Members

• ESRF – European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

  

  The ESRF is the world’s most intense X-ray source and a centre of excellence for fundamental and innovation-driven research in condensed and living matter science.
  The intense source of synchrotron-generated light produces X-rays 100 billion times brighter than the X-rays used in hospitals. These X-rays, endowed with exceptional properties, are produced at the ESRF by the high energy electrons that race around the storage ring, a circular tunnel measuring 844 metres in circumference.
  Each year, the demand to use these X-ray beams increases and near to 9000 scientists from around the world come to “beamlines”, each equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Located in Grenoble, France, the ESRF owes its success to the international cooperation of 22 partner nations, of which 13 are Members and 9 are Associates.

  Official site

  ESRF Publications

• Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium (CERIC-ERIC)

  

  CERIC-ERIC integrates and provides open access to some of the best facilities in Europe, to help science and industry advance in all fields of materials, biomaterials and nanotechnology. With a single entry point to some of the leading national research infrastructures in 8 European countries, it enables the delivery of innovative solutions to societal challenges in the fields of energy, health, food, cultural heritage and more.

  Official site

  CERIC’s publications

• Extreme Light Infrastructure – ELI ERIC

  

  The Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC (ELI ERIC) is an international laser facility with the aim to develop new interdisciplinary research opportunities using extreme light from the highest peak power laser sources, currently available, and dedicated to the purpose of research. It serves cutting-edge research in physical, chemical, materials and medical sciences, as well as breakthrough technological innovations. ELI ERIC is a distributed research infrastructure based on complementary facilities located in the Czech Republic (ELI Beamlines), Hungary (ELI-ALPS) and a third facility (ELI-NP) is under construction in Romania and expected to integrate as an ELI ERIC facility in the future.

  Official site

  ELI Alps Publications

  ELI Beams Publications

  ELI NP Publications

• ESS – European Spallation Source

  

  The European Spallation Source (ESS) is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), a multi-disciplinary research facility based on the world’s most powerful neutron source. ESS is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden, and the Data Management and Software Centre (DMSC) is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. ESS vision is to build and operate the world’s most powerful neutron source, enabling scientific breakthroughs in research related to materials, energy, health and the environment, and addressing some of the most important societal challenges of our time.

  The European Spallation Source ERIC has currently 13 members: Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

  ESS is a partnership of European nations committed to collectively building and operating a multi-disciplinary research facility providing the world’s most powerful neutron source. The unique capabilities of ESS will both greatly exceed and complement those of today’s leading neutron sources, enabling new opportunities for researchers in materials science.

  Official site

  ESS Publications

• European Grid Infrastructure Foundation (EGI)

  

  EGI is a federated e-Infrastructure set up to provide advanced computing services for research and innovation.
  The EGI e-infrastructure is publicly-funded and comprises hundreds of data centres and cloud providers spread across Europe and worldwide.
  The federation is coordinated by the EGI Foundation, which has been created to manage the infrastructure on behalf of the EGI Council participants.
  The mission of EGI is to create and deliver open solutions for science and research infrastructures by federating digital capabilities, resources and expertise between communities and across national boundaries.

  Official site

• European XFEL

  

  The European XFEL in the Hamburg area is a new international research facility of superlatives: 27,000 X-ray flashes per second and a brilliance that is a billion times higher than that of the best conventional X-ray sources open up completely new opportunities for science. Research groups from around the world are able to map the atomic details of viruses, decipher the molecular composition of cells, take three-dimensional “photos” of the nanoworld, “film” chemical reactions, and study processes such as those occurring deep inside planets. European XFEL has a workforce of more than 350 employees and started user operation September 2017. With construction and commissioning costs of 1.25 billion euro (at 2005 price levels) and a total length of 3.4 kilometres, the European XFEL is one of the largest and most ambitious European new research facilities to date. At present, 12 countries have signed the European XFEL convention: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

  Official site

  EU-XFEL Publications

• Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL)

  

  The Institut Laue-Langevin is an international research centre at the leading edge of neutron science and technology.

  As the world’s flagship centre for neutron science, the ILL provides scientists with a very high flux of neutrons feeding some 40 state-of-the-art instruments, which are constantly being developed and upgraded.

