Australian Synchrotron staff have been busy attending or organising meetings of various kinds with some very important groups – including our user community, government representatives, international conference organisers, high school students and teachers and the general public.
Working with Australian and overseas synchrotron users, for example, we’ve succeeded in attracting the 7th International Workshop on Infrared Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Accelerator-Based Sources (WIRMS) to be held in Melbourne in 2013. This and other prestigious events such as the 12th international conference on x-ray microscopy (XRM) to be held in Melbourne in 2014 are further evidence of Australia’s increasingly strong performance in many areas of synchrotron science.
I recently attended the 4th International Workshop of FEL Science: Science Challenges of XFEL (x-ray free electron laser) workshop in Cairns with Andrew Peele, our head of science, and several other synchrotron staff who play an important role in ACAS, the Australian Collaboration for Accelerator Science. The meeting was jointly hosted by the SACLA x-ray free electron laser, which first lased in June 2011, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science. It was also sponsored by the Australian Synchrotron and ANSTO, and a memorandum of understanding for future collaboration was signed between ANSTO, on behalf of ACAS, and the SACLA team based at SPring8 in Japan.
Australia’s next synchrotron user meeting to be held 8-9 December 2011 in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park will provide plenty of opportunities for synchrotron users to discuss their techniques and achievements and for new users to learn from more-experienced hands.
On a more general note, our annual open day on Sunday 27 November promises to be a great day out, as it was last year when we welcomed more than 3000 visitors of all ages. Staff will conduct specialised tours, answer your questions and provide activities for young visitors. Entry to the Open Day is free, but bookings are essential.
Last but not least, while I’m not at liberty to divulge any details of recent discussions with state and federal governments, I can report that things continue to progress well. I’ll let you know when I have more news about our funding.
Keith Nugent
Director, Australian Synchrotron