French-Swedish agreement on large-scale research facilities

SOLEIL to collaborate closely in the construction of a new Swedish synchrotron, the MAX IV. The European Union has decided to equip itself with the most powerful neutron source in the world: The European Spallation Source (ESS), as part of a strategic plan by the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures). This latter will be built in Sweden on the Lund University campus.

In this context, France and Sweden have decided to strengthen their cooperation. Valérie Pécresse, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research and Peter Honeth, the Swedish Secretary of State of Higher Education and Research, signed an agreement in September 2010 to broaden the scientific partnership between their two countries, especially in the neutron, accelerator technology and climate research fields. French and Swedish researchers will collaborate on several projects, such as research on neutrons at the “Laboratoire Léon Brillouin” (LLB). This agreement will also make it possible for Swedish students to come and follow courses on French reactors such as ISIS (technological radiation reactor) or MINERVE (experimental reactor devoted to neutron studies). The MAX lab synchrotron now on the Lund University campus will be replaced with a new synchrotron called MAX IV. Sweden made it known that it would like to benefit from the scientific know-how of SOLEIL during the construction of this new large-scale facility. As a result of this request, SOLEIL will collaborate closely with the team overseeing this project. Experts at SOLEIL will provide their technical and scientific skills and will train students and engineers who will be working on the design and running of this new Swedish synchrotron.