The ALS community participates in and hosts a number of events (conferences, activities, workshops, etc.) that may be of broader interest. Upcoming deadlines are also listed here. Find more information at the following links.
Seminars: View list of colloquia, seminars, and special talks
Upcoming Events
Molecular Foundry Annual User Meeting
August 10–11, 2023
Hybrid Event: Berkeley Lab & Zoom
This annual conference focuses on frontier research topics in nanoscience, providing a forum to disseminate results and exchange ideas, and bringing together leading researchers, junior scientists, postdocs, and students. In addition to on-site users and Molecular Foundry scientists, meeting participants include researchers from universities, national labs, and companies across the USA and internationally.
Learn more here.
DOE Joint Genome Institute Annual User Meeting
August 21–25, 2023
Hybrid Event: Berkeley Lab & Zoom
Give a short talk at the DOE Joint Genome Institute’s hybrid Annual Genomics of Energy & Environment Meeting, happening August 21-23, 2023. Register at jointgeno.
ALS User Meeting & Visioning Workshops
September 11–15, 2023
Hybrid Event: Berkeley Lab & Zoom
Visit the User Meeting website for the latest updates.
Past Events
User Town Hall on the ALS Down Time
July 20, 2023 | 12:30–2:00 p.m. PDT
The ALS is now a little more than two years away from the projected date of the major construction phase of the ALS Upgrade (ALS-U) project known as the “dark time.” During this period, the facility will pause user operations and temporarily shut down to replace the storage ring, paving the way for exciting new scientific opportunities.
ALS and ALS-U management and the Users’ Executive Committee hosted a user town hall on July 20 to review the scientific opportunities enabled by ALS-U and what’s currently known about the ALS’s total down time, including beamtime and beamline impacts leading up to the dark time, the dark time itself, and the “dawn” period that follows as the facility transitions back to full user operations.
Event slides and video recording
Beamline and Optics Modeling School
May 30–June 1, 2023
Hybrid Event: Zoom and Room 15-253 at the ALS
Register on the website
Following introductions to central concepts in x-ray optics, the lectures will build toward full source and beamline simulations using both ray-tracing and wave optics approaches. Students will learn to use available tools through hands-on, in-class exercises and homework assignments. Participants are requested to bring a laptop to class and install the relevant tools in advance. Attention will be given to the modeling apps and to the opportunity for scripting simulations in Python.
The target audience is scientists, engineers, and technicians who wish to learn more about simulations in x-ray optics applied to synchrotron instrumentation using OASYS and related tools. In particular, they will understand the characteristics of a synchrotron beam and obtain quantitative information on emitted flux and power, simulate the optical performance of a beamline, and apply a variety of tools to simulate partially coherent beams.
Workshop: Machine Learning for X-Ray and Neutron Scattering
April 17–18, 2023
Hybrid Event: Zoom and Room 15-253 at the ALS
Workshop website
This workshop, sponsored by the ALS, the Center for Advanced Mathematics for Energy Research Applications (CAMERA), and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) will gather experts in the fields of machine learning (ML) and scattering to discuss recent advancements in these technologies. The event will provide a forum for the experts to share their latest research, exchange ideas, and collaborate on potential solutions to science challenges. In addition to presentations, the event will also include demonstrations of ML software and opportunities for attendees to ask questions and discuss future directions.
Infrared Beamlines User Forum
January 31, 2023 | 1:00–2:00 p.m. PST
Zoom link
The ALS infrared (IR) beamlines will undergo some major changes as a result of the ALS Upgrade (ALS-U) Project. This user forum will share the details of those changes and answer user questions.
BES User Facility Science: Providing the Foundations for Forefront Energy, Microelectronics, Low-Carbon Manufacturing, and Biopreparedness
January 27, 2023 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. PST
Register
DOE Office of Science User Facilities support researchers from across the nation and the world, proving unique and critical infrastructure and expertise to tackle key challenges in areas such as the energy transition, economic competitiveness, and pandemic response. Contributions to these national priorities have included breakthroughs in energy science and technologies such as innovations for batteries and energy storage, solar photovoltaics, hydrogen production, and carbon capture. This webinar will highlight advances made possible by the user facilities in the four key areas of Forefront Energy, Microelectronics, Low-Carbon Manufacturing, and Biopreparedness. Hear from facility scientists and users on how their work and the facilities enable foundational science for the nation.
