EUGLOH Summer School on Large-Scale Facilities for Global Health

Monday June 28, 2021

8:30 - 8:40 Welcome by President of Université Paris-Saclay, Sylvie Retailleau

8:40 - 9:00 Introduction of the school by organizers, Slavka Kascakova from Université Paris-Saclay and Matthieu Réfrégiers and Frédéric Jamme from SOLEIL synchrotron

9:00 - 9:30 History of synchrotron light. Presentation of SOLEIL synchrotron (France), Stefan Kubsky, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

Utility of synchrotron light for society: Research on the COVID-19

9:30 - 10:30 Unprecedented achievements and challenges related to the global vaccine response against COVID-19, Joakim Esbjornsson & Anders Widell, Lund University Virus Center, Sweden

10:30 - 11:00 COVID-19 under the synchrotron light, Andrew Thomson, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break & Socializing

11:30 - 12:00 Presentation of MAX IV synchrotron (Sweden), Marjolein Thunnissen, MAX IV synchrotron, Sweden

12:00 - 12:30 Presentation of ELI-ALPS (Hungary), Dimitris Charalambidis, ELI-ALPS, Hungary

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch break

Illustrated applications of these light sources in Biomedical Research

14:00 - 14:30 X-ray microCT tomography in Biology, Timm Weitkamp, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

14:30 - 15:00 Antibiotic resistant bacteria under UV light, Muriel Masi & Hugo Chauvet, Université Paris-Saclay/SOLEIL synchrotron, France

15:00 - 15:30 Diagnosis of Wilson disease by X-ray fluorescence, Slavka Kascakova, Université Paris-Saclay, France

15:30 - 15:45 Coffee break & Socializing

15:45 - 16:15 FTIR microspectroscopy at subcellular spatial resolutions for biological and biomedical studies, Christophe Sandt, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

16:15 – 16:45 Multimodal imaging of Alzheimer’s disease, Oxana Klementieva, Lund University, LINXS, Sweden

16:45 - 17:15 Kidney stones related to urinary infection under synchrotron light, Elise Bouderlique, Hospital Tenon, France

17:15 - 17:45 Biomedical research in large laser facilities, Katalin Hideghéty, ELI-ALPS Laser Center, Hungary

17:45 - 18:15 Toward radiooncological application of laser based technology, Katalin Hideghéty, ELI-ALPS Laser Center, Hungary

Tuesday June 29, 2021

Illustrated applications of these light sources in Food and Environmental Science

9:30 - 10:00 X-ray fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy in food and environmental science, Camille Rivard, INRAE, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

10:00 - 10:30 The potential of state-of-the-art multimodal and multilength scale X-Ray imaging in environmental science, Kadda Medjoubi, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

10:30 - 11:00 Enzymatic activity for green chemistry with UV and infrared light, Frédéric Jamme, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break & Socializing

11:30 - 12:00 X-ray tomography for adaptation of trees to global warming, Eric Badel, INRAE, France

12:00 - 12:30 FTIR microspectroscopy protocol to investigate the biodegradation and recycling of microplastics by living organisms, Christophe Sandt, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 - 14:30 Career orientation: Overview of professional opportunities in large-scale facilities, Garance Aubry, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

14:30 - 15:30 Networking with people of different professions working in SOLEIL synchrotron, France, Céline Lory (Industrial Liaison Officer), Stefan Kubsky (Surface Lab Manager), Frédéric Jamme (Beamline Scientist), Gabriel David (Biolabs manager and Responsible for Biosafety issues), Hernan-Gabriel Pais (Coordinator)

15:30 - 16:00 Coffee break & Socializing

16:00 - 17:00 Interested by an experiment at a large-scale facility? Practical information on the procedure of access will be given with remote access control on a crystallography beamlines, Matthieu Réfrégiers and Frédéric Jamme, SOLEIL synchrotron, France, Marjolein Thunnissen, MAX IV synchrotron, Sweden, and Zita Varadi, ELI-ALPS Laser Center, Hungary

17:00 - 18:00 Virtual tour of large-scale facilities

Wednesday June 30, 2021

Practical sessions on writing proposal application for synchrotron beamtime, Divya Madhavan, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France, and Daniel Graziadei, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany

9:30 - 12:30 Practical session (Part 1/4)

• How to write as a serious scientist
• How to convey an idea
• How to synthesize a flow of ideas

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 - 18:00 Practical session (Part 2/4)

• What is the art of persuasion and why is it important to science?
• Thinking about a proposal for large-scale facilities and how to portray it convincingly
• Discussion on the informal art of persuasion

Thursday July 1, 2021

9:30 - 12:30 Practical session (Part 3/4)

• Assignment feedback (on the overnight assignment) in breakout sessions with a feedback template
• Review (+ open questions)

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 - 16:00 Practical session (Part 4/4)

• How to do an accuracy read
• How to give written feedback on a paper
• Peer-to-peer accuracy read
• Feedback

16:00 - 16:30 Coffee break & Socializing

16:30 - 18:00 Assessment of what has been learnt so far and general discussion and feedback on the summer school, Slavka Kascakova, Université Paris-Saclay, France, Matthieu Réfrégiers, SOLEIL synchrotron, France, and Frédéric Jamme, SOLEIL synchrotron, France

Registration: Please register here.

