Newsletter II/2024

Sadly, I see that there is still no new proposal round in view. I am longing for work! However, the sometimes-daily boredom has disappeared, as we have new and friendly staff in the User Office. Tatjana Burmann newly arrived in April, taking care of many organisational issues, and Iris Köhler, very competent in graphics design since June, are working with Ina on new and exciting developments and projects.

As mentioned, occasionally, I manage to escape from my daily computing duties and flow around the corridors to pick up some whispering. Unfortunately, the three ladies from the User Office are very attentive and quickly shouting at me to return to work.

But if there are booths to man, then I am officially allowed to leave the Garching site! This year, I have been in Berlin at the DPG Spring Meeting (in a TENT! It was an entirely new experience!) and at Aachen for the German Neutron Scattering Conference. I was impressed that the firefighters on site knew we were dealing with hot topics in science. Even though this has never ended up burning our brochures, we were not allowed to present our usual booth at the conference. But it was also fun just floating around!

The Ghost

© Bernhard Ludewig, FRM II / TUM

© Bernhard Ludewig, FRM II / TUM

The fabrication of the central channel is being pursued with the highest priority. A major challenge proves to be the search for a suitable heat treatment so that the specified tensile strength of the weld seam of the compensator can be achieved. At the same time, dedicated welding procedure specifications (WPS) could be developed including their independent verification by the technical support organisation of the nuclear regulator, bringing their completion finally into reach. Both are conditions to be fulfilled before manufacturing of the central channel may start. Unfortunately, despite considerable progress in all aspects of the project, various small delays have accumulated to such an extent that we now have to assume that the delivery of the central channel will be in 2025. Once delivered, it will take around six months before scientific user services will resume.

Concerning the cold source, the pre-production of the new in-pile part is developing very well. We expect that the documents for the pre-production qualification tests (e.g. welding procedure qualification WPQ) will be fully approved and validated later this year. The actual fabrication of the cold source is expected to start at the beginning of 2025 taking two years. This will be followed by the installation which will take six months until the cold source is available for user experiments.

A delivery of fresh fuel elements was successfully completed at the end of May 2024. The maximum number of fresh fuel elements authorised is now available at the FRM II. The transport of spent fuel elements is unchanged a very high priority for the FRM II. Due to the unavailability of a hall crane and stacking vehicle in the Ahaus interim storage facility, two different handling procedures for unloading the Castor from the transport vehicle are currently being evaluated.

Major progress has been made on the Neutron Guide Hall East. Project completion by the end of 2024 is within reach as planned. Instruments located in the Neutron Guide Hall East will be ready for commissioning at the beginning of 2025.

In addition, substantial progress has been achieved on preliminary work, representing a prerequisite for the operation of the FRM II. For instance, the upgrade and commissioning of the crane in the experimental hall (SMA21) was successfully completed as scheduled. A related upgrade of the crane in the reactor hall (SMA10), which is required for changing the central channel and loading the Castor with used fuel elements, is approaching completion. Further refurbishments are well under way.

Reflecting some of the ongoing challenges, the fabrication of the central channel and cold source as well as related projects require intensive administrational support from the FRM II as industrial partners are no longer familiar with nuclear regulations. Moreover, like all of German industry, FRM II is subject to an increasingly severe lack of skilled worker (Fachkräftemangel). In addition to traditional job adverts, great efforts are being made to improve the visibility of the FRM II at high-profile events and to pursue a targeted appearance at recruitment events. Further possibilities for improving the situation are being discussed with the university management and the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

Axel Pichlmaier (Technical Director FRM II)

In our last newsletter, we reported on the status of the infrastructure and instruments the Neutron Guide Hall East before commissioning with neutrons. But how will the neutrons get to the instruments from the reactor building? As you may remember, we built a connecting building between both buildings several years ago to prepare for this situation.

Now, you can follow another step in the picture gallery below (click a picture – with the arrows in the upper right, you can navigate): The start of the construction of the shielding for the neutron guide SR4b that will serve PERC@MEPHISTO.

Jens Klenke (MLZ)

Red alert_01

01: The so-called casemate stones arrive at the MLZ. They were stored at an external storage hall and will be used as end parts of the shielding in the Experimental Hall.

