Three continents, three countries, three synchrotrons and one meeting

Every 18 months, either the ESRF, the APS or Spring 8, hosts a meeting to discuss scientific and technical issues of common interest. This year, the ESRF welcomed the senior American and Japanese staff between the 19th and the 21st of June for presentations and discussions around the theme of X-ray optics.

The 31 guest participants (10 from APS, 21 from SPring-8) were selected by their own synchrotron according to the main topic of the agenda and their needs and interest in it. The workshop allows the participants from the three countries not only to know what each synchrotron is doing but also "to learn what's going on in our own laboratories" remarks Bill Stirling, Director of the ESRF. Axel Kaprolat, one of the organisers, adds that the three way meeting is made to "exchange views on recent achievements, current developments and upcoming projects in an intense discussion between the experts of the three leading synchrotron radiation sources worldwide."

This exchange is done in view of possible collaborations to join forces. The possible topics for collaboration were discussed and put together on the last day of the workshop. Among those were the development of the source operation, with a special highlight in the Radio Frequency cavities development, instrumentation, the way to handle proposal reviews and user support, management, and general international cooperation.