Opening a new window into surface interactions by combining inelastic neutron scattering and reflectometry to molecular dynamics

The Fourth Niels Bohr International Academy Meeting on ESS Science will be held November 2014 at the Niels Bohr International Academy in Copenhagen.

The main focus of the 2014 workshop-school will be the  combination of elastic and inelastic scattering methods, such as reflectometry, quasielastic and inelastic neutron scattering (QENS and INS) to gain detailed understanding of relationships between structural and dynamic properties and thus ultimately the function of diverse materials. The needs and interests of students with a background in the hard-condensed matter sciences will be addressed with discussion on the use of these experimental methods in magnetism. Results of studies using polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR), INS and inelastic X-rays scattering (INX) will be at the core of those tutorials.

Detailed information as well as the registration form are available at https://indico.nbi.ku.dk/conference

Following the successful formula from the last years, the students will be given a small project and will be guided by the lecturers to a solution. In parallel with, and following the school we plan to hold a small but intensive scientific meeting on carefully selected topics of relevance to the school and of current interest with extensive discussion between experimental and computational scientists.This workshop is sponsored by the Niels Bohr International Academy, by the PhD School of the University of Copenhagen, by the Institut Français du Danemark and by the European Spallation Source (ESS). There is no fee for the participants, but attendance will be limited.

The school is limited to 20 students to be selected from the applications received.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Niels Bech Christensen (DTU, Denmark)
• Heloisa N. Bordallo (NBI, Denmark)
• Stuart M. Clarke (University of Cambridge, UK )
• Juergen Eckert (University of South Florida, USA)
• Michael Fitzsimmons (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA)
• Jason Gardner (Science Park Taiwan, ROC)
• Virginie Marry (Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France)
• Des McMorrow (University of London, UK)
• Thomas Schøder (Roskilde University, Denmark)
• Mark Telling (ISIS, UK)
• Robert K Thomas (University of Oxford, UK)
• Hanna Wacklin (ESS, Sweden). Organizers: Heloisa N. Bordallo ([email protected], Hanna Wacklin ([email protected]) and Juergen Eckert ([email protected]).

Local Support: Nikolaos Tsapatsaris ([email protected]), Gitte Michelsen ([email protected]) and Helle Kiilerich ([email protected]).

The conference was initiated by the German Committee "Condensed Matter Research at Large Facilities" (KEKM), the umbrella organisation of the Committees for Research with Neutrons (KFN), Synchrotron Radiation (KFS), Nuclear Sonds and Ion Beams (KFSI) and Accelerator Physics (KFB). It ties up to earlier SNI-conferences (Hamburg 2006, Berlin 2010) and is supposed to show the complimentarity of the methods and to boost the scientific exchange. The SNI2014 will offer the framework for a wide range of topics and for interdisciplinary networking. These are the main topics:

• Soft Matter
• Magnetism
• Nanostructures and Interfaces
• Biological Systems and Medicine
• Microscopy and Tomography
• Materials
• Structure and Dynamics
• Methods and Instrumentation
• Chemical Prozesses and Phase Transitions
• Matter under Extreme Conditions
• Particles and Nuclei

The main language of the conference is German, but English contributions are admitted.

Featuring five parallel workshops representing a wide range of research interests, the Diamond Synchrotron Radiation User Meeting offers opportunities to hear about the latest in synchrotron research and technique developments, along with the chance to network with colleagues from Diamond and the synchrotron user community.

The second joint conference of the Italian Crystallographic Association (AIC) and of the Italian Synchrotron Radiation Society (SILS)

 An ancient tradition links the study of crystallography to this city, which during the sixteenth century saw the Medici family attracting on the banks of the Arno river Nicolas Steno, who stated the first law of crystallography. In the same period the Medici started to collect some crystalline specimens, first nucleus of one of the most precious and ancient collections of natural crystals.

