ALBA Synchrotron
From 6th to 9th October the ALBA Synchrotron and the UAB organised a specialization course of XANES & EXAFS for chemical speciation on environmental systems.
The aim of the course was to explain basic concepts about synchrotron techniques when studying environmental aspects and biomaterials. It was focused on the training of postgraduate students in EXAFS (Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure) and XANES (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy). Those X-ray techniques are very useful to solve molecular structures.
54 people attended the course. 28 of them were students and 12 of them were speakers from five different synchrotron facilities from all over the world: ESRF (France), Maxlab (Sweden), Soleil (France), PSI (Switzerland), Brookhaven (USA) and ALBA (Spain).
The course, organized by the Research Group of Separation Techniques in Chemistry, GTS, from the UAB and the ALBA Synchrotron, was a success according to professors and students. It belongs to a European project called ORQUE-SUDOE from Interreg-SUDOE program with eight different partners from France, Portugal and Spain. The aim of the project is to create an environmental observatory of the SUDOE region based on the study of pollution in the coasts of France, Portugal and Spain using biomarkers such as molluscs (oysters and mussels) which have been collected in eight different areas. Synchrotron techniques have been the key to determine metallic pollutants on these biomarkers.
Attendants participating in the course.