© FRM II/ TUM

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02: In the Experimental Hall: The first casemate stone is moved to its position. The angles are only temporarily attached because air cushion feet must be used to move these heavy parts in an area not covered by the hall‘s crane. The dark rectangle in the wall is the opening to the connecting building.

© FRM II/ TUM

Red alert_03

03: The stones are aligned. They have a weight of about 5 tons, and the alignment must be accurate to below 5 mm. On the right stone, you still see the angles for the air cushion; on the left, they are already removed.

© FRM II/ TUM

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04: Kathrin Lehmann, engineer of the MEPHISTO instrument team, controls the self-constructed rail system. It will help to adjust the shielding stones. The big bluish wall on the right is the ANTARES’ shielding.

© FRM II/ TUM

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05: The parts of the shielding stones, also stored in an external storage hall, arrived at Garching by heavy-duty truck. The team had to make several tours between the storage and Garching.

© FRM II/ TUM

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06: The parts must be assembled in the Neutron Guide Hall East before they can be introduced to the Experimental Hall – therefore, we prepared some space for this!

© FRM II/ TUM

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07: The stones are there, and the plan for how to arrange them seemed to work out perfectly ;)

© FRM II/ TUM

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08: Now, the assembly starts. It is a work of millimeters and due to the weight of the stones (between 1.5 and 4 tons), Jens Klenke, instrument scientist at MEPHISTO, needs a steady hand when steering the crane. Engineer Kathrin Lehman adjusts on the left.

© FRM II/ TUM

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09: The rail system now helps to adjust and move the assembled shielding stones to their designated place. Again, work must be done in an area not covered by the halls‘s crane.

© FRM II/ TUM

Red alert_10

10: Finally! The first part of the shielding in the Experimental Hall, just in front of ANTARES. The neutron guide and the upper shielding are still missing. The whole construction will become half as high as ANTARES in the end.

To help you orientate: On the left is the reactor wall; on the right are the casemate stones from the first step. They had to be removed again because additional groundwork is needed before they can finally settle

© FRM II/ TUM

Red alert_11

11: Did you realize? Until now, you have only been able to glimpse the shielding in the Experimental Hall! But we will also need it in the connecting building – and therefore, many further parts have been delivered into this once empty space…

© FRM II/ TUM

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12: And again: The parts must be assembled and then put carefully into the correct position. This is still a work in progress!

© FRM II/ TUM

Hydrogen will be an important green energy carrier. However, the effects of hydrogen on materials, such as the hydrogen embrittlement of superalloys, have yet to be systematically studied and understood. Here, the MLZ is contributing to the BMBF-financed project “H2Mat”. Together with the industry partners MTU (operator) and VDM (developer), the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (university), and the MLZ as a major research centre, the mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement of superalloys are thoroughly investigated utilizing several neutron-based methods.

A. Mutschke and M. Fritton discussing results obtained from an elemental analysis of superalloys using the Elementrac ONH (left) and Hydrogen Determinator H-500 (right). © Bernhard Ludewig, FRM II / TUM

A. Mutschke and M. Fritton discussing results obtained from an elemental analysis of superalloys using the Elementrac ONH (left) and Hydrogen Determinator H-500 (right). © Bernhard Ludewig, FRM II / TUM

Within this project, several new instruments, such as a thermal desorption spectrometer (TDS), are under development for the in-situ and ex-situ characterization of hydrogen-loaded materials. A unique TDS is currently constructed and optimized for use at SANS-1, SPODI, and STRESS-SPEC. Additionally, new analytical instruments for precisely detecting hydrogen within the alloys have already been implemented. Here, especially for detecting the elusive element hydrogen, the Elementrac ONH and the Hydrogen Determinator H-500 are now available. With these two instruments, hydrogen can be detected and quantified with a detection limit of up to 0.1 wt.%. Also, diffusible dynamics can be investigated, giving valuable insights into hydrogen embrittlement while the reactor operation restart is eagerly awaited.