The program selected by the Scientific and Organizing committees is thought to support the participation and contacts between members of the two groups involved, enabling the exchange of ideas in scientific fields (such as crystal growth, methods and techniques for structure determination, molecular recognition, polymer and material science, molecular medicine and structural biology), different and sometimes seemingly distant, but all associated with crystallography.

Thus, a hundred years after the international awards for the fundamental importance of studing matter by means of crystals, we are confident that Florence, the cradle of Renaissance ideas, will be the venue in which scientists from different fields will innovate and find stimuli for growth and collaboration.

This workshop will explore the state of the art in macromolecular crystallography. It will combine lectures on advanced topics in data collection, processing and structure determination with hands-on tutorials using both MX beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron. International experts will present their experience in solving crystal structures, model and ligand building, twinning and refinement.

This school will provide a practical users' guide to planning and conducting scattering measurements at SSRL beam lines, and will cover important techniques including small angle scattering, thin-film scattering, powder diffraction, structure refinement and surface x-ray scattering. The school will address topics that are not commonly included in text books or class lectures, and typically obtained only through on-the-experiment training. .

The fourth Australasian Course in Macromolecular Crystallisation will be held in Parkville, Victoria (Melbourne) between the 9th and 13th of December, 2013. Â This course is an intensive, hands-on practical course that combines lectures on all aspects of macromolecular crystallisation, from sample preparation to cryo-protection and harvesting of crystals. One day will be spent at the MX and SAX beamlines of the Australian Synchrotron.Â

Invited International lecturers: Jim Pflugrath (Rigaku Americas), Terese Bergfors (Uppsala University), Martin Caffrey (Trinity College, Dublin), James Holton (LBL, ALS) and Rob Thorne (Cornell University) as well as stars from Australia.

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP, Trieste, Italy), in cooperation with iThemba Labs - National Research Foundation (SA) Cape Town Campus, Stellenbosch, South Africa is organizing an Advanced School on Synchrotron Radiation Techniques and Nanotechnology: A Synergic Approach to Life Sciences and Medicine to be held in Cape Town, Stellenbosch, South Africa.Â

In the post-genomic era the emphasis has shifted from genes to proteins and to the understanding of their structure and biological function. The rapid development of nano-sciences has made available a new range of tools and approaches that have revolutionized biological and medical research, by allowing scientist to manipulate nano-particles and macromolecular objects and to monitor the behaviour of single molecules. Not only is this having a great impact on basic biological research, but its applications have become a driving and innovative force in the modern economic and industrial framework, particularly for health and biotechnology.

Topics will include:

• Macromolecular crystallography,
• Single particle electron microscopy,
• Small angle X-ray scattering,
• Computational biology,
• Nano-biophysics,
• High resolution atomic force microscopy,
• Nano-mechanics and tissue engineering.Â

The aim of the school is to introduce young researchers to the latest developments in the field of structural biology, nano-biophysics and nano-medicine and to their revolutionary impact on biotechnology, pharmacology and early diagnostics of widespread diseases. Potential applications range from low-cost diagnostic tools and therapeutics for neglected diseases (such as malaria, Dengue, AIDS) to the development of local biotechnology industry. A few practical sessions will provide the students with some hands-on experience in some of the subjects covered by the lectures.Â

A satellite event to the Seventh Meeting of the Argentinian Crystallography Association (AACr), the 3rd School of Crystallography, focused on X-ray and neutron diffraction in polycrystalline materials, held November 7-18, was partially supported by the IUCr. It was attended by 41 students from Argentinia, Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia. This School was divided into two modules. The first module, led by Juan Rodríguez-Carvajal and Gabriel Cuello, consisted of a compact version of the well-established 'FULLPROF School' held annually at the Inst. Laue Langevin in Grenoble. The second module, led by Raúl Bolmaro, Javier Santisteban, Miguel Vicente-Álvarez, Aldo Craievich and Eduardo Granado, focused on scientific and technological applications in polycrystals, such as internal stresses and strains, texture and size effects, and synchrotron radiation techniques. The afternoons were dedicated to demonstrations and practical sessions.

