UK and Sweden partner for neutron science

STFC ’s ISIS Neutron and Muon Source and Vetenskapsr?det / Swedish Research Council (VR) signed an agreement this week to extend their partnership and enable ongoing collaboration between UK and Swedish researchers using neutron methods for materials studies.

The new agreement builds on the long-term VR-ISIS partnership – one of ISIS’s longest-standing international relationships. During the past eight years, over 100 Swedish researchers from 20 institutions have used ISIS for materials investigations across a broad range of areas. Their studies span from cancer-causing proteins, antimicrobial resistance and understanding cell death in our bodies, to polymer composites, the carbon cycle in soil and welding methods for advanced engineering alloys.

The five-year agreement, signed in London on 21 January, will see Swedish scientists using ISIS in collaboration with UK researchers, joint projects between the UK and Sweden for neutron instrumentation development, shared PhD students and other activities aimed at supporting the UK and Swedish research communities.

Roger Eccleston , STFC Executive Director Large Scale Facilities, signed the agreement on behalf of STFC.? “We are very proud of our partnership with Sweden, and excited to be taking it into a further phase through this new agreement”, he commented. “Swedish researchers gain access to the advanced facilities provided by ISIS, and the UK benefits from Swedish scientific and technological expertise.”

Katarina Bjelke , Director General of the Swedish Research Council, explained, “The European Spallation Source, a next-generation neutron facility currently being constructed in Sweden, will soon be ready for first science. Our ongoing partnership with ISIS will enable Swedish and UK scientists to take full advantage of both ISIS and this new facility once it is also operational, through our continued development of scientific and technical expertise in the use of neutron scattering for advanced materials studies.”