Contact: Inna Vishik, UEC Chair
The UEC is hard at work planning the 2023 ALS User Meeting, the first in-person one since 2019! This meeting will take place September 11–15, and the format will be a bit different from prior iterations. The first day will be devoted to tutorials, including old favorites and new endeavors. The second day of the User Meeting will be devoted to plenary talks, presentations from ALS leadership, the poster session, and more. The last three days are a new component devoted to visioning workshops for the post-ALS-U era. What new science can this new instrument enable? What actions do we need to begin now to take advantage of those capabilities? This and more will be explored within four topical areas: biosciences, condensed matter and quantum materials, earth and environmental sciences, and energy sciences.
A painful but necessary requirement to upgrade the ALS is one year of dark time scheduled to begin October 2025, when the synchrotron will be turned off and the experimental floor will be inaccessible. Communication and planning regarding this period, and the transition to operations period that will follow, is ramping up. There will be an upcoming down time town hall, scheduled for July 20, 2023, over Zoom. This town hall will give an overview of the ALS-U construction schedule leading up to the dark time, information about impacts to specific beamlines, and what to expect as the facility transitions back to operations. This is an opportunity for new and experienced users to gain information for planning their next several years of research.
Additionally, I wanted to let the user community know that the UEC recently sent a letter to the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees on Energy and Water Development. In the letter, we highlighted the critical contributions that the ALS has made to fundamental science, development of new technologies, and workforce training. This year, the president’s budget request included enhanced support for x-ray light sources operated by DOE, including the ALS, and we urged Congress to advance this request.
The UEC is available to help with the needs of the user community. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at alsuec@lbl.gov