ID17 - Call for Expressions of Interest

Following the successful construction and commissioning of ESRF - EBS, the Extremely Brilliant Source, user operation has resumed in September 2020. Beamlines, in particular those that where newly built or refurbished in preparation of EBS, already give a flavour of the exciting new opportunities opened by this close to diffraction limit X-ray source.

In this context, the biomedical beamline ID17, dedicated to research in biomedical imaging, radiation biology and radiation therapy, has started operation in the second half of the 1990’s.  Since then, the beamline operation has concentrated on the building up of its user community with a steady refurbishment program adapted to the community needs. Throughout almost three decades, the science program has continuously expanded and covers today a wide range of biomedical research topics.

ID17 underwent a beamline review in May 2022. The past activities have been praised. It has been noted, however, that the range of present applications requires refocussing as their future implementation at the state-of-the-art would demand both investment and beamtime availability which are beyond the capabilities of a single ESRF beamline. Based on the review outcome, and specifically on the recommendations of both Beamline Review Panel and Scientific Advisory Committee, the ESRF management is starting a process foreseeing the establishment of a refocussed scientific program for ID17 to be implemented in the coming decade. To this purpose ESRF is launching a Call for Expressions of Interest for the exploitation of the biomedical beamline ID17 during this foreseen period.

Procedure and timeline
The expressions of interest aim to set in motion an in-depth reflection within the scientific community. The aim will be to distil the most promising science cases in the field of biomedical research which are pertinent to the ID17 beamline and X-ray synchrotron radiation in general. These projects will be considered by the ESRF Scientific Advisory Committee for discussion and analysis with the aim to identify the most attractive opportunities and to formulate an advice to Council, ESRF’s governing body, and ESRF management for their implementation.

The EoI template can be downloaded here.

The deadline for submission of Expressions of Interest is 14th October 2022.