MAINTAINING AND EXTENDING
OUR PARTNERSHIPS
The scientific partners at SOLEIL have maintained their
momentum in 2013. Nationally, they have obtained
support from the ANR (French National Research
Agency) for about fifteen joint research projects and
an ongoing strong partnership with INRA (the National
Institute for Agricultural Research). On a European level,
they have received the European ERC grant mentioned
above. International cooperation is also on the agenda,
with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding
between SOLEIL and SPring-8 in June 2013. This coope-
ration agreement with the Japanese synchrotron will
give a further boost to the productive work we already
do together, especially for aspects concerning the use
of synchrotron radiation.
One of the biggest highlights of 2013 took place
on 12
th
September: the official opening of IPANEMA
(European research platform dedicated to the study
of ancient materials). This was the culmination of the
flawless work done by the SOLEIL support groups
and the IPANEMA team in supervising its construction.
In attendance were the Minister for Higher Education
and Research and the President of the Île-de-France
region, as well as many local elected officials and
representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the CNRS.
Geneviève Fioraso, Ministre de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche
et Jean-Paul Huchon, président de la Région Île-de-France,
accompagnés d’une délégation officielle d’élus locaux et régionaux,
accueillis par Loïc Bertrand, directeur d’IPANEMA.
Geneviève Fioraso, Minister for Higher Education and Research,
and Jean-Paul Huchon, President of the Île-de-France region,
accompanied by an official delegation of local and regional
elected officials, being greeted by Loïc Bertrand, Director of IPANEMA.
Some initial exciting results have been obtained in the context of the LUNEX5 joint project. The last progress meeting
was attended by 36 participants from seven different laboratories—which goes to show how many resources have
been devoted to this project. And some excellent news was announced in July 2013: Marie-Emmanuelle Couprie,
head of the Magnetism and Insertions group of the Sources and Accelerators Division at SOLEIL, has obtained an
Advanced European Research Council grant of 2.5 million euros over five years for the COXINEL project. This project
aims to show, in the context of LUNEX R&D, that laser acceleration can be used to obtain the free electron laser am-
plification required to develop more compact light sources.
LOOKING AHEAD TO TOMORROW’S LIGHT SOURCES
7
SOLEIL
HIGHLIGHTS
2013