Alexander Mutschke (MLZ)

Michał Dembski-Villalta © Bernhard Ludewig, FRM II / TUM

Michał Dembski-Villalta © Bernhard Ludewig, FRM II / TUM

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are nanometer-sized cubes or spheres of magnetic material primarily based on iron oxide. They can be used in cancer therapy in a process called magnetic hyperthermia. Introduced into tumours, they’re heated by external magnetic fields to destroy cancer cells. Ensuring the safety and efficiency of this treatment requires fine-tuning both the magnetic field parameters and the detailed structure of the MNPs. Being sensitive to magnetism in the nanometer regime, a key tool to characterise MNPs is small angle neutron scattering (SANS). The characterisation of MNPs via SANS and the development of instrumentation to study MNPs in in-situ conditions is at the heart of the ERUM-Pro project HYMM.

Setup at ILL. Zip ties, alu-profiles, and 3D printing? Essential! © MLZ

Setup at ILL. Zip ties, alu-profiles, and 3D printing? Essential! © MLZ

HYMN is a joint project of the TUM at MLZ (Sebastian Mühlbauer) and the University Duisburg-Essen (Sabrina Disch). The first experimental campaigns involving a broad international scientific collaboration with the University of Florence (Lucrezia Caselli) have been successfully performed at the neutron sources ISIS and ILL and the synchrotron source DESY. Due to the lack of neutrons at home, these campaigns involve transporting the sample environment from Garching to the various sources and back.

The adaptions to various instrument hardware and software at various sources have required quite a bit of ingenuity and improvisation involving 3D printing, zip-ties, and tape for me and my fellow PhD student Leonard Rochels, leading the project at TUM and UDE, respectively. Experimental physics at its best!

Michał Dembski-Villalta (TUM)

The conference dinner is a classic part of MLZ conferences (top left); the group photo of the conference participants (top right); the poster session on Tuesday (bottom left); the large hall of the Bürgerhaus Garching during a lecture (bottom right). © FRM II/ TUM

The conference dinner is a classic part of MLZ conferences (top left); the group photo of the conference participants (top right); the poster session on Tuesday (bottom left); the large hall of the Bürgerhaus Garching during a lecture (bottom right). © FRM II/ TUM

From April 8th-10th, 2024, researchers met in Garching for the first “Machine Learning Conference for X-Ray and Neutron-Based Experiments”. Machine learning (ML) enables the efficient analysis of large amounts of data and thus accelerates the research process. This technology also harbors great potential in neutron and X-ray experiments.

The Scientific Director of the FRM II, Christian Pfleiderer, and the former Scientific Director, Peter Müller-Buschbaum, welcomed the 184 participants, some of whom had traveled from as far as China and the USA, in an introductory speech before the scientific program began.

The first two days of the conference took place at the Bürgerhaus Garching, where the latest research findings were presented in 32 lectures. The range of topics was broad. For example, Kevin Yager (Brookhaven National Laboratory) described how he uses machine learning to allow computers to conduct experiments autonomously. In contrast, Andy Sode Anker from DTU Copenhagen showed in his presentation that generative AI could be used to support the training of ML models to analyze scattering and spectroscopic experiments.

On the third day of the conference, participants had the opportunity to visit the Research Neutron Source FRM II. © FRM II/ TUM

On the third day of the conference, participants had the opportunity to visit the Research Neutron Source FRM II. © FRM II/ TUM

On the third day, over 60 visitors came to the MLZ site at the Garching research campus to take part in practical workshops on the application of ML models and guided tours of the FRM II research neutron source. The latter offered researchers with a non-physics background, particularly the opportunity to better understand a large-scale research facility such as the FRM II and exchange ideas with the experts on site.

A continuation of this successfully introduced conference format is already being planned for next year in the USA.

Adrian Büchl (MLZ)

Participants carefully listened to the talks. © FRM II/ TUM

Participants carefully listened to the talks. © FRM II/ TUM

50 scientists in one room for several days. The result? Heads full of new ideas, inspiration, and an exciting exchange. This was also the aim of the MLZ conference “Neutrons for Energy Storage” on June 04th – 07th.

The audience was captivated: Yinguo Xiao from Peking University modified and optimized the performance of cathodes by applying different synthesis methods. Martins Sarma from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden has developed two Na-Zn battery prototypes that use molten salt electrolytes, among other things. The audience eagerly asked questions after each of the 30 presentations.

