Mark your calendar and plan to participate in the 2008 LCLS/SSRL Users' Meeting
and Workshops which will be held here at SLAC October 15-18, 2008. The annual
event is a valuable opportunity to learn about the latest plans, new
developments and exciting user research at LCLS and SSRL. It is also a great
time to interact with other scientists, staff, potential colleagues, and
vendors of light source-related products and services.
LCLS/SSRL 2008 will begin on October 15 with presentations related to LCLS
Science and Instrumentation, LCLS user access policies, updates on LCLS user
operations, and a meeting of the LCLS Users' Organization. SSRL Workshop
options will be held concurrently on this day, including: Crystallography Made
Easy through Automation and Advanced Topics in EXAFS Analysis and Applications.
The joint LCLS/SSRL session on October 16 will feature a keynote presentation
by SLAC Director Persis Drell on the Future of Photon Science at SLAC, updates
from SLAC and DOE, user science highlights, and a user science poster session.
The Spicer Young Investigator Award, Klein Professional Development Award, and
Lytle Award will be presented on this day.
SSRL will be the focus of presentations given on October 17 including sessions
on Structural Molecular Biology, Materials and Environmental Sciences, and
facility updates. The SSRL Users' Organization will meet that afternoon as
well.
The following LCLS-related workshops will be held October 17-18: Application of
Coherent X-rays at the LCLS, Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics with the LCLS,
and Soft X-ray Instrumentation for LCLS.
The organizers for the 2008 conference include Wayne Lukens (LBNL), Aymeric
Robert (LCLS), Riti Sarangi (SSRL), and Linda Young (ANL). Registration will
open next month.
http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/ssrl-lcls/2008/
5.
Plans for Soft X-ray Materials Science (SXR)
(contact: A. Nilsson, nilsson@slac.stanford.edu)
Stanford University, the Advanced Light Source, DESY and BESSY have formed a
soft x-ray materials science (SXR) consortium with the goal of building a beam
line for the LCLS. Funding for the beam line will be provided by the member
institutions. Discussion of logistical considerations for the SXR facility is
currently in the early stages. The beam line will be open for general users and
the consortium expects to include more collaborators as the planning evolves. A
workshop is planned for the broader user community in conjunction with the 2008
LCLS/SSRL Users' Meeting:
Joint SSRL/LCLS/ALS Workshop: Soft X-ray Beam Line for Material and Energy
Science at LCLS
- Date/Time: Saturday October 18, 2008 - 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Organizers: Andreas Scherz (SIMES), Dennis Nordlund (SSRL), Phil Heimann
(LBNL)
This workshop will establish the current status of the LCLS soft x-ray material
and energy science collaboration and aims for a coherent effort to make the
most compelling science a success, detailing instrument requirements and
commissioning. Presentations will cover the scientific areas and the beam line
design for the three main experimental setups: coherent diffraction,
PES/XES/RIXS, and XAS. Each session will be followed by a directed discussion
focusing on instrumentation including unresolved issues, responsibilities and
time lines, to be summarized and further revised in the final session.
Details on this workshop and registration for the conference website will be
available shortly at http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/ssrl-lcls/2008/.
Information on the SXR consortium activities will be posted on the SIMES
website as they become available, see
http://www-public.slac.stanford.edu/simes/
6.
Call for Nominations for Spicer, Klein and Lytle Awards
(contact: C. Knotts, knotts@slac.stanford.edu)
Please take a few moments to consider nominating your students or colleagues
for one or more of the following awards which will be presented at the Joint
SSRL and LCLS Users' Meeting, October 15-18, 2008:
- Spicer Young Investigator Award -due August 1
- Klein Professional Development Award -due August 1
- Lytle Award -due August 15
 |
| Bill Spicer & Seb Doniach |
Submit nominations for the William E. Spicer Young Investigator Award by August
1. The Spicer Award was established in 2004 to honor Bill Spicer (1929-2004),
one of the original founders of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Project.
This award recognizes important technical or scientific accomplishments that
benefited from, or are beneficial to, the SSRL. The award is open to senior
graduate students and PhDs within seven years of entry into their professional
scientific field. The award consists of a certificate and $1,000 as well as
waived registration for the recipient to make a presentation at the joint SSRL
and LCLS Users' Meeting on October 16. Nominations letters summarizing the
technical or scientific contributions of the candidate must be received by
August 1; the candidate's CV, list of publications, and supporting letters are
also encouraged. http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/ssrl-lcls/2008/youngInvestigatorAward.asp
 |
| Melvin Klein |
In 2006, the SSRL Users' Organization Executive Committee (SSRLUOEC)
established a Scientific Development Award to honor Melvin P. Klein
(1921-2000), a pioneer at the forefront of accomplishments in NMR, EPR, and
x-ray absorption spectroscopy who was dedicated to the pursuit of the structure
of the Mn complex characterized by the interplay of these methods. The Melvin
P. Klein Scientific Development Award will be given to a student to disseminate
scientific results based on work performed at SSRL. The $1,000 Award will
provide support for a student to present their work at a scientific conference
during the following year. The award also includes a certificate and waived
registration for the recipient to present their research at the joint SSRL and
LCLS Users' Meeting on October 16. The recipient will be selected by a user
subcommittee after review of the nominations. The nomination packages should
include a letter of recommendation from the advisor; an abstract written by the
candidate describing the experiment and scientific results (not to exceed 300
words); and information on when and where the work is to be presented.