  As a service institute, the ILL makes its facilities and expertise available to visiting scientists. Every year, about 1400 researchers from over 40 countries visit the ILL and 640 experiments selected by a scientific review committee are performed. Research focuses primarily on fundamental science in a variety of fields: condensed matter physics, chemistry, biology, nuclear physics and materials science, etc.

  The ILL also collaborates closely and at different levels of confidentiality with the R&D departments of industrial enterprises.

  ILL is funded and managed by France, Germany and the United Kingdom, in partnership with ten other countries.

  Official site

  ILL Publications

• DESY – Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron

  

  DESY is one of the world’s leading accelerator centres. Researchers use the large-scale facilities at DESY to explore the microcosm in all its variety – from the interactions of tiny elementary particles and the behaviour of new types of nanomaterials to biomolecular processes that are essential to life. The accelerators and detectors that DESY develops and builds are unique research tools. The facilities generate the world’s most intense X-ray light, accelerate particles to record energies and open completely new windows onto the universe.

  That makes DESY not only a magnet for more than 3000 guest researchers from over 40 countries every year, but also a coveted partner for national and international cooperations. Committed young researchers find an exciting interdisciplinary setting at DESY. The research centre offers specialized training for a large number of professions. DESY cooperates with industry and business to promote new technologies that will benefit society and encourage innovations. This also benefits the metropolitan regions of the two DESY locations in Germany, Hamburg and Zeuthen near Berlin.

  Official site

  DESY publications

• Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)

  

  The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is the largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences in Switzerland, conducting cutting-edge research in four main fields: future technologies, energy and climate, health innovation and fundamentals of nature. PSI develops, builds and operates complex large research facilities. Every year, more than 2500 scientists from Switzerland and around the world come to PSI to use our unique facilities to carry out experiments that are not possible anywhere else. PSI is committed to the training of future generations. Therefore about one quarter of our staff are apprentices, post-graduates or post-docs. For pupils it offers the school laboratory iLab.

  Official site

  PSI publications

• Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)

  

  The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) conducts cutting-edge research with a long-term focus in the fields of energy, health and matter. We deliver solutions to the great challenges of our time and see it as our task to provide knowledge and technology for the next generations. Thus, we derive four key points as our mission:

  • We explore fundamental phenomena of nature. Unique research infrastructures provide insight into processes under extreme conditions. We contribute know-how to the development of future materials and information technologies, thus guaranteeing an enlightened and free society.
  • We contribute to a healthy society with novel diagnostic and therapeutic methods in cancer research – from the fundamentals in natural and life sciences to medical application.
  • We are facilitating the transition to a sustainable industry and the transformation of energy systems towards a green society.
  • We strengthen Saxony’s position as a center of commerce and industry in Germany through a systemic combination of fundamental research, innovation, large-scale facilities and transfer, thus ensuring an adequate standard of living for future generations.

  Official site

  HZDR publications

• Diamond Light Source

  

  Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron. It works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to produce bright light that scientists can use to study anything from fossils to jet engines to viruses and vaccines.

  The machine accelerates electrons to near light speeds so that they give off light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. These bright beams are then directed off into laboratories known as ‘beamlines’. Here, scientists use the light to study a vast range of subject matter, from new medicines and treatments for disease to innovative engineering and cutting-edge technology.

  Whether it’s fragments of ancient paintings or unknown virus structures, at the synchrotron, scientists can study their samples using a machine that is 10,000 times more powerful than a traditional microscope.

  Diamond is one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world, and its pioneering capabilities are helping to keep the UK at the forefront of scientific research.

  Official site

  Diamond Publications

• Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A.

  

  Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste is a multidisciplinary research center of excellence, open to the international research community, specialised in generating high quality synchrotron and free-electron laser light and applying it in materials and life sciences.

  Its mission is to promote cultural, social and economic growth through:

  Basic and applied research

  Technical and scientific training

  Transfer of technology and know-how

  The Elettra synchrotron (third generation electron storage ring, working at 2 and 2.4 GeV, in operation since October 1993) and the free-electron laser (FEL) FERMI enable the international community of researchers from academy and industry to characterise material properties and functions with sensitivity down to molecular and atomic levels, to pattern and nanofabricate new structures and devices, and to develop new processes. 

  Official site

  Elettra publications