The collaboration has lasted over 30 years, recently strengthened by ISIS providing considerable expertise to the
European Spallation Source (ESS) currently under construction near Lund, Sweden. This new agreement with the
Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet (VR) extends the collaboration until 2025, creating new opportunities for Swedish researchers and providing resources that benefit the whole user community.
As part of the UK's contribution to the ESS, ISIS staff are engaged in delivering two instruments: Loki and Freia, and are supporting colleagues in Italy (CNR) to deliver the Vespa spectrometer. ISIS also hosts the Programme Management Office for the whole of the UK's £165m contribution to ESS, ensuring that the UK gets the most possible value from this investment. This includes carrying out a multitude of projects, and working with others within STFC, UKAEA and Huddersfield University. ISIS staff are also playing an important advisory role sitting on various ESS committees.
Swedish researchers make up around 5% of the 3,000 strong user community, the largest of any nation. The first agreement with the Swedish Research Council (VR) was signed in 1988, and over the years has included contributions to the
Polaris and
IMAT instruments, and in 2014 the partnership was significantly expanded to assist Sweden in developing its user community in preparation for future ESS operation through a combination of facility access and joint projects.
Recent highlights with Swedish users include
