The Synchrotron SOLEIL is a member of Respore (“Réseau d'Excellence en Solides Poreux”, Network of Excellence in Porous Solids), a research network dedicated to analyzing and characterizing porous solid materials, revolving around themes that respond to scientific, technological, and societal challenges, such as renewable energies, environmental science, safety, health, biotechnologies, and industry. This network, which brings together the main players from the Paris metropolitan area specializing in the field, is one of the nine DIM (Major Research Domains) chosen by the Ile-de-France Region for funding over the 2017-2020 period.
DIM Respore brings together 35 research teams from the Paris metropolitan area, from over 20 institutions, schools, and universities, and involving over 200 scientists.
The main goal of this network is to generate breakthroughs in porous solids science, both in fundamental and practical terms, by promoting interactions between specialists in porous solids coming from different disciplines, but also among experts in different classes of porous solids. The network's originality is thus based on a dual multidisciplinary approach. Firstly, Respore is organized around interactions between specialists in porous solids working in various disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, health, modeling, and materials characterization. To go even further, the DIM will have the goal of creating additional value by bringing about a collaboration among the communities in the network working with different classes of porous solids, whether they be molecular, extended, inorganic, organic, hybrid, or biological, in order to generate new scientific knowledge, but also to promote their transfer and development to industry.
Thus, Respore is oriented around three topical axes, corresponding to current scientific, technological, and societal challenges:
- Renewable energies
- Environmental science and safety
- Health, biotechnologies, and industry.
In addition to these topical axes, there are three cross-disciplinary axes:
- Real-time and multi-technique characterization
- Modeling on all scales
SOLEIL is a member of Respore through the research areas of the AILES, ANATOMIX, CRISTAL, PROXIMA2, PSICHÉ, ROCK, and SWING beamlines, which will provide a wide range of characterization methods.
Respore's designation as a Major Research Domain by the Region of Ile-de-France will enable the members of Respore to respond to calls for projects until 2020, making it possible to fund doctoral grants (36 months) postdoctoral grants (12 months) as well as the equipment.