Rundabordsdiskussion om framtiden för organisationer för användare av synkrotronljus

Round-table discussion on the future of X-ray user organisations in Sweden

On 27 October from 13.30 to 15.00 the Swedish Research Council, together with FASM and SSUO, is inviting interested parties to a digital round-table discussion regarding organisations for users of X-ray facilities.

The scope of FASM and SSUO includes both the national synchrotron facility MAX IV as well as international synchrotron and free electron laser facilities. Today these X-ray user organisations in Sweden are intended to meet different needs: FASM represents all users, Swedish and international, of MAX IV. SSUO on the other hand should represent the interests of only Swedish users of all X-ray facilities, both national and international. SSUO is a younger organization than FASM which, despite its obvious role to play in the Swedish academic system, has suffered from weak participation.

Research infrastructure user organizations can fill (at least) two important functions: Firstly, they can coordinate the user base, which among other things allows for a more efficient “top-down” spread of critical information. Secondly, they can function like a “single point of contact” for e.g. funding agencies which would like to interact with the user base.

An improved structure, or at least a revitalisation, of the X-ray user organizations in Sweden, might improve the scientific return of the large infrastructure investments Sweden is making in this area. We therefore propose to have a digital round table discussion in which a number of principles and aspects of user organizations are discussed. Representatives from the Swedish Research Council will be joined by the chairs of FASM and SSUO, Jonas Weissenrieder (KTH) and Derek Logan (LU) as well as the director of MAX IV, Olof Karis. Some questions that we would like to discuss at the meeting are:

• In the current environment, what role can user organizations play to make Swedish researchers get more value out of available X-ray facilities?
• To what extent do FASM and SSUO currently deliver on these needs?
• Can the current structure of user organizations be modified or should completely new schemes be considered to better meet the identified needs?
• What role should MAX IV play in relation to the user organizations?

We hope you would like to join us for this round-table discussion, all inputs are most welcome!