date, there are 84 articles that have appeared in peer-review publications for experiments carried out at the three beamlines that have been in operation for a few years, and the average scientific impact factor of the journals in which these papers have been published is 5.4, with 25% of them being in journals having an impact factor greater than 7.

In other words, SESAME has now entered a more user-oriented phase of its evolution. This makes the setting up of sample preparation infrastructures to allow users to take full advantage of the beamlines a priority, and essential upgrades to some of the operational beamlines a must, as well as improvements to the accelerators to enhance machine reliability and performance and beam availability and stability of prime importance. It also makes the setting in place of a series of support laboratories to assist users in carrying out their studies and support the research conducted at the beamlines, as well as an upgrade of the optics for the BM02-IR (Infrared) spectromicroscopy beamline, new focusing optics for the BM08-XAFS/XRF (X-ray Absorption Fine Structure/X-ray Fluorescence) spectroscopy beamline, and the establishment of a pool of sample environment systems to meet the users’ demands crucial. For the moment, three support laboratories are envisaged. They are a ChemLab, MatLab and BioLab. It further makes the installation of a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) and diesel generator for SESAME’s security system and emergency lights, and renovation of the fire alarm system mandatory infrastructure upgrades.

All this is envisaged in what is referred to in the Strategic Plan as Category A activities, in other words, activities that are critical for the sustainability of SESAME’s activity that need to be implemented during the period of the Strategic Plan in order to consolidate the existing beamlines and implement the gaps in the Scientific, Technical and Administrative Sectors. Funding to the amount of US$5.908M is required for these activities. This is divided as follows: US$4.350M for the Scientific Sector, US$1.333M for the Technical Sector and US$0.225M for the Administrative Sector.

Read more on the SESAME website

ESRF hosts Lightsources.org members’ meeting in Grenoble

ESRF hosts Lightsources.org members’ meeting in Grenoble

Science communicators from light source facilities within Lightsources.org, the global collaboration of 23 synchrotrons and 7 Free Electron Lasers, gathered at The European Synchrotron (ESRF) last week to share knowledge, ideas, and strategic plans. The in-person meeting, the first to be held in Europe since before the pandemic, also focussed on developing a special programme of activities to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Lightsources.org in 2024.

Guest speakers included Terry O’Connor, EMBL’s Head of communication, and Daniela Antonio, CERN’s Social media and community manager, both of whom shared insights into their strategies, activities and priorities in the ever changing landscape of 21st century science communication.

Delphine Chenevier, Head of communications at the ESRF, comments, “Since we last hosted a Lightsources.org collaboration meeting, the ESRF has undergone a major upgrade to a fourth-generation high-energy synchrotron. This has significantly increased our scientific capabilities. It was wonderful to be able to show colleagues several beamlines where ESRF staff outlined the research that can now be done across a range of fields including health, materials, environmental sciences, cultural heritage, and palaeontology.”

Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke, Diamond’s Head of Impact, Communication and Engagement, adds “One of the most valuable aspects of being a member of Lightsources.org is the connections you develop with colleagues in similar roles around the world. Our in-person meetings give us the opportunity to share both the triumphs and the challenges and provide the time needed to have in-depth discussions. These discussions help us to strengthen our communications programmes at an individual facility level and plan the future development of the Lightsources.org collaboration as it continues to provide one voice for the brightest science.”

Lightsources.org was established in 2004 and, as the 20th Anniversary approaches, the collaboration will be focusing on a new Vision and Strategic Plan for 2024-2044 along with a special programme of activities to raise the profile of Lightsources.org and its members throughout 2024.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Lightsources.org, please visit our About Lightsources.org page or contact Silvana Westbury, our Project Manager, at webmaster@lightsources.org  

To keep up to date with light source news, career opportunities, events, proposal deadlines and upgrade information from our member facilities, please subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter

    

Top Image: Lightsources.org members outside the ESRF, Tuesday 26th September 2023. Left to right: Agnieszka Cudek, SOLARIS, Poland, Ana Belén Martínez, ALBA, Spain, Laia Torres Aribau, ALBA, Spain, Beth Schlesinger, APS (Argonne), USA, Emma Corness, Diamond, UK, Miriam Arrell, SLS/SwissFEL (PSI) Switzerland, Silvana Westbury, Lightsources.org, Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke, Diamond, UK, Florentine Krawatzek, BESSY II (HZB), Germany, Wiebke Laasch, DESY Photon Science, Germany, Delphine Chenevier, ESRF, France

Credit: ESRF

Olof Karis becomes Director for MAX IV

Olof Karis becomes Director for MAX IV

Olof Karis, former Interim Director of MAX IV, has been appointed as the Director of MAX IV following an open recruitment process and the recommendation of the MAX IV Board. The decision was made by the Vice-Chancellor of Lund University, the host university for MAX IV.

MAX IV, Sweden’s synchrotron, is fully operational with 16 beamlines and 1400 users yearly from academia and industry. Olof Karis has led MAX IV as Interim Director since March 2022, through finishing the Strategic Plan for 2023–2032 and a positive review by the Swedish Research Council in November. He has also navigated challenges related to increasing operating costs.

“I am enthusiastic about the possibility of continuing to work for MAX IV. It is a fantastic facility with great people. My focus for the near future is to make a case for longer-term funding of MAX IV. We need stability to continue facilitating research that keeps our society strong in facing future challenges,” says Karis.

In collaboration with the scientific community, MAX IV aims to continuously develop existing beamlines and construct several complementary ones in the next decade to make optimal use of already-made investments in the infrastructure.

“The research conducted by our users at MAX IV benefits the community in many areas, with an impact on circular economy and environment, sustainable energy, and health. Our technical advancements with the MAX IV synchrotron are transformative, enabling us to see details we’ve never been able to before. We can approach what has previously been unsolvable problems,” concludes Karis.

Read more on the MAX IV website