In November 2010 I was the first Irish delegate to attend the second European Synchrotron Users Organisation (ESUO) meeting. Since then, myself and Amir Khan, have co-chaired the Irish Synchrotron, Free Electron Laser, Neutron and Muon Facilities Users Organisation (ISUO), whose website at isuo.ie was established in 2014. The ISUO exists as a portal to represent the research interests of all the Irish research groups who participate in experiments at either synchrotron sources, free electron laser facilities, neutron or muon facilities. It also seeks to represent to national policy makers the importance of these facilities to the vibrant research community here in Ireland. This research community numbers more than 20 research groups with a wide variety of research themes and usages of these facilities.
Since then, either myself or Amir Khan, have participated in ESUO meetings, representing jointly the Irish physical sciences and molecular biology sciences use of synchrotron radiation.
At a European level ESUO has lobbied for a brighter future for these powerful light sources, and have succeeded in helping, as a representative of the 25,000 users of these facilities, to encourage the instigation of the more recent League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources Initiative (LEAPS Initiative).
ISUO
ESUO
LEAPS
An extensive introduction to synchrotron and X-Ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) facilities and associated techniques.
