For over 35 years the collaboration between ISIS and Italy has spanned a very wide range of science areas from fundamental research through to biomaterials, materials for energy and cultural heritage studies. It has also included the development of significant instrumentation and techniques which have benefited the wider neutron community.
This partnership has included development of many ISIS instruments including
Tosca, Vesuvio,
INES, Sandals, and, most recently,
Nimrod,
IMAT and
ChipIr on Target Station 2. The collaboration also now includes working with CNR to deliver in-kind contributions to
ESS instruments.
In 2019 a new Research Infrastructure, ISIS@MACH (MAterials Characterisation Hub) was launched in partnership with the University of Rome “Tor Vergata". ISIS@MACH is based in Italy, in the Region Lazio, and acts as a local Hub for the UK-based ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source. The project is funded by Region Lazio under the specific funding programme POR FESR 2014-2020 to strengthen Research Infrastructures, to enable both Italian and UK researchers to pool knowledge and experience with collaborators across UK and Italy, respectively, recognising the value neutron and muon probes bring to multidisciplinary research.
Over the years the mutual exchange of scientific and technical expertise has provided ISIS users with a set of world-leading scientific instruments and led to world class science, covering everything from new methods of drug delivery to cultural heritage applications. Cultural heritage was not a commonly studied area at ISIS, but as a result of the Italian collaboration, it has expanded along with a number of other research areas, from proton motion in ice and water, studied using the Vesuvio instrument, to biological systems with health applications.
Recent science highlights from Italian users include:
