From Cheshire to Jordan - STFC gifts high-tech scientific equipment
From Cheshire to Jordan - STFC gifts high-tech scientific equipment for Middle Eastern collaboration. One of the legacies of the world's first dedicated synchrotron light source will be to enable scientific collaboration in the Middle East following the gifting of high tech decommissioned components to the SESAME project by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). |  Photo courtesy of STFC
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The SESAME project (Synchrotron light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) has brought together the governments and scientists of Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories and Turkey, with representatives from another 11 countries (including the UK) participating as observers to provide help and advice. SESAME will be the region's first major international research centre and will be built in Jordan under the umbrella of UNESCO.
The high-tech components, originally from the Synchrotron Radiation Source in Daresbury, will be used to construct experimental beamlines for research into materials and life sciences. The equipment was formally gifted by the Chief Executive of STFC Professor Keith Mason to the UK observer on the SESAME Council Professor Samar Hasnain, Max Perutz Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Liverpool at STFC Daresbury Laboratory on 30 September 2009.
Professor Keith Mason said: "The UK was the first country to develop a dedicated synchrotron light source and I am pleased that the donation of some of its components will enable further scientific research and collaboration between the nations involved in the SESAME Project."
Professor Samar Hasnain added: "I would like to thank the STFC for this generous donation to the SESAME Project. I am delighted that this equipment will go to a project that unites the participating nations, enabling them to work together. It will allow the next generation of their scientists to carry out world-class fundamental scientific research."
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Notes to editors
For more information about SESAME visit www.sesame.org.jo.
Contacts | Professor Samar Hasnain
Max Perutz Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of
Liverpool and the UK observer on the SESAME Council
T: 0151 795 5149
E: s.s.hasnain@liverpool.ac.uk
Karen Coles
Press Officer
STFC Daresbury Laboratory
T: +44 (0)19025 603232
E: karen.coles@stfc.ac.uk |
The Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council ensures the UK retains its leading place on the world stage by delivering world-class science; accessing and hosting international facilities; developing innovative technologies; and increasing the socio-economic impact of its research through effective knowledge exchange partnerships.
The Council has a broad science portfolio including Astronomy, Particle Physics, Particle Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Space Science, Synchrotron Radiation, Neutron Sources and High Power Lasers. In addition the Council manages and operates three internationally renowned laboratories:
- The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire
- The Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire
- The UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh
The Council gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Institute Laue Langevin (ILL), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the European organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA). It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.