Cerdanyola del Vallès, September 18th 2019. During the event he had a meeting with management members of the ALBA Synchrotron to know first-hand how the facility operates and their future plans with the construction of new beamlines. He has discovered that the infrastructure is serving more than 2,000 researchers every year who perform experiments in a wide variety of research fields (from biomedical applications to magnetic properties of materials).
Later on, the group has visited the experimental area, where the complex of electron accelerators and the beamlines are located. During the tour, he has had the opportunity to speak with one of the researchers who was using the synchrotron today. They have also passed by one of the four beamlines that are currently under construction.
At the end of the visit, the President highlighted the importance of a facility like ALBA "for leading the scientific revolution and keep at the forefront". He has announced an investment of 5 million euros to install two advanced electron microscopes: one specialised in materials science and chemical catalysis, for high precision measurements with industrial applications, and one cryo-microscope that will be useful for solving biological complexes at very high resolution. This centre, participated and funded by different research institutions, will expand ALBA's analytical capabilities. Having the microscopes at ALBA will help to efficiently study different scientific problems since their techniques are complementary to those of specific synchrotron beamlines, offering a wide range of instrumentation to tackle complex problems. The experience of ALBA attending users, together with their multidisciplinary and international dimension, makes ALBA a perfect location for the microscopy centre.
The visit was part of an event organised by the Parc de l'Alba. The Director General for Research, Mr. Joan Gómez Pallarés, the Mayor of Cerdanyola del Vallés, Carlos Cordón, and the director of Parc de l'Alba, Pere Solà, were also accompanying the President.
