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Jon Cartwright
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Email jonacartwright@
icloudcom
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Nick Brookes
Delphine Chenevier
Andy Fitch
Michael Krisch
Gema MartínezCriado
Joanne McCarthy
Edward Mitchell
Stéphanie Monaco
Annalisa Pastore
Qing Qin
Francesco Sette
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Chantal Argoud
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Laura Gillham
ISSN 10119310
©2023 ESRF
EDITORIAL
5
December 2024 ESRFnews
Editor
Jon Cartwright
Email jonacartwright@
icloudcom
Editorial committee
Nick Brookes
Delphine Chenevier
Jean Daillant
Andy Fitch
Michael Krisch
Gema MartínezCriado
Joanne McCarthy
Edward Mitchell
Stéphanie Monaco
Qing Qin
Subscription
Marine Duding
For subscriptions to the
digital version of ESRFnews
print subscriptions are no
longer possible visit www
esrfeuUsersAndScience
PublicationsNewsletter
ESRFnews is produced
for the ESRF by
IOP Publishing
No2 The Distillery
Glassf ields Avon Street
Bristol BS2 0GR UK
Tel 44 0117 929 7481
wwwioppublishingorg
Head of media
Jo Allen
Production
Kyla Rushman
Technical illustrator
Alison Tovey
Display advertisement
manager
Edward Jost
Advertisement
production
Mark Trimnell
Circulation
Alison Gardiner
ISSN 10119310
©2024 ESRF
ESRF
news
This year marks a significant milestone: 30 years of synchrotron X-ray science and
innovation. With the start of User operation on 1 October 1994, the ESRF paved the
way, from day one, for ground-breaking experiments that were just unthinkable at other
synchrotron facilities around the globe. Since then, the ESRF has contributed to over
40,000 publications and four Nobel prizes, and has attracted over 70,000 users from
more than 60 countries, cementing its place as a global leader in synchrotron science.
Four years after the successful delivery of the Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS),
we have entered a new phase of exploration. The EBS is providing researchers with
unmatched opportunities to push the frontiers of science, thanks to its exquisite
X-ray beam in terms of brilliance, emittance, transversal coherence – notably at
high energies – and its outstanding stability and reliability. The EBS’s innovative
technology is now addressing some of the world’s most complex challenges, such as
the reconstruction of complete neuronal wiring diagrams, or “connectomes” (p12).
There are, of course, innumerable other examples.
The ESRF’s mission remains as strong as ever: advancing scientific knowledge,
pioneering synchrotron technology, promoting international collaboration, serving
industry (p20) and – as we see in this issue with the industry-academia “InnovaXN”
programme (p17) – training the next generation of scientists to address key societal
challenges. The enthusiasm from the scientific community is evident, with 1,192
beamtime requests for the latest proposal deadline. That is the second highest ever
for a September deadline, only surpassed by the record in 2017, just before the EBS
upgrade.
These accomplishments and new possibilities reflect the strength and diversity of
the ESRF community, which continues to expand the horizons of synchrotron X-ray
science. As we celebrate 30 years of international science collaboration, we encourage
you to explore the exciting potential of this new era, and hope this edition of the
ESRFNews will inspire your next experiments at the ESRF.
Here’s to the next 30 years of discovery!
Celebrating 30 years of science
Michael Krisch
ESRF director of
research for life
sciences, chemistry
and soft-matter
science
Gema
Martínez-Criado
ESRF director of
research for
condensed matter,
physical and material
sciences