With a firm commitment to training, ALBA participates in the 2019 edition of the Hercules European School. For a whole month, this program opens the doors of the main European neutron and synchrotron radiation facilities to young scientists from European universities and laboratories. Hercules is coordinated by the

Université Grenoble Alpes

and takes place mainly in this French city, which holds the European synchrotron

ESRF

. Complementing the training in Grenoble, the attendants will travel to other European centers for two weeks, among them, the ALBA Synchrotron.

During the sessions held at ALBA, young researchers will have the opportunity to learn deeply different synchrotron light techniques, as well as seeing their potential and how these techniques can contribute to their current and future researches. Hands-on practices at the beamlines will be carried out by scientists from ALBA Experiments Division. This closely training is highly valued for the participants of the course since "speaking and sharing knowledge with experts and also course mates is very enriching".

Lectures, tutorials and hands-on practicals at the ALBA Synchrotron will be divided in two kind of sessions; the first one about Physics and chemistry of condensed matter and the second one, about Biomolecular structure and dynamics. After this week in ALBA, students will travel to Paris, at the French synchrotron radiation facility

SOLEIL

and the French neutron reactor

Orphée – LLB

. Other facilities the attendants will visit are the Italian synchrotron light source

Elettra

and Free Electron laser Radiation for Multidisciplinary Investigations (

FERMI

) in Trieste, the German synchrotron radiation facility Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (

DESY

) and the European

XFEL

in Hamburg, the Swiss synchrotron radiation facility Swiss Light Source (

SLS

) at the Paul Scherrer Institute (

PSI

) in Villigen or the

KIT

Light Source in Karlsruhe (Germany).

28 years promoting a talent pool for synchrotrons

Since its first session in 1991 Hercules has displayed a number of features that differentiate these courses from the rest: simultaneous training in neutron and synchrotron radiation science, tutorials given by highly qualified international specialists, and a substantial fraction of the programme devoted to practical sessions carried out on cutting edge instruments, at European Large Facilities.

Hercules aims to provide training for the future researchers about new techniques using neutron and synchrotron radiation, expanding their theoretical and practical knowledge, not only for their present research but for their scientific career, as well as to build a network of relations with fellow young researchers and experienced teachers from all around the World.