Sustainable research at micro and nano X-ray beamlines

ended

STREAMLINE aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in the context of its upgrade to be the first in a new generation of synchrotrons. The ESRF is a user-based research infrastructure, serving 7,000 researchers annually. In 2020, the ESRF’s Extremely Brilliant Source (ESRF-EBS), which is a 2018 ESFRI Roadmap Landmark, will begin user operation delivering a revolutionary new fourth-generation synchrotron and adding four new state-of-the-art X-ray beamlines. Thanks to an initial x100 beam brilliance enhancement and x50 in coherence, with particularly strong impact for micro- and nano-beams, ESRF-EBS will enable novel experimental capabilities across basic, applied and industrial science on all of ESRF’s 44 X-ray beamlines, addressing major societal challenges. The full exploitation of the ESRF-EBS poses new long-term sustainability challenges arising from the exploitation of its unprecedented X-ray beams. There will be more users, more samples and more data through faster and wholly new experiments, and new services could be created. STREAMLINE will therefore make key updates to the facility’s scientific strategy, renew its business plan and revisit access modes, with a new access service package, to capitalise rapidly on the new scientific opportunities and increased experimental capacities at the beamlines. Benefits will be felt by both academia and industry. Support and training of user communities, existing, emerging and new, to encourage use of the new opportunities is an essential part of STREAMLINE. This will allow the ESRF to become rapidly the first operational demonstrator of a fourth-generation synchrotron. The results of STREAMLINE will be shared with European light sources, many of which plan EBS-type upgrades following the ESRF. STREAMLINE will increase the sustainability of the ESRF itself and aid the European light source community in their rapid exploitation of EBS-type upgrades.