image: Diamond Light Source, the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
Credit: Courtesy of Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron facility, will today welcome delegates from SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) as well as representatives from the UK government, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and UKRI (UK Research and Innovation). The event is aimed at deepening an existing collaboration between the two facilities.
SESAME, located in Allan, Jordan, is an intergovernmental synchrotron radiation facility established under the auspices of UNESCO and modelled on CERN. It is a unique scientific partnership bringing members together to foster scientific excellence and international cooperation across the Middle East and neighbouring regions.
The UK has been a founding observer country since SESAME’s inception, working alongside other observer nations. Over the last two decades, the UK has played an active role in supporting SESAME’s development, providing both guidance and technical expertise.
Diamond Light Source is furthering this relationship by providing an in-vacuum undulator and double crystal monochromator, as well as other equipment. This technical equipment will enable SESAME to develop a new beamline and new scientific capabilities.
Professor Dame Angela McLean, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, said: “International collaboration on science facilities like SESAME benefits all members. They are hubs for training, technology development and science diplomacy, providing access to capabilities for researchers and innovators that no country could achieve alone.”
Professor Samar Hasnain, Max Perutz Professor at the University of Liverpool and the UK’s representative on the SESAME Council, said: “The UK has been involved in SESAME since 2001 in its pre-foundation phase. It became one of the early observer countries when SESAME was formally established on 15th April 2004. The UK can be proud of its contributions and can further boost the latest donation of equipment from Diamond by helping to build a macromolecular crystallography facility at SESAME, a field that was pioneered in the UK by Nobel prize winners Lawrence Bragg, Max Perutz and John Kendrew.”
Professor Gianluigi Botton, CEO at Diamond Light Source, said: “SESAME and Diamond share a common mission: to use world-class science to bring people together and to address global challenges. We are proud to continue building on the UK’s long-standing support for SESAME and to explore new ways of working together to benefit the international scientific community.”
ENDS