Participants in the park of Schloss Fürstenried. © FRM II/ MLZ

Participants in the park of Schloss Fürstenried. © FRM II/ MLZ

On the second day, after the lectures, it was off to the FRM II. Thanks to a guided tour, they learned the scientific instruments for research with neutrons and took a look inside the reactor pool. Back again at Schloss Fürstenried, the participants presented their results in the poster session and exchanged ideas. Some of the discussions lasted late into the evening.

Lucas Kreuzer, post-doctoral researcher at FRM II and conference participant, sums it up well on LinkedIn: “ Throughout all presentations, three clear trends were recognizable: How to increase power density? How to make batteries safer? How to develop (more) sustainable batteries?”

The last of the four conference days not only included more exciting presentations but also an excursion to the Deutsches Museum, including a visit to the FRM II model in the nuclear physics exhibition. In the end, attendees left with a head full of new ideas and inspiration.

© FRM II/ TUM

© FRM II/ TUM

The annual MLZ-LLB workshop is a platform for exchange and collaboration between the French Laboratoire Léon Brillouin and the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum. 41 French and German scientists ranging from early-career scientists to present and former directors of the two institutions gathered this year on May 27th-28th in the beautiful Bavarian Herrsching am Ammersee under the broad motto “Exploring structure in materials with neutrons”.

Accordingly, the scientific program consisted of talks that illustrated a broad range of neutron applications and highlighted new instruments and developments that are currently taking place in both institutes. The talks introduced new instruments at FRM II, ILL, and ESS, sophisticated imaging methods and applications, the application of quasi-elastic neutron scattering, e.g., for hydrogen storage, small-angle neutron scattering, e.g. of polymers, and, last but not least, “classical” neutron scattering applications for investigating, e.g., engineering and battery materials.

Happy participants at sunny Herrsching. © MLZ

Happy participants at sunny Herrsching. © MLZ

The scientific menu was rounded off by presentations on food science, e.g., illustrating the puzzling complexity of milk and its vegan equivalents, and the planned HiCANS projects in France and Germany that promise a new compact way of neutron generation in the future besides the long-established reactor and spallation sources. An introduction to the Fédération Francaise de Diffusion Neutronique (2FDN), an institution for supporting neutron science in France, by its director Marie Plazanet led to a lively discussion about differences and similarities to our Komitee für Forschung mit Neutronen (KFN) and between the French and the German system in general.

Another recurring topic was the need to foster and educate the next generation of neutron scientists. This noble aim can be furthered by cross-border collaborations, as this meeting exemplifies. The conference dinner in the Bavarian restaurant “Seehof” situated at the shore of the Ammersee opened the opportunity to deepen the French-German ties with Bavarian food and sufficient amounts of beer. We look forward to meeting again for next year’s MLZ-LLB Workshop!

Nico Walte (University of Bayreuth@MLZ) and Gregory Chaboussant (LLB)

Michael Wharmby presents the automation philosophy of Bruker company. © FRM II/ TUM

Michael Wharmby presents the automation philosophy of Bruker company. © FRM II/ TUM

Among various techniques, diffraction is one of the most advanced and best-parametrized experimental tools, providing much information content based on relatively simple observations. Diffraction experiments can be relatively easily automated, typically expediting data collection and enabling remote and mail-in experiments. The level of automation in the labs and large-scale facility experiments has increased enormously in recent years. Yet broader use and application is requested by the scientific community …

Workshop participants – joint photo in front of Institute of Advanced Studies. © FRM II/ TUM

Workshop participants – joint photo in front of Institute of Advanced Studies. © FRM II/ TUM

A dedicated Workshop, „Automation in Diffraction“ was organized by the MLZ Group “Structure Research in collaboration with colleagues from the PETRA III synchrotron on March 14th-15th at the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) in front of the FRM II area.

This event provided a unique platform for researchers and beamline scientists from various large-scale facilities like MLZ, DESY, ESRF, and Spring-8, as well as industry representatives (Bruker, Dectris, BASF), to gather and discuss challenges and developing strategies to enhance automation in diffraction experiments.

