About the project
Project Sylinda (Synchrotron Light Industry Applications) aims at boosting R&D capabilities of the National Synchrotron Radiation Centre SOLARIS, located in Kraków, Poland, through the cooperation with experienced project partners: ALBA Synchrotron, Hochschule Niederrhein and University of Bonn.
In order to boost the industrial research programme at Solaris, efficient cooperation structures will be organized, centered around the newly established Industrial Liaison Office and supported by the industry-focused beamline scientist and a dedicated funding officer. The staff involved in these activities will be enrolled in the twinning and advanced training programmes at the facilities of the project partners, in order to gain necessary expertise. A special emphasis will be placed on enhancing industry research project management, proposal preparation and administration skills.
The X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) beamline, currently under construction at Solaris, will be upgraded with a high resolution spectrometer, making it attractive for academic and industrial users dealing with the studies of low-Z elements (atomic number Z down to Z=11). This will open new cooperation avenues with the pharmaceutical, rubber, agricultural, biological, chemical and cosmetic industry sectors.
Various communication and dissemination activities will include a summer school focused on science management and the specifics of industrial research projects, dedicated for early stage researches and an industrial workshop, organized at Solaris. These activities will enhance the visibility of Solaris in the European synchrotron community and ensure the sustainability of the Sylinda project. The network established with the experienced partners will lead to the future collaborations with other European and worldwide research institutions and to the future R&D projects with both academic and industrial partners.
Budget
899.058,75 EUR
Duration
36 months
Type of action
Coordination & Support
Project partners
National Synchrotron Radiation Centre SOLARIS, located in Kraków, Poland, is the only operational synchrotron radiation facility in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region. Since the beginning of its operation in 2018, it has consistently shown a rapid pace of development, with three beamlines already serving external users, five more currently under construction and the capacity to build another ten. It also provides access to two cryoEM microscopes, via the National Centre of Cryo-Electron Microscopy. The main focus of SOLARIS so far, has been enabling excellence in basic and applied science. However, in order to enhance the societal and economic impact of the research conducted at the Centre, strengthening the cooperation with industry has become one of its main strategic objectives for the next few years. The Centre is a part of the Jagiellonian University, the oldest Polish university and one of the leading research institutions in Central and Eastern Europe.
Alba synchrotron, operated by the CELLS consortium (Consortium for the Construction, Equipping and Exploitation of the Synchrotron Light Source) is located in in Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona. It is the newest synchrotron light source in the Mediterranean area, opened in 2010, providing access to eight operational beamlines, with four additional ones under construction. In 2013, the Industrial Liaison Office was established at Alba, which has served more than 50 different customers over past seven years, covering a wide range of industrial sectors: pharmaceutical, chemistry, advanced materials, food and packaging, automotive, energy, environment, nanotechnology and health. The ALBO ILO has also organized eight Industrial Workshops, which form the key part of the outreach activities.
Hochschule Niederrhein is one of the most successful Universities of Applied Science in Germany. It was recently awarded a status of an “excellent and innovative Uniersity of Applied Sciences by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and is deeply connected to the local, national and international innovation ecosystem. It operates a dedicated Department of Science Management and Transfer, focusing on the research funding, intellectual property rights, legal advisory, innovation and technology transfer management, start-up and corporation management support. With the cooperation of the Synchrotron Light Research Institute in Thailand, it is constructing the X-ray absorption beamline at SOLARIS, which is expected to be used to a large extent by the industrial users.
Institute of Physics at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Bonn is a pioneering institution, when it comes to the applications of synchrotron radiation – the very first SR experiments in Europe were conducted at the Bonn synchrotron. The institution has been focused on the X-ray absorption experiments since the experiments carried out by prof. Hormes in the mid-eighties. The Institute has strong links with large industrial partners, such as Bayer AG and Goodyear, as well as smaller enterprises.