LEAPS

League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources

News

LEAPS and COVID-19: one year later

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It has been more than a year since the world was forced to a halt by the most recent COVID-19 pandemic. While we all have been busy washing our hands, wearing masks and getting used to our new home office routine, the science world has been working non-stop to face the new challenge posed by this virus.

The situation is no different at LEAPS, the League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources, which embraced the new challenge and reacted immediately and pragmatically. Despite operations being drastically reduced, all LEAPS member facilities joined forces and offered their expertise and capacities to the scientific community at large. Several facilities opened calls for rapid access to dedicated beam time for prioritizing research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and developing therapies and vaccines against the COVID-19 disease.

Nearly all facilities participating in LEAPS (ALBA, DESY, DIAMOND, ELETTRA, ESRF, EuXFEL, FELIX , HZB, HZDR, INFN, ISA,  MAX IV, PSI, PTB, SOLARIS and SOLEIL) have been offering remote access to their equipment for COVID-19-related research practically from the beginning of the pandemic. Some could remain in user operation all through the pandemic by having settled remote access tools, offering mail-in and encouraging users to reduce team sizes and use mail-in and remote access.

Advanced experiments and measurements have been carried out in a multidisciplinary approach, in terms of understanding the virus and developing effective antiviral drugs. Many techniques were involved such as macromolecular crystallography to study the structure of viral components and its interactions with potential antiviral drugs, x-ray imaging to determine the 3D structure of the virus and understand the effects of the virus on human organs, cryo-electron microscopy and many more.

 “This year has confirmed the wide-ranging talents and infrastructures within LEAPS and its member facilities” – states Caterina Biscari, Chair of LEAPS and Director of ALBA Synchrotron in Spain. Through their front-line engagement and the promotion of cooperation activities such as the “Learning to run again” webinar, as well as the endorsement of the EU COVID-19 manifesto and the participation in similar webinars , LEAPS facilities have once again demonstrated their crucial role in the European science and innovation world.

“During these difficult times, LEAPS facilities have been supporting each other by sharing visions and technologies in a complementary way “ says Mirjam van Daalen, Vice Chair of the LEAPS Coordination Board and Director of Communications a.i. at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland. “Within LEAPS, we also developed a common paper on the research on COVID-19“- concludes van Daalen.

LEAPS has proven to be dedicated to its mission and act as a powerful tool for the development and integration of skills with a view to address 21st century global challenges, and to consolidate Europe’s leadership in the field.

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A list of experiments and publications on the new Coronavirus by each LEAPS facility has been added below. Additionally,a regularly updated list of publications on SARS-CoV-2 by LEAPS members and other synchrotron and FEL facilities around the globe can be found at lightsources.org. Lightsources.org is the result of the collaboration between communicators from light source facilities around the world.

From LEAPS associate partners overseas:

The Canadian Light Source (Canada) has created a specific page highlighting their COVID-19 research: COVID-19 research at the Canadian Light Source

ALBA to become 4th generation synchrotron

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The Rector Council of the ALBA Synchrotron, counting with the participation of the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Department of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Cataluña, chaired by Minister Pedro Duque, has given the green light to start working in 2021 on the ALBA II project, an ambitious program that will transform ALBA into a 4th generation synchrotron facility upgrading the accelerator and other components and building new beamlines.

Nowadays, synchrotron facilities are experiencing an outstanding technological evolution, applying new solutions for the design and construction of accelerators, the development of X-ray detectors and the management of experimental data.

The so-called 4th generation synchrotron facilities, compared to those of the 3rd generation, produce a brighter and more coherent photon beam. When analyzing matter, they provide inaccessible capabilities as of today, in terms of resolution, detection levels and the understanding of chemical and electromagnetic properties. In addition, they offer new technological approaches to solve society’s challenges more efficiently and move towards a sustainable and smart economy in a more efficient health system.

The ALBA II project foresees transforming ALBA Synchrotron from 3rd to 4th generation, through the partial replacement of the accelerator, the construction of new beamlines and the upgrade of some components of the existing beamlines.

The last Rector Council meeting of the ALBA Synchrotron, held yesterday, December 16, 2020, approved the start of the ALBA II preliminary design in 2021 to define the necessary parameters and funds. Once the Rector Council approves the upgrade, it will be a cost-effective process since it will keep the existing infrastructure and most of the accelerator and experimental beamlines, obtaining a large state-of-the-art facility with a reduced investment (half of the cost to build and operate ALBA in its first 8 years). The ALBA II project represents a marginal increase compared to what is necessary to operate and maintain the current infrastructure for a decade.

Minister Duque recalled the importance of this unique scientific & technical facility and, proof of this, reminded that the budget of the Ministry of Science and Innovation for next year include an increase up to 22.9 million euros, 46% more than in 2020.

“The transformation of ALBA into a fourth-generation synchrotron is excellent news for the Catalan research system and for the country as a whole. This ambitious technological upgrade will have an undeniable return for science, the economy and the well-being of the country in terms of cutting-edge science, knowledge transfer and competitiveness”, says Francesc Xavier Grau, Secretary of Universities and Research of the Department of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Grau also recalled the co-funding in equal parts by both administrations.