Anatoly Senyshyn (MLZ)

The MLZ representatives Maren, Olaf, and Theresia at the MLZ booth are ready to discuss scattering questions in food science. © Artion Conferences & Events

The MLZ representatives Maren, Olaf, and Theresia at the MLZ booth are ready to discuss scattering questions in food science. © Artion Conferences & Events

The 19th edition of the Food Colloids conference, which took place from 14.-18. April this year, in the beautiful city of Thessaloniki, also welcomed a delegation from the JCNS food lab, which represented the MLZ with a booth and was eager to discuss fruitful synergies between the more fundamental and physics-dominated scattering community and the food science and technology community.

The questions arising on the route to new and sustainable colloidal systems in food science are ideally suited to be also addressed with scattering techniques, which were colloidal systems emphasized and highlighted in many interesting contributions from all over the world.

We all are looking forward to pursuing this endeavor of “food and scattering” with new and vibrant collaborations, experiments, and conferences in the near future.

Olaf Holderer, Theresia Heiden-Hecht, Maren Müller (JCNS@MLZ)

© private

© private

Hi, I’m Regina, and I joined the TUM Sample Environment Group in May 2024. Before joining the MLZ, I worked at DESY in Hamburg as a beamline engineer (P65 at PETRA III).

I studied medical engineering but somehow found my way into a research environment. I like hands-on work, so I’m glad about the opportunity to screw, fix, and develop various sample environment setups. I love traveling and learning about other cultures, so I’m happy to work at this international facility!

© private

© private

I’m Lukas Vogl, and I am 27. I started my career here on campus in 2015 with a physics degree, which I completed with my Master’s degree at the beginning of this year. In 2019, I joined Reseda as a working student; here, I stayed until the end of my studies. Since 21 April 2024, I’ve been at the FRMII sample environment and get to play with cryostats and magnets :)

When I’m not busy with work, I’m either sailing, skiing, swimming, reading, programming, or playing computer games.

Many people - many questions! © JCNS@MLZ

Many people - many questions! © JCNS@MLZ

The third week in March saw many, many physicists strolling through Berlin: From March 17th to 22nd, the DPG Spring Meeting of the Condensed Matter Section took place on the campus of the TU Berlin.

As usual, the MLZ User Office was available to answer any question about neutron scattering at a dedicated booth. But this time, it was different: Due to new fire protection rules at TU Berlin, all booths had to be moved from the usual university building to three tents at different places on the campus.

Alexander Gerstl gave an inspirational talk. © JCNS@MLZ

Alexander Gerstl gave an inspirational talk. © JCNS@MLZ

Because there were also poster sessions in the tents, there was always quite a crowd of people visiting the booths. It was great to talk to so many interested scientists in all stages of their careers!

Besides 5363 interesting scientific talks and posters, there was a special evening lecture for all participants: the German astronaut Alexander Gerstl talked about his space missions, showed many beautiful pictures, and enjoyed the discussions with scientists afterward. Looking around the audience, it became clear that many of the listeners once dreamed of going to space – and maybe never lost this dream… The writer of this report admits that she is one of them ;)

Ina Lommatzsch (JCNS@MLZ)

DN2024 - Start First neutron scatterers arrive at the venue. © MLZ

First neutron scatterers arrive at the venue. © MLZ

Between Sept 16th and 18th, about 190 neutron scatterers, mainly from Germany and neighbouring countries like France, gathered at the RWTH Aachen for the German Neutron Scattering Conference 2024 (DN2024). Parallel and plenary sessions showed the broadness of the field and delivered many topics to discuss also during the coffee breaks.

Helmut Schober of ESS, Andreas Meyer of ILL, and Christian Pfleiderer of MLZ/ FRM II gave updates on their facilities and also showed plans for the future. Stephan Förster of Forschungszentrum Jülich informed about the status of the HBS project (the guided tour offered after the conference was very well received!), and the scientific talks were delivered by Johanna Jochum (MLZ), Serena Cussen (University College Dublin), and Walther Richtering (RWTH Aachen).

