synchrotron experiments – Lightsources.org

#SynchroLightAt75 campaign launches on International Day of Light

2022/05/162022/05/16

The SRS at Daresbury Laboratory in the UK was the world’s first dedicated synchrotron light source facility. It opened in 1980 and delivered worldwide impact and two Nobel Prizes.

The first of its kind, the SRS enabled research that has improved the quality of our lives in so many ways. This included research into diseases such as HIV and AIDS, as well as motor neurone disease, to name just a few examples. The structure of the Foot & Mouth virus was solved for the first time at the SRS – it was the first animal virus structure to be determined in Europe and led to the development of a vaccine. The huge magnetic memory of the Apple iPod was also the result of research carried out on the SRS. However, its most famous achievement was the key role it played towards a share of two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry. One to Sir John Walker in 1997, for solving a structure of an enzyme that opened the way for new insights into metabolic diseases, and the other to Sir Venki Ramakrishnan in 2009, for his work on the structure and function of the Ribosome, the particle responsible for protein synthesis in living cells.

During its lifetime, the SRS created a critical mass of highly skilled engineers and technicians at Daresbury Laboratory, with specialisms ranging from detectors to magnets and electronics, and by the time it closed in 2008, it had collaborated with almost every country active in scientific research. It had hosted over 11,000 users from academia, government laboratories and industry worldwide, leading to the publication of more than 5000 research papers, resulting in numerous patents. The economic impact of this was vast on a worldwide scale, but it also played an important role in boosting the regional economy of the North West, having worked with hundreds of local businesses.

The success of the SRS led to the development of many similar machines around the world, with the technologies and skills developed still in use at many facilities today, including its UK successor, the Diamond Light Source at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. It also led to the establishment of ASTeC, a leading centre for accelerator science and technology at Daresbury Laboratory, and the Cockcroft Institute, a joint venture between STFC and the Universities of Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester and Strathclyde. It is also home to CLARA, a unique particle accelerator designed to develop, test and advance accelerator technologies of the future. Research carried out by accelerator scientists at Daresbury has had many impacts, particularly in the health and medicine arena, including work to develop our next generation of proton imaging technology for cancer detection, and research that could one day lead to more efficient diagnoses of cervical, oesophageal, and prostate cancers. In the footsteps of senior scientist, Professor Ian Munro, who was responsible for the plan to build the SRS and for its operation at Daresbury, ASTeC’s accelerator scientists and engineers continue to play a key role in designing, building and upgrading the world’s newest generations of accelerator facilities.

Lightsources.org virtual symposium recording

2022/05/052022/06/06

Lightsources.org was delighted to welcome over 500 attendees to our live virtual symposium to mark the 75th Anniversary of the first direct observation of synchrotron light in a laboratory. The event, which was chaired by Sandra Ribeiro, Chair of lightsources.org and Communications Advisor for the Canadian Light Source, was held on the 28th April 2022 and you can watch the recording via the YouTube link below.

We received some lovely feedback after the live event, including this comment from Jeffrey T Collins at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

“I have worked at the Advanced Photon Source for over 32 years and I learned many things during this event that I never knew before. It was quite informative. I look forward to re-watching the entire event.”
Jeffrey T Collins, Mechanical Engineering & Design Group Leader at Argonne National Laboratory

The symposium began with a historical introduction from Roland Pease, freelance science broadcaster who has been an enthusiastic support of light sources for many years.

Roland’s talk was followed by experts from the field giving talks on their perspectives of synchrotron light related achievements that have been made since the 1st laboratory observation on the 24th April 1947.

Speakers were:

• Nobel Laureate Prof. Ada Yonath (Weizmann Institute of Science)

• Prof. Sir Richard Catlow (University College London)

• Prof. Henry Chapman (DESY)

• Dr Paul Tafforeau (ESRF)

• Dr Gihan Kamel (SESAME and member of the AfLS Executive Committee).

There followed a panel discussion with special guests who all made huge contributions to the development of the field. Our special guests were:

Herman Winick – Prof. of Applied Physics (Research) Emeritus at SLAC)

Ian Munro – Initiator of synchrotron radiation research at Daresbury Laboratory ,Warrington UK in 1970

Giorgio Margaritondo – one of the pioneers in the use of synchrotron radiation and free electron lasers

Gerd Materlik – former CEO of Diamond Light Source, the UK’s synchrotron science facility

Lightsources.org is hugely grateful to all the speakers, special guests and attendees who contributed to this event and made it such a special anniversary celebration for the light source community.

If you have any feedback or memories to share, please do contact Silvana Westbury, Project Manager, at webmaster@lightsources.org

For news, jobs, events and proposal deadlines, please visit the homepage

Brilliant people support light source experiments

2022/02/212022/02/21

Academic and industrial researchers have access to world class experimental techniques at light sources around the world. Experimental time on the beamlines is extremely precious and in order to get the most out of this ‘beamtime’ scientists need expert advice and support. Today’s #LightSourceSelfie Monday Montage is a tribute to the brilliant scientists, engineers, computer scientists and other support staff who work at light sources and provide external researchers with the assistance they need to ensure their experiments are successful and they come away with useful data that will advance their scientific studies.

Monday Montage – Brilliant people support light source experiments

Science that just can’t wait until morning!