List of Invited speakers. (for more information, lease visit: www.imre.oc.uh.cu/cristalografia

• 1. Dr. Jasper Plaisier (ELETTRA Synchrotron, Trieste Italy)
• 2. Prof. Dr.Dr.h.c Peter Paufler ( Institut f. Strukturphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany)
• 3. Dr. Eduardo Granado (National Lab. of Synchrotron Radiation, LNLS, Campinas, Brasil)
• 4. Dr. Ernesto Estevez Rams, IMRE â€" University of Havana, Cuba
• 5. Dr. Juan Rodriguez-Carvajal, Institut Laue-Langevin. Diffraction group. Grenoble, France

The 8th International School on Crystallography and X â€" Ray Diffraction will be held at the University of Havana, in November of 2011. The Commission on "Crystallographic Teaching" of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) has granted sponsorship and financial support to the Institute of Sciences and Technology of Material at the University of the Havana for November 2011. This edition will address the subject of experiments at Synchrotron Light Sources.

The school oriented to students from all over the world and especially, to those from the region where it takes place, has had as objective since the first edition to join the community of crystallographers around a common subject and to promote the postgraduate studies on this field of the sciences. The event has already been recognized as official school of one of the IUCr commissions mentioned before.Â

Increased Synchrotron Light facilities in the world has allowed the access to these facility to a growing number of researchers from different scientific fields. In our geographical region, the Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron (LNLS) in Campinas, Brazil has become an alternative to the scientific research in many countries.

The possibility of using electromagnetic radiation in a wide range of wavelengths, particularly in the range corresponding to hard and soft X - Rays, using both diffraction and absorption techniques, make this facility a very versatile tool. Â

Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biotechnology, etc.. are just some examples of different scientific branches which have found in the use of synchrotron light sources the solution for many of their experimental limitations in research.

At the last users meeting held at the LNLS in early 2010, it was shown that in addition to Brazil, the countries of the region that make use of this facility is still limited to a very small number, namely, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico. From this experience, it is necessary to focus our efforts on increasing the number of scientists in our area that can make use of these tools in their research.Â

We believe that the next school may be an adequate space for specialists in this field in order to transmit the basic operating principles and capabilities of such facilities.

Headquarter Ciudad de La Habana

San Cristóbal of Havana, founded in 1519 by the Spanish conquerors, was at the very beginnings a forgotten city of the vast Spanish empire, until its strategic location in the means of the Gulf of Mexico, made it the most important port of the New World. Their colonial architecture, considered by the UNESCO as patrimony of the humanity, shows a variety of styles from the Baroque, the rococó, the art nouveau, the art deco, until Moorish influences; but their distinctive sign is the eclecticism in which varied styles mix.
Called by one of their most famous writers, Alejo Carpentier, as the City of the columns, Havana grew from its original enclosure to become a city of two millions citizens, without losing its original beauty and its eclectic distinctive stamp. Valued by another big one of the letters, Ernest Hemingway, like one of the three more beautiful cities in the world, Havana with its malecón and their walks continues surprising with their charms.

Dear Participants of BSR-2013,
we would like to thank you very much for your attendance and for the great atmosphere at the recent BSR-2013 conference in Hamburg. The conference was an important milestone in the developments of synchrotron radiation and free electron laser applications in biology.
We hope that all of you enjoyed the exciting program covering the most important present and further directions, and the scientific sessions containing excellent talks and lively discussions.
One of the highlights was a visit to the life science facilities at the DESY campus, and we received very positive comments about this visit and about the conference overall.
We have distributed a questionnaire about the conference which we encourage you to answer. Your answers will help us and future organisers of the BSR conferences to further improve and optimise the running of this conference series.
The conference had a great spirit due to the synergy between the speakers, chairs and participants, and also thanks to the excellent work of the local team from EMBL Hamburg and the Conference Office team from EMBL Heidelberg. Both teams were already sent our sincere thanks.
BSR-2013 was a great success and we look forward to the next conference in three years in Stanford.
With many thanks and very best regards
Matthias, Dmitri

REXS 2013 - Workshop on Resonant Elastic X-ray Scattering in Condensed Matter

15-19 July 2013, Oxford, UK

This workshop aims to bring together experts in experimental and theoretical aspects of this vibrant science area, along with researchers who are new to the field, to discuss important recent results and the fundamentals of the techniques.

