COMSTECH (Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation) is orchestrating a two-day gathering of SESAME Users from OIC member states on January 26-27, 2024, in Islamabad. SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East), a 3rd Generation 2.5 GeV SR facility, was established in Jordan with financial backing from UNESCO and Member States. The initial phase will comprise eight beamlines, detailed as follows:

1. BM02 – IR (Infrared) Spectromicroscopy
2. BM08 – XAFS/XRF (X-ray Absorption Fine Structure/X-ray Fluorescence) Spectroscopy
3. ID09 – MS/XPD (Materials Science/X-ray Powder Diffraction)
4. ID10 – BEATS (BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME)
5. ID11L – HESEB (HElmholtz-SEsame Beamline)
6. ID11R – TXPES (Turkish soft X-ray PhotoElectron Spectroscopy)
7. MX (Macromolecular Crystallography) under design
8. SAXS/WAXS (Small Angle and Wide Angle X-ray Scattering) under design

The users, hailing from diverse cultural, political, and religious backgrounds, engage in scientific discourse, fostering cross-border scientific collaboration, dialogue, and mutual understanding.

Meeting Objectives:

SESAME and COMSTECH collaboratively support scientists from OIC Member States in conducting experiments at SESAME. The primary objectives of hosting the SESAME Users Meeting-2024 in Islamabad are:

1. Provide a platform for education on scientific and technical advancements in synchrotron beamlines and their applications.
2. Share and evaluate the use of SESAME beamlines for research applications in materials science, engineering, medicine, healthcare, cultural heritage, the environment, as well as fundamental physics and chemistry.
3. Discuss opportunities for collaborative utilization of SESAME beamlines for various research applications by OIC scientists and researchers.
4. Develop a strategy/program for the potential use of SESAME beamlines in the future for the benefit of OIC researchers.

Speakers:

– Prof. Samar Hasnain, University of Liverpool, UK
– Dr. Andy Fitch, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
– Dr. Andrea Lausi, Science Director, SESAME, Jordan
– Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General COMSTECH
– Prof. Dr. Aslam Baig, Professor Emeritus, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan
– Prof. Dr. Moaz-ur-Rahman, Professor, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
– Prof. Dr. Javed Akhtar, PINSTECH, Pakistan