New call for applications IAEA-SESAME Training Fellowships (call for 2016)

Publish Date
23 August, 2016

The International Center for Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) is established in Jordan, under the auspices of UNESCO. Its mission is to promote international collaboration in the Middle East and neighbouring countries using synchrotron light for basic and applied research in physics, chemistry, biology, materials science, the environment, medicine, archaeology and other research areas of relevance to the region.

In September 2014, SESAME’s booster synchrotron was successfully commissioned, and accelerated the injected beam from 20 MeV up to the design energy of 800 MeV,. Meanwhile the complete magnetic structure of the 2.5 GeV storage ring and most of the vacuum system is installed and commissioning is expected for end of 2016.  

The SESAME laboratory will come into operation with two ‘day-one’ beamlines in late 2016/early 2017, but already users are visiting SESAME for their work thanks to the Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) microscope that is operational there.

Seven Beamlines have been approved for the first operational phase of SESAME. These are:

  1. IR (infrared spectromicroscopy)
  2. XAFS/XRF (X-ray absorption fine structure/X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy)
  3. MS (materials science)
  4. MX (macromolecular crystallography)
  5. EUV (extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy)
  6. SAXS/WAXS (small angle and wide angle X-ray scattering)
  7. VUV (soft X-ray vacuum ultraviolet)

The IR and XAFS/XRF beamlines will be ‘day-one’ beamlines, to be followed shortly after by the MS and MX beamlines and later the remaining three Phase-1 beamlines.

In 2006, a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) was signed between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and SESAME. One of the results is an interregional Capacity Building Project in the use and operation of SESAME that aims inter alia at enhancing the skills of potential SESAME operators and users in different fields of operation of the SESAME Laboratory.

In the context of this Capacity Building project, IAEA fellowships for SESAME, are available for young scientists from SESAME Members to allow them to develop skills in well-established synchrotron radiation laboratories around the world needed to use any of the aforementioned seven beamlines.

For more details and How to apply, please read this document.

To apply, fill in the on-line form on this ( Deadline was on 30 September,2016)