Building on the success of REXS11 (Aussois) the workshop will include an introduction to techniques, software for data analysis and modelling, the fundamental physics of resonant X-ray scattering and future directions, and its application to a broad range of science. Â The conference will start with a special student day at Diamond, and will provide introductory talks, a description of the terminology used for the meeting, and tutorials on the use of software for data visualization and modelling. Following the Student Day, a welcome reception and early registration will be held at Diamond Light Source with the option to take a tour of the facility. The main conference commences on Tuesday 16th July at the Medical Sciences Teaching Centre in Oxford.

Resonant Elastic X-ray Scattering 2011

The proceedings of the REXS 2011 conference are now available as open access articles in European Physical Journal Special Topics 208.
The REXS 2011 conference is now over ! We hope you had a great time in Aussois!
The first conference dedicated to Anomalous or Resonant X-ray Scattering took place in Madrid in 1974, followed in 1992 by Malente conference (Hamburg, Germany, published as: "Resonant Anomalous X-Ray Scattering", by G. Materlik, C.J. Sparks & K. Fischer,North-Holland,1994). The aim was to bring together scientists using this novel technique specific to synchrotron radiation in a variety of fields.
20 years or so later, scientists of third generation synchrotrons intensively use this technique that opened to a broad range of applications such as magnetism and nanoscience. A need emerges of a school / conference with published synthesis that would set a similar milestone in condensed matter research. In order to favor scientific exchanges, we restrict the topics to elastic resonant scattering in condensed matter.
Aim of the conference: bring together young and experienced scientists from different fields in condensed matter to share their experience on the application of Elastic Anomalous/Resonant Small, or/and Wide Angle Scattering (including diffraction and reflectivity).
The conference will cover the following topics:

• Fundamentals of elastic resonant scattering
• Electronic correlations
• Magnetism
• Nanostructures
• Soft condensed matter, polymers and glasses
• Materials science and chemistry
• Instrumentation

Brief Description:

The last decade has seen an exponential growth in the results obtained by macromolecular crystallography, both in terms of number of structures and their complexity. This growth is having a significant impact on molecular and cellular biology, as more and more macromolecular structures have been instrumental in elucidating biological functions.Â

The objective of this introductory workshop is to expose the participants to the methodologies used to solve macromolecular structures, using single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. Structural biology is an interdisciplinary research area, requiring expertises from both the life sciences and the physical sciences: the school aims to bridge the gap between physics and biology by providing a comprehensive overview of the field, starting from the gene to obtain the atomic structure. A short overview of other structural biology techniques will also be presented. The educational program will be based both on lectures and practical sessions.Â

The school is part of a joint initiative between Elettra, IAEA and SESAME, the Middle East synchrotron radiation facility in Jordan.

Main Topics:

• Bioinformatics analysis to identify structural targets and optimise constructs design
• Molecular biology and cloning techniques
• Protein expression and purification
• Crystallisation
• Data collection & reduction
• Structure determination
• Model building, refinement and model validation
• Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)
• An overview of other structural biology techniques

International Conference on Neutron and X-Ray Scattering (ICNX 2009)

In view ofthe success of previous neutron and x-ray scattering conference in this region (ICNX 2007, Serpong and Bandung, Indonesia), it has been decided to reconvene the International Conference on Neutron and X-Ray Scattering, in 2009. The conference will take place from June 29, 30 and july 1, 2009 at Putra World Trade Centrre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Â

Scattering technique using neutron and x-ray is a powerful method to probe and study the structures and dynamics of materials ranging from the mechanics of protein folding and its effect in physiology to the ordering of atomic magnets of solid materials of industrial interest. Both neutron and x-ray can be exploited using a variety of measurement techniques to provide information not otherwise available.Â