Contact person: In case of questions please contact Slavka Kascakova (slavka.kascakova@universite-paris-saclay.fr), Matthieu Refregiers (matthieu.refregiers@synchrotron-soleil.fr) or Frederic Jamme (frederic.jamme@synchrotron-soleil.fr).

• Flyer
• Programme

Large-scale facilities for the benefit of all: Goals

From 28 June to 1 July 2020, the faculty of medicine of Université Paris-Saclay and the SOLEIL synchrotron, organised an online EUGLOH summer school, dedicated to large-scale facilities for global health.

Large-scale facilities offer unique opportunities to explore materials and living matter. It is sometimes difficult to grasp to what extent these facilities can be valuable to solve scientific issues related to global health. With this in mind, the EUGLOH Alliance organised a 4-day intensive course on large-scale facilities (SOLEIL synchrotron, MAX IV synchrotron and ELI-ALPS laser centre) to raise the awareness of students and staff on the possibilities of those facilities that contribute to the European research landscape. An in-depth overview of career opportunities, operations, techniques and applications (biomedical and environmental) of these light sources was given. The last two days of the school were dedicated to practical sessions to apply for beamtime allocation.

By attending this school participants were able to: 1) getting to know techniques used within large-scale facilities and their applications in fields related to global health; 2) acquire skills on the operating range of a large facility and on modes of access to proceed to experimentation; 3) gain an overview on job specific skills; and 4) apply for beamtime allocation.

Free of access, it was designed to provide training to students (from Undergraduates to PhDs) as well as to postdoctoral and senior scientists from the five EUGLOH member universities (Lund University, Université Paris-Saclay, University of Porto, University of Szeged and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München).

Innovative methods and education at the heart of the school

The school took place online with theoretical courses during which several different biophysical techniques were presented such as: X-ray tomography, X-ray fluorescence imaging, Deep-ultraviolet (DUV) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy or crystallographic techniques and their applications (COVID19). During the practical sessions participants learned how to write a project proposal for beamtime allocation.

Since the school mostly targeted Undergraduates and Master’s students, after a general overview of professions in large scale facilities, participants had the opportunity to network with people from different professions working in SOLEIL synchrotron. An interview with Mrs Céline Lory (an Industrial Officer), Mr Stefan Kubsky (Surface Lab Manager), Mr Frédéric Jamme (Beamline Scientist), Mr Gabriel David (Biolabs manager and in charge of Biosafety Issues at synchrotron) and with Mr Hernan-Gabriel Pais (Hall coordinator) took place in the afternoon of the second day.

Unfortunately, due to the current sanitary situation, as physical mobility was not possible we nevertheless wanted to give to our participants the possibility to visit such a large-scale facility. Therefore, thanks to different videos made on synchrotron beamlines, a virtual tour of SOLEIL large-scale facilitiy was part of the school.

Results

Targeting a broad audience, both by level of study (students from different levels, doctoral candidates, researchers) as well as career path, the school brought together 83 participants and 26 speakers from the 5 members of the alliance. Thanks to the school, participants were able to discover in detail the career opportunities, operations, techniques and range of applications (biomedical, environmental and nutrition) of electromagnetic radiation sources such as SOLEIL at Saclay and MAX IV in Lund, and of lasers such as ELI-ALPS in Szeged.

After the assessment of the participants’ knowledge, certificates and 4 ECTS have been provided for those who attended the theoretical and practical sessions of the school. Participants who followed theoretical lectures only received the certificate of participation and 2 ECTS.

Feedback from Participants

Based on the survey after the school, participants appreciated the summer school a lot since we received a global note (median): 9/10. The lectures given by our lecturers were of high quality and very interesting. Indeed students who attended Summer school sessions have given aextremely positive feedback. Please see the testimonies below:

Student from LMU: "Thank you for your assistance during this Summer School. It was such a wonderful online class that I ever attended. Good job and well done!"

Student from ULund "Thank you very much for the EUGLOH summer school this week, it has been very useful. I also would like to thank you for giving me the chance to join the practical session, it is very important for my progress."

Student from UPorto: "I hope to participate in more events like this from EUGLOH, it was such a great experience!! And a special thank you to all the doctors who took their time to tell us more about what they do in their jobs and to the organizers, who did a great job and were really nice!! THANK YOU for all the knowledge!!"

Master student from UP Saclay: _"It was really a great summer school program for those who are interested and have a deep insight into Large Scale Facilities. I believe it will strengthen my knowledge for my future research in some ways. Thanks for such a wonderful program! I really enjoy to participate in 2nd EUGLOH Summer School Program"

Student from UP Saclay: "Needs to continue yearly"

Student from Szeged: "I am thankful to every single person who made this beautiful and educatory experience available for us :)"

Personal Statements from the involved professors

We (organisers of this summer school: Dr Slavka Kascakova (University of Paris Saclay); Dr Matthieu Réfrégiers (SOLEIL synchrotron) and Dr Frédéric Jamme (SOLEIL synchrotron)) are extremely happy with the positive feedback we received from our participants and we would like to thank very much to speakers who kindly accepted to participate to this 2nd edition of our school and made this happen.

It is a hard work to organise such an event, however year after year, this summer school is reopened and know always a great success, which is very valorising.