Like the ESRF, SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is founded on an international governance model, uniting member and partner countries around a shared commitment to science, innovation and cooperation for the benefit of society.

Located in Jordan, SESAME is a unique scientific facility bringing together researchers and member countries from across the Middle East and neighbouring regions. Created under the auspices of UNESCO, SESAME promotes excellence in science while fostering dialogue, cooperation and peace through shared scientific goals. SESAME’s current Members are Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine and Turkey (others are being sought). Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK, and the USA are Observers as are CERN and the European Union.

The ESRF has a long history of supporting SESAME, contributing expertise, training, and collaborative initiatives to help strengthen scientific research in the Middle East. Building on these past efforts, ESRF continues to provide guidance and assistance, reaffirming its commitment to fostering international cooperation, knowledge exchange, and the advancement of cutting-edge science in the region.

“The Council is very grateful to the ESRF for having hosted its meeting” said the President of the SESAME Council, Rolf Heuer. “The warm welcome given to each of us made us feel from home to home, and the great number of high officials from the ESRF we were given the opportunity to mingle with allowed an interesting exchange of experiences of two truly international synchrotron facilities aiming at the same thing, namely, fostering scientific and technological excellence and promoting networking between scientists through international cooperation.”

“The ESRF has always called present at important moments” added the Director of SESAME, Khaled Toukan. “It played a pivotal role in the implementation of two EU grants provided for SESAME, the Open SESAME project, and the BEATS (BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME) project, and it is now coordinator of the SUNSTONE (SESAME's Upgrading Network for Scientific user Training and Outreach into the Next Era) project. Two officials of ESRF, Andy Götz and Alexander Rack, are members of SESAME’s Scientific Advisory Committee.”

During their stay, the SESAME delegation toured several ESRF beamlines, gaining insight into recent developments with the ESRF’s Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) upgrade, and exploring avenues for collaboration and training opportunities.

At a time when international cooperation is facing increasing challenges, SESAME stands more than ever as a bright example of the role of large-scale scientific infrastructures in enabling scientific communities to collaborate peacefully for the advancement of knowledge.

“The ESRF is proud to support SESAME and its mission to advance science, innovation and collaboration through synchrotron research. The strength of our international large-scale research facilities lies in bringing scientists together on the basis of scientific excellence to serve society,” says Jean Daillant, ESRF Director General.

The Council toured the facility during the week.

Top image: The SESAME Council took place this week at the ESRF.