Sabrina Disch (KFN), accompanied by laudator Axel Pichlmaier (FRM II) hands over the certificate to Christian Reiter and Bruno Baumeister (from right to left). © MICHA HOELZLE

Sabrina Disch (KFN), accompanied by laudator Axel Pichlmaier (FRM II) hands over the certificate to Christian Reiter and Bruno Baumeister (from right to left). © MICHA HOELZLE

Traditionally, this conference is also a prize-giving event. This year, Leonardo Chiappisi (ILL) received the Wolfram-Prandl Prize for young scientists in the field of research with neutrons 2024, while the KFN Instrumentation Award 2024 was given in equal shares to Paul Zakalek (Forschungszentrum Jülich), and Bruno Baumeister & Christian Reiter (TUM/ FRM II) for source development. While Paul did pioneering work in the development of the the Target Moderator Reflector (TMR) unit of the HBS; Bruno and Christian have jointly initiated the conversion of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz research neutron source (FRM II) to fuel of low enrichment uranium while maintaining its scientific performance.

MLZ User Office taking photos during the poster session ;) © MICHA HOELZLE

MLZ User Office taking photos during the poster session ;) © MICHA HOELZLE

Due to fire protection regulations, the poster session had to be outsourced to an event location in downtown Aachen – beautifully located opposite the famous dome. This was also the reason for the lack of booths this time. But the MLZ User Office found some ways to advertise the upcoming User Meeting: All colleagues who had the pleasure to give talks showed a special slide, postcards materialised on the standing tables during the breaks, and finally a big poster welcomed the participants at the poster session.

It was great to chitchat with all the colleagues again, and everybody enjoyed this event, organised by RWTH Aachen and Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Ina Lommatzsch (JCNS@MLZ)

The ENSA delegates in front of the iconic Atomic Egg. © FRM II/ TUM

The ENSA delegates in front of the iconic Atomic Egg. © FRM II/ TUM

After a joint ENSA-ESUO meeting at PSI on FAIR data topics in November 2023, the second ENSA in-person meeting after the COVID break occurred at MLZ on April 29th and 30th.

After an overview of MLZ and its status by MLZ Director and Scientific Director of FRM II Christian Pfleiderer, the first day was reserved for discussing the next steps for developing an ENSA strategy to answer the challenges in neutron science, respecting the changes in landscape and politics as well as the particular situations in the different member states.

On the second day, topics like the TNA project NEPHEWS, ICNS2025, different cooperations, and organisational topics were discussed. In addition, Finland was voted in to become the 22nd member state of ENSA.

Astrid Schneidewind (JCNS@MLZ), ENSA chair

We are now looking forward to our summer holiday and hope you all will have the opportunity to relax with your loved ones and gain strength for the rest of the year. I would like to start with some sad news. Professor Erich Sackmann passed away on May 29 in Munich at the age of 89. He was very important for the neutron community and early on realized that neutrons could provide important insight in the biophysics field, in particular on biological membranes. In addition, he was very important in building up the research community that lead to the MLZ we know today. As a scientist and teacher, he was visionary, supportive and innovative, but he also knew how to enjoy life. Many of his students have become professor and continuous to work in his spirit.

On a positive note, I had the pleasure to attend both the Food Colloids in Thessaloniki in April and Neutrons and Food 7 at the University of Delaware in the second week. Both conferences showed how neutron techniques can provide new, unique, and fundamental insight into complex food systems. Neutrons and Food 8 will be organized in the Munich area in 2026 in the Munich area with Theresia Heiden-Hecht from JCNS@MLZ as the driving force. She made a strong positive impression on the delegates in the meeting. Clearly, neutrons are an important tool in developing sustainable food systems both in terms of understanding the structure of the “new” plant-based raw materials as well as the structural changes that occur during processing.

Unfortunately, we will not have neutrons this year at FRM II, so it puts more pressure on us all to keep the community active and support each other. We are also encouraged by the MLZ management’s systematic approach to solving the many technical and administrative challenges that prevent the operation. The challenge for users is that ILL will enter into a long shutdown and NIST is still not operating. So, there is a lack of neutron facilities, and user operation at ESS is meant to start in 2027. As a User Committee, we can only encourage researchers to seek new collaborators at facilities a bit further away, like in Japan and Australia!

On behalf of the MLZUser committee,
Tommy Nylander