The design and construction of ALBA II will take place between 2021 and 2028, maintaining the current operation of the ALBA Synchrotron. Between 2029 and 2030, there will be a technical shutdown to install and commission the new components, restarting the research activity in 2031.

ALBA II will continue to shed light on the current challenges of science in areas such as health, climate change or energy. Its new capabilities will allow the scientific and industrial community to go one step further and understand even better complex phenomena such as virus infection processes, as well as the search for drugs, vaccines or treatments. It will also play a key role in the development of sustainable agriculture and the preservation of the environment, supporting the search for new fertilizers, water supply systems or the detection of waste such as heavy metals or nanoplastics. Its impact on the development of materials for the storage, conversion and transport of energy will be also fundamental.

Since its inauguration in 2010, the ALBA Synchrotron has become an exceptional tool for science in Spain and internationally, with the performance of more than 1,500 experiments published in more than 1,300 articles in specialized journals. ALBA II represents a leap forward with the aim of remaining at the top level of science, technology and innovation.

The ALBA Synchrotron is a Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS) managed by the Consortium for the Construction, Equipment and Operation of the Synchrotron Light Laboratory (CELLS) and co-financed in equal parts by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and Generalitat de Cataluña.

LEAPS Plenary 2020

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More than 170 participants from all Europe met up virtually for the third League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources (LEAPS) Plenary meeting. The event was been hosted by the ALBA Synchrotron, whose director, Caterina Biscari, will continue as Chair of LEAPS in 2021. 

The LEAPS Plenary meeting was held on 24–25 November. The first-day session was attended only by LEAPS members, associate and partners, all reporting on on-going activities and discussing plans for the future. On the second day of the plenary, LEAPS received also guests and stakeholders.

The Plenary started with a welcome by Caterina Biscari, Chair of LEAPS, who gave an update on the LEAPS status and an overview of its perspectives. Then, Michele Svandrlik from Elettra introduced DIGITAL LEAPS, the program being developed in response to the pandemic crisis. It is based on learning from present challenges, aiming at the evolution of those digitalization and automatization tools proven to be essential during the particular difficulties of this year towards key instruments for a resilient, digital and green RI operation, well within the scope of the European Green Deal and missions of Horizon Europe.

Next, all LEAPS Strategy and Working Groups during parallel sessions wrapped-up the activities done since the last plenary meeting and especially planning the future ones. The last part of the first day was devoted to discussions on the activities planned for 2021, presented by the group leaders in plenum, guided and summed up by Helmut Dosch, director of DESY and vice-chair of LEAPS.

On the second day, LEAPS received guests and stakeholders, including representatives from EC and from national funding agencies as well as representatives from European countries not hosting a LEAPS member facility but using it for their research and innovation activities.

The day began with a presentation on the LEAPS status focused on COVID19 times by Caterina Biscari. Next, Antje Vollmer, HZB, introduced IDEA – LEAPS for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-discrimination.

Michele Svandrlik explained the project DIGITAL LEAPS and Rudolf Dimper, ESRF, talked about the LEAPS connection to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Following him, Elke Plönjes presented LEAPS-INNOV, an H2020 pilot project just granted by the EC, focusing on the implementation of new strategies and activities for long-term partnerships between industry and the European light sources.

Finally, Jan Lüning, HZB, and Ullrich Pietsch, University of Siegen, presented how the European Synchrotron and FEL User Organization (ESUO) has recently been approved as Strategic LEAPS Partner.

After this session led by Helmut Dosch, Caterina Biscari chaired the second one devoted to introducing the new network ARIE (Analytical Research Infrastructures in Europe). ARIE includes more than one hundred user facilities performing research using electrons, magnetic fields, protons, lasers, neutrons, photon sources and ion beams. ARIE inception on a LEAPS initiative is meant to tackle pressing societal challenges, as described in the recently published position papers on Horizon Europe Missions and on Viral and Microbial Threats. ARIE represents the widest and most mature set of analytical research infrastructures in the world. Mirjam van Daalen, PSI, and Harald Reichert, ESRF, talked about the ARIE position papers and ARIE European Green Deal proposal, respectively.

The following session was devoted to the future of LEAPS and was chaired by Lenny Rivkin, PSI and vice-chair of LEAPS. After an overview on LEAPS under Horizon Europe by Johannes Klumpers, European Commission DG R&I, a panel discussion moderated by Gastón García, CMAM/ALBA, was held. Participating in this was Christiaan Zonnevylle, RAITH, Industry supplier, Helmut Schober, ILL and Chair of LENS, Jan Hrušák, ESFRI, Johannes Klumpers, EC DG R&I, Lenny Rivkin, PSI, and Ullrich Pietsch, University of Siegen/ESUO. They made clear that while LEAPS’s plans for the future are well aligned with the EC objectives on RIs, further interchange between LEAPS, EC and all LEAPS stakeholders will be key to help define these plans as their successful developments strongly rely on budget availability.

The meeting ended with an open discussion with all the attendees, also lead by Gastón García, and finally, conclusions were summed up by Caterina Biscari who, thanking all participants for their contribution to the successful event, highlighted how LEAPS voice is now strongly heard in Europe and beyond and how LEAPS facilities have really started to work together under LEAPS umbrella.