The I3 delegates at the Trieste Meeting (September 5, 2003)
The Round Table becomes the seed of an integrated initiative (I3) within the 6th Framework Program of the European Commission
In these past 12 months, the main task of the Round Table was the development of an ambitious new project: an integrated initiative (I3) for the coordination and funding of transnational activities throughout Europe in the domain of synchrotrons and FELs.
The I3 proposal received excellent ratings by the panel of experts responsible for peer-reviewing. This opened the door to the final negotiations with the EC. In preparation for this task, the delegates of all member facilities recently met in Trieste to specify the negotiation mandate to Giorgio Margaritondo, acting general coordinator, and to Elettra as the coordinating facility. In a remarkable show of unity and constructive attitude, the meeting reached a consensus on several amendments to the proposal and to its budget.
The most revolutionary aspect of the I3 with respect to the past EC support is the replacement of bilateral contract between the EC and individual facilities with on single contract. This will fund transnational access (scientists from one EC country using a facility in another country), targeted instrumentation development projects and integrating activities such as the co-funding of workshop and schools.
The instrumentation initiatives selected for the final negotiations are:
| Research activities | ||
|---|---|---|
| R1 | User Infrastructure Platform in Europe for Protein Crystallography | The partnership consists of all European synchrotron infrastructures with a track record in macromolecular crystallography. In response to the expected impact of Structural Genomics initiatives and the resulting automation of the experimental setup, the partnership is developing a common application platform for users, a standardization of sample transport to the facilities, a transfer facility for samples to the local storage/experimental systems as well as addressing the data archiving problem. |
| R2 | Instrumentation for Femtosecond Pulses: Synchronization and Diagnostics | The objectives of the proposed project are to develop diagnostics and instrumentation required for the high resolution time resolved applications of the new accelerator based femtoseconds x-ray sources. This will be done as a collaboration between different European synchrotron radiation facilities operating or planning femtosecond x-ray sources and potential user groups. The aim is to develop expertise in femtosecond x-ray science needed for the extension of the phboton energy range in future high-brilliance x-ray free electron lasers and also to provide a nucleous for the forming user community in this field. |
| R3 | Microfocusing Devices | JRA3 is a joint research activity for the development of diffractive x-ray optics for European Synchrotrons and future FELs. The primary objectives are (1) the development of advanced nanostructuring processes and (2) a novel high precision electron beam lithography tool for nanofabrication of high aspect-ratio zone plates providing high spatial resolution and diffraction efficiency in the soft and multi-keV photon energy range. |
| R4 | Design, Development and Testing of a Superconducting Undulator | A short period superconducting undulator will be designed , specified and ordered from industry. The undulator will be installed on the ESRF ID6 beamline. A detailed comparison of performances will be made with respect to in-vacuum permanent magnet undulators of same beam aperture. This includes field strength, field quality, ease of tunability and vacuum in the magnetic gap. |
| R5 | Development of an Optimized Radio Frequency Photoinjector for X-ray Free Electron Lasers | The project aims in the optimisation of the existing rf photoinjector PITZ, with the purpose of providing an electron source to be used at approved FELs like TTF2, TESLA XFEL, and other free electron lasers. The project focuses therefore on FEL-related requirements, e.g. reliability, rf technology, and user aspects. Due to the vicinity to TTF2 and the TESLA XFEL, a direct transfer of the project's results to the FEL community is guaranteed. |
The I3 will constitute the largest consortium of synchrotron and FEL facilities in the world. The member facilities include almost all synchrotrons and FEL laboratories in the continent:
| 01 | Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A. - Trieste, Italy | ELETTRA |
| 02 | Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH - Karlsruhe, Germany | ANKA-FZK |
| 03 | Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft fuer Synchrotronstrahlung mbH - Berlin, Germany | BESSY |
| 04 | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Gif sur Yvette, France | CNRS-CLIO |
| 05 | Stiftung Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY - Hamburg, Germany | DESY |
| 06 | Diamond Light Source Ltd - Chilton, Oxfordshire, UK | DIAMOND |
| 07 | European Molecular Biology Laboratory - Grenoble, France & Hamburg, Germany | EMBL |
| 08 | Europen Synchrotron Radiation Facility - Grenoble, France | ESRF |
| 09 | Forshungszentrum Rossendorf e. V. - Dresden, Germany | FZR |
| 10 | Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM) - Utrecht, The Netherlands | FOM |
| 11 | University of Aarhus - Aarhus, Denmark | ISA-UA |
| 12 | Lund University - Lund, Sweden | MAXLAB |
| 13 | Paul Scherrer Institut - Villigen PSI, Switzerland | SLS |
| 14 | Societe Civile Synchrotron SOLEIL - Gif-sur-Yvette, France | SOLEIL |
| 15 | The Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils - Warrington & Abingdon, U.K. | SRS |
| 16 | Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare | INFN |
In the five years of the I3 contract, the consortium will support thousands of users performing hundreds of experiments and assist the individual facilities in providing the best possible instrumentation for their customers. Furthermore, the I3 will continue and expand the traditional activities of the Round Table, acting as an Europe-wide forum for this domain, providing documentation, stimulating additional transnational cooperation and preparing the next generations of users with specialized schools.
The I3 delegates at the Trieste Meeting (September 5, 2003)