ESS Partner Countries in first in-kind instrumentation meeting
For the first time, more than 110 scientists from the ESS Partner Countries have met to jointly plan their in-kind contributions to the ESS scientific instruments, that will define the future ESS science.
The first ESS In-Kind Contributions Meeting for Neutron Science for the ESS, IKON-1, was concluded today in Lund, Sweden. Over 110 scientists from ESS partner laboratories took part to present and take part of planning for the in-kind contributions.
ESS will be the world’s most powerful neutron source for materials and life sciences, but also the world’s first long pulse neutron source. In order for the scientific community to harness the best opportunities for science and technology from the ESS, the instruments must be carefully designed.
- We have set ourselves an ambitious goal. ESS will be a world-leading source with unparalleled neutron intensity and with long pulses. That has never been done before, says Dimitri Argyriou, ESS Science Director.
- We will have to think out of the box to develop new instruments that will be able to draw all of the benefits from the ESS long pulse beam characteristics, while foreseeing the needs of the science community ten, 20, and even 30 years into the future, says Ken Andersen, ESS Head of Instrumentation.
This first meeting provided information on the progress of the ESS and the current status of instrument development, as well as valuable discussions on the choice and design of the best possible instruments for ESS. The meeting also included presentations on in-kind contributions from some of the ESS Partner Countries, namely Germany, Denmark and Switzerland.
- The in-kind contributions are vital, continues Dimitri Argyriou. We could not assemble a suite of instruments without the expertise of the ESS partner laboratories and research institutes.
- The enthusiasm shown has been truly encouraging. We are now moving ahead full speed, says Arno Hiess, Head of Neutron Science at ESS. The forthcoming IKON meetings will be focused on the current work done by the many partners to ensure a common vision and keep the current momentum in providing the best possibilities for science.
The IKON meetings will be held twice a year as a forum for presentation of technical progress. All current and future ESS Partner Countries participants in the in-kind work packages in the ESS Instrument Collaboration will be welcomed. The forthcoming meetings will be
The design of the ESS instruments will be performed within work packages led by ESS and the ESS partner laboratories. The instrument concepts will be presented at the ESS Science & Scientists Meeting in Berlin in May 2012.
For more information, please contact:
Dimitri Argyriou, ESS Science Director. E-mail dimitri.argyriou@esss.se, Tel. 46-(0)767-72 67 42
Marianne Ekdahl, Communications Officer Press & Politics. E-mail marianne.ekdahl@esss.se, Tel. 46-(0)46-222 83 89
ESS IN SHORT:
The European Spallation Source – the next generation facility for materials research and life science
The European Spallation Source (ESS) will be a multi-disciplinary research laboratory based on the world’s most powerful neutron source. ESS can be likened to a large microscope, where neutrons are used instead of light to study materials – ranging from polymers and pharmaceuticals to membranes and molecules – to gain knowledge about their structure and function. ESS will be up to 100 times better than existing facilities, opening up new possibilities for researchers in for example health, environment, climate, energy, transport sciences and cultural heritage.
ESS is an intergovernmental research infrastructure project, and it will be built in Lund in southern Scandinavia. At least 17 European countries will take part in the construction, financing and operation of the ESS. Sweden and Denmark will co-host the ESS and cover 50 percent of the 1,4 B€ investment costs and 20 percent of the operating costs together with the Nordic and Baltic states.
The European Spallation Source ESS AB is a public limited company, today owned by the Swedish and the Danish states. ESS AB is planning the future international ESS organisation. Building is expected to start around 2013, the first neutrons to be produced in 2019 and the facility to be fully operational around 2025.
ESS will support a user community of 5000 researchers and will have great strategic importance for the development of the European Research Area. Near by there will be complementary laboratories, such as the synchrotron MAX IV in Lund and XFEL and PETRAIII in Hamburg.
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