The school marked the long-awaited in-person phase of the SUNSTONE training programme. Through general lectures and thematic online sessions, participants had already received an introduction to synchrotron radiation, the relevant experimental techniques, sample preparation and data analysis. The week at SESAME allowed them to apply this knowledge directly through experiments conducted alongside the beamline scientists.
The training brought together 29 participants representing 13 countries: Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, India, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tunisia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. The group reflected the wide geographical reach of SUNSTONE and included researchers at different stages of their scientific careers.
Participants joined one of three thematic schools:
Science in operando, using X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy at the BM08-XAFS/XRF beamline
Environmental science, using soft X-ray techniques at the ID11L-HESEB and ID11R-TXPES beamlines
Archaeometry, using synchrotron X-ray computed tomography at the ID10-BEATS beamline
Each school combined theory with practical work, allowing participants to become familiar with experimental preparation, data acquisition and analysis. The format also gave them the opportunity to discuss their research questions directly with SESAME scientists and consider how synchrotron techniques could contribute to their projects.
Latif Ullah Khan and Messaoud Harfouche delivered the XAFS training. Mustafa Fatih Genişel, Ahlam Farhan and Zeynep Ozturk led the activities at HESEB and TXPES, while Abdellatif SaadAldin delivered the BEATS training. Antonella Balerna from INFN supported the schools for SUNSTONE and contributed her experience to the scientific programme.
The programme also addressed an essential step that precedes every experiment at a user facility: preparing a strong proposal. Gihan Kamel delivered lectures on how to write a successful proposal, helping participants translate a scientific question into a clear and technically feasible request for synchrotron beamtime.
Hubert Chevreau, leader of SUNSTONE Work Package 3 at SOLEIL, welcomed the completion of the school: I am delighted to see the SUNSTONE hands-on training come to fruition at the SESAME synchrotron. Bringing researchers from different research domains together for real experiments on the beamlines—working side by side with beamline scientists—is essential for fostering scientific excellence and international collaboration across the Middle East and Africa.
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