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Vote for New UEC Members: Term Starting in 2025

The Advanced Light Source Users’ Executive Committee (UEC) invites you to vote in the election of five new UEC members: four regular members and one student member. The elected members will begin their terms on January 1, 2025, with regular members serving three years and the student member serving two years. Voting deadline: Wednesday, December 4, by 11:59 p.m. PST. Read more »

The ALS Releases New Version of Strategic Plan

The Advanced Light Source’s five-year strategic plan is now available, presenting our vision to be a premier synchrotron facility through team innovation and advanced technologies. Developed collaboratively with staff, partners, and users, the plan charts our course to deliver world-class capabilities with ALS-U and beyond, building on 2023 User Meeting science visioning workshops. Read more »

In Memoriam: Terry McAfee, Senior Scientific Engineering Associate

The ALS community is saddened to lose Terry McAfee, who was a caring and hardworking presence since he started coming to the facility as a graduate student. From ALS user to full-time staff, he always strove to create a welcoming environment. We will remember his passion for STEM and his love for his family. Read more »

The Spatial Dynamics of Bone Remodeling During Lactation

To mobilize the minerals needed for milk production, osteocytes—the cells responsible for maintaining bone quality—facilitate the release of calcium and other minerals from the bone matrix surrounding them. In this study, researchers investigated how osteocytes balance the rapid release of calcium with maintaining bone integrity. Read more »

Manganese Cathodes Could Boost Lithium-ion Batteries

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are used in mobile devices, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems. But supplies of nickel and cobalt, commonly used in the cathodes of these batteries, are limited. New research opens up a potential low-cost, safe alternative in manganese, the fifth most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust. Read more »

Postdoctoral Fellowship Application Window to Open in October

Applications for the next round of ALS Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellowships are due November 1 for a start date of May 1, 2025. Fellows spend a year in residence at the ALS pursuing research projects in teams that include staff and the user community, and are exposed to current scientific challenges that can be tackled using advanced synchrotron radiation tools. Read more »

Reports from 2023 Science Visioning Workshops Published

The compiled reports from four ALS science visioning workshops held in 2023 are now published. The document reflects the user and broader scientific communities’ viewpoints on how the ALS’s science portfolio should evolve into the 2030s and where investments will be needed to realize the vision. Read more »

September 4 Deadline for General User Proposals—New Proposal Writing Guidelines!

Starting August 14, the User Office will accept new General User Proposals (GUPs) from scientists who wish to conduct research at the ALS in the 2025-1 (January–July) cycle. The deadline for submissions is September 4, 2024. We will publish new proposal writing guidelines by August 14, so please read the new guidelines before submitting a proposal. Applicants are reminded that they may request joint access to the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience user facility at Berkeley Lab, to support their ALS activities. Read more »

Strategic ALS Projects Reach Key Milestones

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of multidisciplinary teams from groups across the ALS, a spate of important milestones occurred over the past month, for projects involving the new QERLIN beamline, the MERLIN beamline upgrade, and a new chamber for computer-chip metrology in Sector 12. Read more »