New Scientific Opportunities at the European Synchrotron Radiation ...

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility Long-Term Strategy 7 July 2006
the possibility of developing highly complex sample environments outside the
constraints of daily beamline operation.
Report on the discussion held during the parallel session of the
Macromolecular Crystallography Group: Pedro Matias (UO)
A major part of the session was dedicated to some aspects of the ESRF Medium and
Long-Term Strategy that have impact on the Macromolecular Crystallography
community. One particular point of discussion was the need for an MX-dedicated
beamline using short wavelength radiation (~0.33Å) for data collection and it was
emphasised by some speakers that the ‘new’ ESRF will be in a unique position to
take advantage of the properties of short wavelength radiation for MX experiments.
The presentation by Elspeth Gordon on the long term strategy for data collection,
where users may not need to travel to the ESRF to carry out experiments, elicited
much interest amongst the audience and a wish was expressed that the same
facilities that are currently available to industrial users (i.e. MXpress) should be made
available to academics for the more trivial projects. As pointed out by Sean
McSweeney, an extension of the MXpress scheme to academic users would not only
entail a higher number of beamline staff but also a different hiring profile, more
oriented to technicians rather than scientists. Sine Larsen mentioned that the higher
staff expenses might be balanced by the reduced need to pay for MX users travel
and accommodation. A final item that received much interest was the MASSIF
system, for which it was decided to request more details and a tentative schedule for
its implementation from the ESRF Directors.
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