Cristina Pereira

LEAPS Meets Life Sciences Conference

25 November, 2022 by Cristina Pereira

May 14 to 19, 2023 – Hotel Hermitage, La Biodola Bay, Elba Island, Italy

Registrations open / Abstract Submissions open

On the charming island of Elba, in May 2023, the frontiers of Life Sciences meet the cutting-edge developments of Large Facilities.

LEAPS – the League of European Accelerator based-Photon Sources is organizing its 2023 Conference LEAPS Meets Life Sciences Conference. During five residential days, participants will have the opportunity to hear from a slate of inspiring, thought, and research leaders in the areas of New Biology, Unmet Medical Needs, Correlative Imaging, and Structural Dynamics. The participants will contribute with selected talks and posters to the scientific discussion by submitting their own work.

The following prominent scientists, working at the forefront of their fields, will be presenting their research and strategic insights into important areas of life sciences and technology developments at the LEAPS Meets Life Sciences Conference:

Oded Beja, Technion, Israel
Henry Chapman, DESY, Germany
Roger Falcone, Berkeley University of California, USA
Michael Henning, LeadXpro, Switzerland
Matthew Higgins, University of Oxford, UK
Amadeu Llebaria, IQAC-CSIC, Spain
Richard Neutze, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Allen Orville, Diamond, UK
Arwen Pearson, University Hamburg, Germany
Jana Selent, ERNEST/Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
Thomas Schulthess, CSCS Lugano, Switzerland
David Stuart, University of Oxford / Diamond, UK
Beatrice Vallone, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Italy
Adrian Wanner, Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland
Winfried Weissenhorn, IBS, Grenoble, France
Peijun Zhang, Diamond, UK

A complete list of scientific topics and an overview of the preliminary program are available on the conference website.

In addition to invited talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions and selected talks from individuals of all career stages. Communal meals, afternoon excursions, and free time will allow for informal networking opportunities between the participants and leaders in the field. Fostering interactions among scientists of all career stages will be at the center of the event, as well as fostering networking among engineers, physicists and, life scientists.

The LEAPS Meets Life Sciences Conference is chaired by Caterina Biscari, LEAPS Vice Chair, ALBA Director. The scientific program is chaired by Prof. Gebhard Schertler, Head of the Biology and Chemistry Division at the Paul Scherrer Institute and Kristina Djinovic Carugo Head of the EMBL Grenoble. Contributing to shaping the program and the conference organization is a select list of scientific and organizing committee members.

The goals of the LEAPS Meets Life Sciences conference are to:

Present an overview on state-of-the-art scientific and technological achievements and how current X-ray probes and large facilities contribute to this field
Create a platform for the interaction of different communities to interact and define needs and challenges for the decade to come
Devote tutorial sessions on emerging biology and emerging technology implementations at large facilities
Motivate the next generation of scientists and engineers to use extensively the outstanding opportunities at the large facilities within the LEAPS Consortium
Initiate an open discussion between life sciences and large facilities to guide an European-wide strategy

To encourage the participation of the future generation of Life Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering researchers LEAPS is offering a limited number of student grants targeting Master and PhD students. For those submitting an abstract and selected by the selection committee expenses will be supported.

We also collaborate with the ERNEST GPCR Network to provide additional Grants for students and young investigators from the ERNEST network. ERNEST in collaboration with LEAPS will select outstanding and suitable candidates to attend the conference.

Visit the Student Grants page for more details and how to apply.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Dates

May 14 to 19, 2023

Venue

Hotel Hermitage, La Biodola Bay, Elba Island

Visit the Venue/Travel page for more information about how to reach the venue.

Participation/Contributions

The conference has a limited number of places. Interested participants will be required to submit an abstract or inform the reason for attendance.

A pre-registration will be required from all interested participants. To pre-register for the event fill out the LEAPS Conference 2023 – Pre-Registration form.

Abstracts submitted will be reviewed. Contributions will be presented as posters, a limited number of outstanding contributions will be selected for talks during the program.

Visit the Call for Abstracts page for more information and to submit your abstract.