2022/01/102022/01/10

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.

Great minds think alike!

2021/12/202021/12/20

Marion Flatken from BESSY II & Luisa Napolitano from Elettra give advice to those at the start of their careers

Our #LightSourceSelfies campaign features staff and users from 25 light sources across the world. We invited them all to answer a specific set of questions so we could share their insights and advice via this video campaign. Today’s montage features Marion Flatken from BESSY II, in Germany, and Luisa Napolitano from Elettra, in Italy. Both scientists offered the same advice to those starting out on their scientific journeys: “Be curious and stay curious”. Light source experiments can be very challenging and the tough days can lead to demotivation and self-doubts. In these times, it is good to seek out support from colleagues, all of whom will have experienced days like this. Even if you think you can’t succeed with your research goals, try because it is amazing what can be achieved through hard work, tenacity and collaboration.

Civil engineer plays key role in construction of Brazil’s light source

2021/12/162021/12/16

Sirius is the only light source in Latin America and is located at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials. Mayara Adorno is a civil engineer and her role has been to oversee the technology control of the structures that house the synchrotron machine.

In her #LightSource Selfie, Mayara explains how she was attracted by the opportunity to work on a large project, taking it from paper plans through to completion. As with all large scale science facility construction projects, there were daily challenges for Mayara and her engineering colleagues. She says, “I’ve learned a lot from the project and this was very important for my professional and personal growth. I would advise any young engineer not to give up on your dreams and, this way, become a person who always wants to be open to learn and teach.” “It makes me really proud to know that Sirius has turned into the great science infrastructure from the efforts and dedications of many professionals from different areas, including myself.”

Mayara Adorno, Civil Engineer, at Sirius

A recipe for successful science

2021/12/132021/12/13

Synchrotrons and free electron lasers (FELs) look stunning. The experimental equipment is state-of-the-art, which makes being a light source user both exhilarating and nerve racking. A key ingredient for success is excellent support from the beamline staff on the experimental station you are using. As Kuda Jakata, a postdoc who supports users at the ESRF in Grenoble, France, says in this #LightSourceSelfie, “The light sources community, they are very helpful people and they actually want to push boundaries and so they work hard and they do a lot of really interesting science.”

#LightSourceSelfies Monday Montage!

Light source users don’t have to be experts

2021/12/082021/12/08

Aeriel Murphy-Leonard, Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, was studying magnesium alloys in graduate school when she first heard about synchrotron sources. Aeriel’s first thought was that a synchrotron sounded like something out of a Marvel film!

In her brilliant #LightSourceSelfie, Aeriel describes how she was able to conduct her first experiment at CHESS, the synchrotron at Cornell University in New York. Having recovered from the initial alarm that the synchrotron is located under the university’s soccer fields, Aeriel had an amazing experience and describe the wonderful support she received, and expertise she gained, during this and subsequent user visits to CHESS. Aeriel says, “One thing I’ve learned that’s very valuable about CHESS, or just synchrotrons in general, is that you don’t have to be an expert. I think that’s the biggest takeaway I would like to give in this video is that you do not have to be an expert. I had no idea what it was, did not even understand, and I was able to learn from the beamline scientists and what I’ve always enjoyed about CHESS as a facility is that it’s very educational focused. You can come in not an expert and leave with a lot of expertise.”

Aeriel is passionate about supporting young professionals, particularly those from minority groups. She shares her experiences in her lifestyle blog (https://aerielviews.blog/), which is aimed at young professionals, particularly those that are in graduate school or professional school.

Preparing yourself for setbacks

2021/12/062021/12/06

Experimental time at light sources is precious. It can also be unpredictable as Ro-Ya Liu, a Beamline Scientist at NSRRC in Taiwan, discovered during her first synchrotron experiment at the Photon Factory in Japan. As setbacks go it was a pretty dramatic one, as you’ll discover in this #LightSourceSelfie. Quinn Carvalho, a PhD student at Oregon State University and a user at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) in California, advises light sources users to, “Go into anything with a healthy mentality of optimism, but a realistic sense of what will go wrong. Things will go wrong and you will have to overcome those, so being able to face failure and embrace it and learn from it is much more valuable than fearing it, I think.”

Collaboration: a watchword for the light source community

2021/11/292021/12/02

Scientists Nina Perry and Nina Vyas, from Diamond Light Source (https://diamond.ac.uk – the UK’s synchrotron), along with SaeHwan Chun, scientist at the PAL-XFEL (https://pal.postech.ac.kr/paleng/ – the Free Electron Laser in South Korea) talk about a theme that is common to all light sources around the world, and indeed to science and all its associated disciplines. Cooperation and collaboration, and their benefits for scientists’ wellbeing as well as the science, are highlighted in this #LightSourceSelfie video.

Nina Perry & Ninya Vyas, on Beamline B24 at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s synchrotron science facility

Beginning your light source journey

2021/11/222021/11/23

Scientists who use synchrotrons such as the Advanced Light Source in California and CHESS at Cornell University, along with staff scientists at Free Electron Lasers in South Korea (the PAL-XFEL) and California (LCLS at SLAC), reflect on how they felt the first time they used a light source facility to conduct research experiments. The expertise available from the staff scientists who work on the beamlines is also highlighted in this #LightSourceSelfie video.