SEMINAR:SESAME, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SCIENCE AND GROWTH

Speaker: Andrea Lausi

Title: SESAME, AN OPPORTUNITY  FOR SCIENCE AND GROWTH

Date/Time:11 May 2022 / 13:40 - 14:30

Hybrid:  Classrom FENS L045

Zoom link: https://sabanciuniv.zoom.us/j/97187219776?pwd=eUI3cUMvblNXM0ppOEkvaDFkcTY0QT09

Passcode:gradsem

Abstract: Investigating matter and decoding its secrets are at the heart of humanity's quest to understand the world around us. Providing radiation sources over a wide range of frequencies, tens of million times as intense as those available in conventional laboratories, Synchrotron light facilities allow addressing complexity in condensed matter and life sciences, linking functions and properties to the structure of atoms.

75 years after the first observation of emission from a particle accelerator, the importance of synchrotron light as a scientific tool has grown across the globe. There are now more than 60 facilities worldwide, serving ~50,000 users worldwide, the largest scientific community in the world.

SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is a "third-generation" synchrotron light source that was officially opened in Allan (Jordan) on 16 May 2017. It addresses critical global challenges in health, environment, energy, food and material science, among other fields. It is the first synchrotron light source in the Middle East and neighbouring countries and the Region's first major international centre of excellence. SESAME's core mission is to develop, construct, and operate state-of-the-art synchrotron instruments to benefit the scientific community in the Region and beyond, train the next generation of scientists, engineers and technical staff, and organize and sponsor international cooperation in science.

Bio: Born in Trieste in 1961, Andrea Lausi graduated in physics at the University of Trieste. His scientific activity then developed in the field of synchrotron light. He participated in the construction of the first diffraction beamline at the Italian source Elettra, later leading the beamline dedicated to powder diffraction and the Italy-India collaboration for the high-pressure diffraction beamline. As coordinator of the communication of Elettra, he chaired in 2019 the RICE working group that brings together the communication offices of the research infrastructures in Europe. Since 2020, he is scientific director of the Middle East synchrotron facility, SESAME.