Registration Fee

800 EUR

Those selected to attend the event will be required to complete the registration and pay the registration fee after notification of acceptance. The registration fee will cover: all meals and social events (welcome cocktail, lunches, dinners, cheese and wine during poster session, coffee breaks), excursions, shuttle buses and ferry tickets in the transfer to and from La Biodola.

Hotel Accommodation

The LEAPS2023 Conference will take place at the Hotel Hermitage located in La Biodola, Isola d’Elba, Italy. Participants will be accommodated in Hotel Hermitage and in Hotel Biodola.

Each participant will pay directly the accommodation costs to the hotel chosen. This is not included in the registration fee.

Visit the Hotel Accommodation page for more details and prices.

New opportunities for SMEs!

22 November, 2022 by Cristina Pereira

Light source facilities produce exceptionally intense beams of X-rays, ultra-violet and infrared light that allow product or process from industry to be studied at the microscale to boost innovation. SMEs (small and medium enterprises) can benefit from light source capabilities thanks to the European project LEAPS-INNOV, which is supporting industrial projects. LEAPS-INNOV is providing a subsidised and confidential access to European light sources to SMEs through a very simple and fast application system.

The current call is open from Sep 9, 2022 to Jul 28, 2023

More information can be found in the dedicated webpage: Way for Light

For more information, do not hesitate to contact the industrial contact points or the TamaTA-INNOV coordinators.

Submit your proposal here.

LEAPS research infrastructures to tackle societal crises

28 October, 2022 by Cristina Pereira

Villigen, October 28, 2022: Against a backdrop of the energy crisis, scientists and policy makers convened at Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Switzerland and set out a vision for European accelerator based photon sources to address current and future societal challenges together.

“LEAPS facilities find themselves in a unique position of simultaneously needing to adapt as heavy energy users whilst being an integral part of the solution.” So said Leonid Rivkin from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, Switzerland, chair of the League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources (LEAPS). Speaking at the 5^th LEAPS plenary meeting, Rivkin commented that planned facility upgrades to leading European research infrastructures will help favourably shift the balance, providing more X-rays for more science with less energy consumption.

The current energy crisis was an important theme during the 5^th LEAPS plenary meeting, held at the Paul Scherrer Institute from the 26^th – 28^th October 2022. The meeting welcomed more than 180 scientists, policy makers and industry representatives from across Europe. This included directors of the 19 member European accelerator-based photon facilities – i.e. synchrotron light sources and free electron lasers (FELs) – as well as high-level representatives of the European Commission.

A key focus was how to realise the new European Strategy for Accelerator-based Photon Science (ESAPS), which was presented to the European parliament in May 2022. ESAPS charts a path for LEAPS facilities to address current societal challenges and crises while making a critical contribution to keep Europe at the international forefront of research and development. This is in-line with the recent Brno declaration on Fostering a global ecosystem of Research Infrastructures, which states that research infrastructures should be viewed as an integral part of the critical infrastructure that is necessary to cope with sudden crises. They should be treated as a long-term commitment in order to create a stable, reliable and predictable funding environment.

The ESAPS strategic plan formed a backdrop to many of the topics discussed, which included perspectives on the European Research Area from Apostolia Karamali of the European Commission, head of the Research and Innovation Actors and Research Careers unit. Also discussed were strategic upgrades to synchrotron light sources, the impact of current geopolitical tensions and future impacts of the LEAPS facilities in life sciences, drug discovery and quantum computing. At the end of the meeting, Leonid Rivkin passed the baton onto Jean Daillant from the Soleil synchrotron in France, who will be the 2023 LEAPS chair.

The LEAPS facilities serve over 35 000 scientists worldwide, who conduct ground-breaking research in diverse scientific areas ranging from novel materials, drug design and catalysis to palaeontology and cultural heritage. LEAPS´ goal is to work collaboratively in a new strategic way, mobilizing the members’ substantial expertise to the greater benefit of science and society. As the meeting emphasised, LEAPS facilities, strengthened through their strategic collaboration, proved their ability to tackle crises during the pandemic and play a critical role in addressing current and future societal challenges.

Paul Scherrer Institute/ Miriam Arrell , Markus Fischer (Photos)