SASKATOON, SK, CANADA and DIDCOT, OXFORDSHIRE, UK – Making the power of synchrotron light available to more businesses, building new experimental equipment and developing new capabilities are three of the areas of collaboration in a trans-Atlantic memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Diamond Light Source Ltd. near Oxford and Canadian Light Source Inc. (CLS) in Saskatoon.
The agreement paves the way for the two synchrotron light sources to work together on joint projects related to their industrial science programmes, such as exchanges of staff, marketing materials, and coordinating access for clients to capabilities that are available at one synchrotron but not the other.
"Diamond and the CLS have been working closely together for some time," said Josef Hormes, Executive Director of the CLS. "Now that we have this formal agreement, I am looking forward to a very bright future where the expertise of both our facilities can be combined to accomplish momentous things for fundamental and industrial science."
Prof Gerd Materlik FRS, Chief Executive of Diamond Light Source, said: "We are delighted to be working with our colleagues at Canadian Light Source, and have enjoyed some very fruitful collaborative projects so far. This MOU will be a platform for even closer co-operation in future."
Both facilities are recognized as leaders when it comes to industrial synchrotron research.
Through the MOU, researchers and engineers at both facilities will also collaborate on projects aimed at developing new capabilities in terms of accelerator technology, X-ray optics and computer control software.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility. Based at Harwell, Oxfordshire, it is a joint venture between the UK government and the Wellcome Trust. The Diamond synchrotron accelerates electrons to near light-speed to generate brilliant beams of light from infra-red to X-rays and these are used in academic and industrial research across a range of scientific disciplines including structural biology, physics, chemistry, materials, engineering, earth and environmental sciences. For full details visit www.diamond.ac.uk
The Canadian Light Source is Canada's national centre for synchrotron research and is a global leader and recognized centre of excellence in synchrotron science and its applications. Since 2005 the CLS has hosted over 4,000 user visits from academic institutions, government, and industry, and delivered over 15,000 experimental shifts to users from across Canada and 18 other countries. CLS operations are funded by Western Economic Diversification Canada, Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, National Research Council of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Government of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan. www.lightsource.ca/media/quickfacts.php.
For more information, contact:
Matthew Dalzell
Communications Coordinator
Canadian Light Source Inc
Ph: +1 (306) 657-3739 Cell: +1 (306) 227-0978
matthew.dalzell@lightsource.ca
Silvana Westbury
Public Relations Manager
Diamond Light Source Ltd
Ph: +44 1235 778238 Mob: +44 7841 432780
silvana.westbury@diamond.ac.uk