The availability of new optical system that can micro-focus neutron provides opportunity to explore new characterization technique and full-utilization of small research reactor that scattered throughout the world. The emergences of new synchrotrons allow more scientists to use high-intensity x-ray for their research. In addition, new modeling approach and software development permit valuable connection between theoretical and experimental analysis. Â Characterization with neutron and x-ray scattering has made significant contribution to the large research activities in engineering, materials development, polymer dynamics, chemical technology, biological studies, and physics, and will continue to do so.Â

The objective of this conference is to bring together scientists who develop neutron and x-ray scattering instruments, perform characterization experiments, synthesized materials and computation. Discussion will be focused on recent results and ideas in these areas. The conference will consist of lectures and poster on new and emerging areas in scattering technique

The purpose of this symposium is to bring together materials scientists and specialists in x-ray and synchrotron radiation (SR) techniques to discuss new opportunities and recent developments. Emphasis will be put on advanced materials, nanostructures and thin films, new techniques, and cross-disciplinary studies. Attention will be given to the role of techniques in the study of materials’ issues in the field of energy and environment.

Scope:

X-ray techniques have increasing impact on the characterization of advanced materials, nanostructures, and thin films. In both laboratory-based instrumentation and synchrotron radiation, the sophistication and resolution of these methods has flourished. The sheer speed of progress and the present and future availability of advanced facilities make this an appropriate time to hold a workshop, the objective of which is to promote and encourage the interaction between scientists working on different aspects of X-ray characterisation and materials development, in order to address common challenges and to improve existing and novel techniques.
The topics covered include the materials microstructure; a field in which x-ray diffraction and subsequent line profile analysis is the only non-destructive technique, giving estimates of crystallite size, size distribution function, defects and microstrains. All these factors have a large impact on materials functionality. Moreover, x-ray diffraction has become one of the most powerful tools to study the structural properties of nanocomposites, which nowadays receive a great interest for their numerous potential applications. Texture and residual stress both introduce a pronounced anisotropy in the properties of polycrystals. The physical causes for these phenomena are intensively under discussion in the community, and offer a pathway to improve our understanding of materials processing.
The availability of micron and sub-micron beams makes both micro-diffraction and nano-spectroscopy with unprecedented resolution possible, important in many industrial and environmental issues. Furthermore, such small beams allow one to probe very small sample volumes under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. The coherence of synchrotron x-ray beams enables an easy use of phase sensitive techniques. Phase contrast imaging is providing new insight in structures which have limited, or similar, absorption contrast. The development of fast 3D imaging techniques allows real time experiments for example in the field of metal solidification. Diffraction based imaging gives access to 3D crystallographic arrangements of grains in undeformed materials opening vast avenues of research. Full control of photon beam polarization has allowed the development of dichroism techniques, which are providing new information on magnetic materials. Established techniques such as photoemission, absorption, and diffraction are taking advantage of the properties of third generation sources, by improving resolution and detection limits (e.g. in fluorescence X-ray absorption or trace element analysis applied to impurities, defects, dopants and surfaces).Â
The proceedings of the symposium will be published in a special issue of Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms.

On behalf of the University-Industry Cooperative Research Committee (#169) of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), chaired by Professor Noriyoshi Sakabe, we cordially invite you to the 3rd International Symposium on Diffraction Structural Biology (ISDSB2010).   The symposium will be held from 25 to 28 May 2010 at University Paris-Sud, Orsay, near Paris: Auditorium Pierre Lehmann, LAL, Bldg 200.Â
Tuesday May 25: 2 PM opening and first session; 6.30 PM welcome reception at the nearby national synchrotron radiation facility SOLEIL (buses available).Â
Thursday 27: afternoon at Synchrotron SOLEIL. Commercial exhibition, poster session and visit of SOLEIL beamlines (buses available).Â
Proceedings papers: To be published in the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation. Speakers and all poster presenters are expected to submit manuscripts (4 pages JSR format), which will be submitted to referee.