User Meeting to celebrate the 20 years of Science at XMaS

20^th and 21^st September 2017

ESRF Auditorium

2017 marks the 20th anniversary of user beam on XMaS and to celebrate, a very special users' meeting called XMaS@20 was held in Grenoble at the ESRF 20-21 September 2017. The event combined talks about XMaS science from across the two decades with recent work which would normally form part of our annual, UK-based, users' meetings.

Believe it or not, members of the XMaS family can be found all around the world: not only in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Sweden but also in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Russia and Iran! Those who could make it to the ESRF (~60 participants) were delighted to listen to talks describing XMaS from the early days, when it was mainly dedicated to studies of magnetic materials. Over the years it has become a beamline for "material science" in general. Don't get us wrong though, we still have physicists looking at superconductors, magnetic thin films and even uranium based samples! Today, in addition, we have users searching for novel functional materials to be used in the next generation of photovoltaics, transistors and also those more interested in how nanoparticles could be utilised without detrimental effects on our body. Who would have thought 20 years ago that scientists would come to XMaS to explore teeth, bones and how copper ions act as contraceptive in an intrauterine device? Experiments aiming to understand corrosion mechanisms in cultural heritage artifacts or even in nuclear waste also happen at XMaS on a regular basis. If you pop along the beamline, don't be surprised to see chemists looking at new ways of improving catalysts and batteries for making your car cleaner. Over this 2-day meeting, we could hear reports on all of those different disciplines. It was also so nice to see old colleagues and friends at the same place! So now why not XMaS@30 or 40, who knows!

Group photo captured during the conference

Full programme ready to download. Download booklet here