Nominations must be received by August 1. Additional instructions and
information on making a donation toward this award are available at:
http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/ssrl-lcls/2008/scientificDevelopmentAward.asp
 |
| Farrel Lytle |
Submit nominations for 2008 Farrel W. Lytle Award by August 15. The Lytle Award
was established by the SSRLUOEC to promote important technical or scientific
accomplishments in synchrotron radiation-based science and to foster
collaboration and efficient use of beam time among users and staff at SSRL. The
award consists of a certificate and $1,000. All SSRL users and staff are
eligible for this award, which will be selected by the SSRLUOEC, and presented
at the annual Users' Meeting on October 16. Nominations summarizing the
individual's contributions and why they should be recognized through this award
must be sent to Cathy Knotts (knotts@slac.stanford.edu) before the August 15
deadline.
http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/ssrl-lcls/2008/FarrelWLytleAward.asp
7.
New LCLS Website Launched
—SLAC Today article by Brad Plummer
|  |
The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) has a new public face and serves as a
one-stop location for news and information about all things LCLS. The site aims
to provide information about present and future experimental instruments and
explores the cutting-edge science to come from the LCLS for a range of
visitors, from students to policy makers to potential users interested in
submitting scientific proposals. The site underlines the scope of the
collaboration building the LCLS, which includes scores of researchers from
several institutions. "I can only hope that this site communicates a fraction
of the excitement we at SLAC feel as we construct this huge scientific
instrument and bring it to its full capability in 2009 and 2010," says Director
of LCLS Construction John Galayda in a welcome message posted on the site.
"Hundreds of people at SLAC as well as at Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory and UCLA have been working toward the goal of
giving the world's research community this 'gift,'" writes Galayda.
"http://lcls.slac.stanford.edu/LetterFromTheDirector.aspx
The new site also features a variety of multimedia elements, including RSS
newsfeeds, blogs, podcasts, image galleries, animations and video, giving
visitors many ways to follow the evolution of this exciting new facility.
http://lcls.slac.stanford.edu/
Check out the new site for the latest LCLS
announcements and events, including links to the LCLS proposal preparation
workshops for Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Physics on June 2-3
and the X-ray Pump
Probe (XPP) Instrument on June 20-21, 2008. The Ultrafast X-ray
Summer School will be held June 17-20, 2008.
http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/amo/2008/
http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/xpp/2008/
http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/uxss/2008/
8.
SSRL Hosts School for Future X-ray Researchers
—Excerpted from SLAC Today article by Brad Plummer
 | |
| SSRL X-ray School co-organizer Sam Webb
discusses x-ray absorption with students at Beamline 2-3. | |
|
SSRL played host May 20-22 to an international gathering of 43 students and
post docs seeking to hone their experimental skills at the School on
Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (SR-XAS) techniques.
This, the third annual x-ray school in synchrotron x-ray scattering techniques
for environmental and materials science, provided a practical users' guide to
planning and conducting measurements using SSRL beam lines, and covered
important basics such as beam line setup as well as advanced experimental
applications.
Unlike the previous two x-ray schools, this week's school focused on giving
students an introduction to techniques in x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The
previous two x-ray schools focused on x-ray scattering, which is useful in
studying both synthetic and natural materials, such as superconductors and
proteins. Absorption, by contrast, is used by environmental and materials
scientists to characterize the properties of new kinds of materials and to
determine how certain compounds behave in different environments and
conditions.
"We wanted to give students an introduction to the kind of techniques that may
not trickle down from student to student in graduate schools," said SSRL
researcher Sam Webb, who co-organized the SR-XAS school along with fellow SSRL
staff scientists John Bargar, Mike Toney and Apurva Mehta. http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/conferences/workshops/srxas2008/index.php
9.
SSRL Staff Scientist President-elect for the Pittsburgh Diffraction
Society
—SLAC Today article by Matt Cunningham
|  |
| Aina Cohen
|
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) Staff Scientist Aina Cohen
recently accepted the role of president-elect for the Pittsburgh Diffraction
Society (PDS). Her first task in this role will be organizing the 66th annual
Pittsburgh Diffraction Conference (PDC), which will take place October 30 -
November 1, 2008. The conference will be preceded by a workshop sponsored by
the Hauptman Woodward Institute (HWI), the University of Pittsburgh and SSRL.
The workshop, titled Crystallography Made Easy through Automation, will
demonstrate how crystallographic techniques may be simplified by using
automated facilities at SSRL and HWI. The conference itself will cover topics
relevant to researchers in chemistry, physics and structural biology including
diffraction phasing, protein structure refinement, synchrotron data collection
and combined methods for structural biology and chemistry research.
"It's definitely an honor to be presiding over such a great conference," Cohen
said. "The conference will expose people to the nuts and bolts of
crystallography, so they have the opportunity to learn about their own field,
but also to explore other fascinating areas of x-ray diffraction."
Curious minds, both young and old, are encouraged to attend the conference,
which is the oldest diffraction-related conference in North America.
Over the years, the PDS has built a reputation for encouraging and supporting
young scientists. Each year, PDS gives the Sidhu award to outstanding
early-career scientists within six years of receiving their PhD. SLAC Photon
Science Director Keith Hodgson received the Sidhu award in 1978. In addition,
PDS also confers the George Jeffrey award, which funds students' trips to the
triennial Congress of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) and the
Chung Soo Yoo award, given to the best student poster presenter at the annual
PDC.
The submission deadline for abstracts to the poster competition will be open
until October 1st. For more information on the PDS, its conference and awards,
please visit the society's website. http://www.pittdifsoc.org/
__________________________________________________________________________
SSRL Headlines is published electronically monthly to inform SSRL users,
sponsors and other interested people about happenings at SSRL. SSRL is a
national synchrotron user facility operated by Stanford University for the
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy
Sciences. Additional support for
the structural biology program is provided by
the DOE
Office of Biological and Environmental Research, the NIH
National Center for Research Resources and the NIH Institute for General Medical
Sciences. Additional information about
SSRL and its operation and schedules is available from the SSRL WWW
site.
__________________________________________________________________________
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