Research Industry Report


Slovenia Joins the World’s Flagship Neutron Facility, ILL Professor Mark Johnson, Scientifi c Director, Institut Laue-Langevin


The coronavirus pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the scientifi c community. Its economic impact has threatened research funding, national lockdowns have obliged scientists to part from their experiments and instruments, and international travel restrictions have prevented the typical buzz of global conferences and collaborations. Yet, in the face of these obstacles, scientists worldwide have mobilised with incredible speed and agility to cooperate across international borders, often remotely, and adapt their research to the new challenges that have emerged from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.


This determination to strengthen collaboration and fi nd new ways to conduct research could also have not come at a better time. The spotlight is on scientists, not just to understand and inform developments for coronavirus, but other global threats we face - including climate change and lack of renewable resources. These challenges will need innovative approaches from scientists across the world.


In this remarkable era for science, one of Europe’s most important scientifi c facilities has just welcomed a new nation to its partnership. As of August 2020, Slovenia has become an offi cial member of the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) - the world’s most powerful neutron source. This makes Slovenia one of the 14 countries that can use the world-leading facilities at ILL to conduct scientifi c research, allowing its researchers to participate in the projects that look to answer the world’s most pressing scientifi c questions.


The international partnership is governed and primarily funded by three founding countries - the UK, France, and Germany - with 11 member countries, including Slovenia, that make fi nancial contributions to enable access to the facility, and send their nations leading scientifi c projects to benefi t from the tools and expertise at the ILL.


Professor Mark Johnson, Scientifi c Director, Institut Laue-Langevin


Neutrons are capable of illuminating the materials central to almost all scientifi c fi elds - from uncovering how molecules travel across cell membranes, to revealing the inner workings of batteries, to informing how drugs are designed. They are also a crucial component of fundamental research into the laws that govern our universe, including nuclear physics and mysteries that have plagued science for decades: including dark matter, and the puzzling lifetime of the neutron itself.


The ILL is host to over 1,400 researchers per year who travel from all over the world to use neutron techniques as part of their research, as well as benefi t from the world-leading knowledge of the chemists, physicists, biologists, crystallographers and other specialists at ILL that are available to support users of the facility.


Forging a partnership


ILL and Slovenia have explored the possibility of scientifi c membership for over a decade. The discussions on joining the facility began as talks between a number of research groups about how Slovenia’s researchers would benefi t from access to neutron beams and grew to eventually become negotiations at the ministry level.


Yet, the fi nalisation of the agreement was delayed by several years, due to the impact of the 2008 fi nancial crisis which hit many smaller European countries such as Slovenia very hard. This had a predictable impact on budgets for funding scientifi c research, and it has taken a number of years to get the negotiations and necessary R&D funding back on track. The offi cial signing of the agreement between Slovenia and ILL came at a time of another signifi cant economic challenge, during the global pandemic, but its progression is a testament to the dedication of scientists and policymakers at both ends.


Top view of ILL’s high fl ux reactor - bright spot in the centre shows the Cherenkov light of the irradiation position used for medical isotope production


What is the ILL?


Institut Laue-Langevin is an international research centre based in Grenoble, France, home to around 40 world-class neutron science instruments that researchers use to analyse materials, explore microscopic structure, and reveal fundamental behaviours of the universe.


The research is conducted by directing powerful beams of neutrons at a sample, through specialised instruments that are constantly being developed and upgraded to support a huge variety of research areas. Neutrons are an ideal tool to probe materials, as these elementary particles have a low mass and no charge and can therefore penetrate deep into matter. The interactions of the neutron beam with the nuclei of the atoms in the sample can reveal an enormous amount of information, from the atomic structure to the magnetic properties of the material.


ILL’s mission is to provide the international scientifi c community with the brightest neutrons beams possible and conduct research of the highest scientifi c excellence. Ideally, this would involve countries from across the European Research Area and the doors would be open to scientists based on their research merit alone. However, large research infrastructures including ILL are extremely expensive to build, operate, and upgrade. The cost of operating the ILL as well as carrying out essential maintenance and upgrades makes up more than 50% of the annual €90 million budget. The agreements with the associate countries and scientifi c member countries involve vital fi nancial contributions to keep the ILL’s doors open, and it has become necessary that the facility operates like a business to remain fi nancially viable - the beam time must be paid for.


A winning alliance


Slovenia’s scientists in academia and industry will now have access to some of the world’s most powerful tools for scientifi c discovery. Slovenia is a small country, but punches above its weight in terms of its research credentials. Its scientifi c landscape is built on several strong academic institutions, with researchers ranking among the most prolifi c in Europe.


INTERNATIONAL LABMATE - NOVEMBER 2020


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