News and Press

Laserlab-Europe Workshop on Data Handling and Open Data, 7 December 2018 - Documentation Laserlab-Europe Workshop on Data Handling and Open Data, 7 December 2018 - Documentation

Data management and open data are core concepts within Horizon 2020. Initiatives such as the Open Science concept and the adoption of the European Open Science Cloud Implementation Roadmap earlier this year imply that EU researchers will very soon have to work in an environment where data sharing, access and reuse are the norm. With the increasing amount, size and complexity of the data generated at laser research facilities, it becomes necessary for individual infrastructures to become proficient and invest more resources in data management. Simultaneously, there is a need for streamlining and standardising these procedures across the European facilities in order to enhance the services to the user community.

Laserlab-Europe AISBL was inaugurated and held its first General Assembly meeting in Salamanca, Spain Laserlab-Europe AISBL was inaugurated and held its first General Assembly meeting in Salamanca, Spain

Laserlab-Europe AISBL was inaugurated and held its first General Assembly meeting with 38 Full Members and 3 Associate Members on 29 October 2018 in Salamanca, Spain. The meeting venue was the Old Chapel for Studies within the University of Salamanca, an historic room used as the Council Chamber of the University, and was part of the 800th anniversary celebrations of the University of Salamanca, the third oldest university in the world.

Workshop "Visions on Future Laser-based X-ray Science and Technology", Barcelona, Spain, 19-20 November 2018 Workshop "Visions on Future Laser-based X-ray Science and Technology", Barcelona, Spain, 19-20 November 2018

We are currently witnessing spectacular advances in laboratory and facility-based x-ray sources which enable a wide range of investigations with unprecedented time resolution and element specificity. The aim of this Laserlab-Europe foresight workshop is to assess the state of the art and to discuss visions for future opportunities in laser-based x-ray science through technological developments and novel methods for scientific investigations.

Access Highlight at FELIX: Gold clusters - gentle bond breakers Access Highlight at FELIX: Gold clusters - gentle bond breakers

Synthesis of large carbohydrates is an energy-consuming multi-step process. Therefore, scientists are looking for a catalyst enabling a direct chemical reaction from feedstock molecule methane to larger carbohydrates. Gold nanoclusters seem to be a promising candidate for such a catalyst. In a recent transnational access project performed at FELIX Laboratory (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) an international collaboration consisting of researchers from Radboud University in Nijmegen, Georgia Tech University in Atlanta, US, and Ulm University in Germany, used infrared radiation to show that tiny gold particles can be used to selectively break one single C-H bond in methane. The results of the project were published in the prestigious chemical journal Angewandte Chemie.

Access Highlight at ICFO: Imaging tissue mimics with light sheet microscopy Access Highlight at ICFO: Imaging tissue mimics with light sheet microscopy

Artificially grown three-dimensional pieces of tissue are increasingly used to study cell growth and disease progression in biomedical research. These so-called tissue mimics can be observed using a technique called Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy. In a recent Laserlab transnational access project, the groups of Pablo Loza-Alvarez (ICFO) and Corinne Lorenzo (ITAV, Université de Toulouse) collaborated to compare the effectiveness of different light sheet illumination modalities for complex 3D samples. The findings of their study were published in Scientific Reports.