AVS 68th International Symposium and Exhibition
November 6–11, 2022 | Deadline for abstract submission: May 31, 2022
Message from the Light Sources Focus Topic Organizing Committee: We would like to bring your attention to a focus symposium of the AVS 68th International Symposium and Exhibition titled “New Trends in Structural Electronic Characterization of Materials, Interfaces, and Surfaces Using Synchrotron and FEL Based Light Sources,” which will take place on November 6-11, 2022, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and which focuses on a newly developed state-of-the-art synchrotron driven science. We’d like to invite you to submit an abstract to this focus session before May 31, 2022. In case of any questions, please feel free to contact session organizers directly at: jmcchesn@anl.go, german.
Beamline 7.3.3 SAXS/WAXS User Forum
October 11, 2022 | 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Zoom link | Submit your questions
We invite you to a user forum to discuss the closure of the 7.3.3 SAXS/WAXS beamline three years from now, necessitated by the parameters of the upgraded ALS source, and the plans for developing an upgraded beamline at a new source point to better suit the needs of the community. To better inform our user community of the current status of and future plans for SAXS/WAXS, the ALS UEC, ALS management, and ALS Scattering Program staff welcome your participation and engagement at the forum, where more detailed information will be provided as outlined below, followed by a Q&A session.
Modular Virtual Workshop on Future Needs for Interface Science Integrating Synchrotron Instrumentation, Theory, and Data
October 3–5, 2022
Registration link
In partnership with the National Science Foundation, Division of Chemistry (CHE), Professors Gregory Herman, Liney Arnadottir, and Kelsey Stoerzinger of Oregon State University; Professor Tod Pascal of University of California-San Diego; and Dr. Ethan Crumlin of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are organizing a workshop to identify new frontiers in interface science, leveraging techniques such as ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS), theory, and data science. This workshop will help define the envisioned National Interface Science facility that includes both experimental and computational resources. This facility will be located at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The workshop is in a modular virtual design to maximize engagement, where participants can participate in short, digestible discussion sections (2 hours) per day over three days.
ALS User Meeting
August 15–17, 2022
Visit the User Meeting website for the latest updates.
National Energy Storage Summit (NESS)
March 8–9, 2022
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Berkeley Lab is hosting a summit on March 8–9, 2022 to discuss harnessing science, technology, and policy to accelerate energy storage solutions for our nation. This virtual public summit will convene and connect national and regional thought leaders across industry, government, communities, and the research enterprise to catalyze solutions and partnerships around specific challenges in this area, and enable our nation’s just transition to a clean, affordable, and resilient energy future, in line with the goals of our Berkeley Lab Energy Storage Center. For more information on the summit and to register, please visit national-energystorage-
Users’ Executive Committee (UEC) Election
November 5–22, 2021
Make your voice heard! Read candidate statements and vote for your 2022–2024 representatives.
Application Period for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships
November 1–December 1, 2021
Apply for funding to conduct work at the ALS as a Doctoral Fellow in Residence or a Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellow
2021 ALS User Meeting
August 10–13, 2021
The 2021 ALS User Meeting was held online. For the first time, we had a Nobel panel, featuring Ada Yonath and Stanley Whittingham, along with an array of keynote talks and an award talk from Shirley Award recipient David Prendergast. We also had an update from the ALS director, an ALS-U Project update, awards presentation, a poster slam and student poster competition, along with a general poster session and workshops and tutorials on a variety of topics. See more details here.
User Town Hall on the Long-Term Shutdown Schedule
January 26, 2021 | 12:00–1:00 p.m.
ALS online user forums and town halls provide updates on the ALS operating status, ALS capabilities and developments, the ALS-U Project, plans for the upcoming User Meeting, and other issues relevant to users and staff. The forums are offered in a virtual, web conferencing format to engage with our many non-local users. Questions and discussion following the presentations are welcome.
Agenda:
- UEC welcome, Johanna Nelson Weker, UEC chair
- ALS update, Steve Kevan, ALS director
- ALS-U project status, Dave Robin, ALS-U project director
- ALS shutdown scheduling and needs, Steve Rossi, deputy for business operations
- Closing remarks, Steve Kevan
- Q&A
Frequently asked questions document
Event slides and video recording
Previous User Forum agendas and slides