Chi-Chang's Corner

Tell Us About Your EFRC Ideas

July 10, 2008

Chi-Chang Kao
NSLS Department Chair
kao@bnl.gov

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In the last month, we’ve heard numerous innovative ideas from users who are interested in partnering with the NSLS to develop proposals for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) grants. We will review them, make suggestions, and facilitate the formation of teams. The deadline for full proposal submission is October 1, 2008. Please contact Ron Pindak if you are interested in participating.

Our second annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Workshop will be held on July 23-25. Based on the success of last year’s program, we’ve expanded the workshop by a day. In addition to providing basic information about synchrotron science and hands-on activities in techniques and proposal writing, I hope we can establish a way to build long-term relationships with these professors and their institutions. I look forward to welcoming back the familiar faces of the NSLS HBCU Consortium and meeting the new faculty who will experience our facility for the first time.

DOE’s Office of Emergency Management Oversight just completed an inspection of the Laboratory’s Emergency Management Program. The NSLS is well prepared for an emergency event, and I’d like to thank our staff members, along with the BNL Emergency Services staff, for their considerable effort put toward this preparation. With so many visitors and so many people moving in and out of the building, making sure that everyone knows what to do during an event is a real challenge. Please see Andrew Ackerman's Safety Update for basic emergency information you should know.

Two annual short courses took place at the NSLS in the last month with their usual great success. At the four-day practical course Crystallization: Focus on Membrane Proteins, participants received hands-on experience in a variety of crystal growth methods for obtaining high-quality crystals. And at BioCD-2008: Short Course in Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy of Proteins and Other Biomolecules, researchers were trained in the use of circular dichroism spectroscopy and closely related approaches for structural and functional characterization of proteins and other biologically important macromolecules. We are looking into expanding courses like these to further fit the needs of users with different experiences and backgrounds. Please contact Kathy Nasta if you have any suggestions or are interested in working with us.

You’ll notice a batch of new and young faces in the building this summer. I’d like to welcome this year’s summer students – 10 undergraduates from across the country who are already hard at work and a couple of high school students who will arrive in the coming weeks.

The NSLS strategic planning workshops and recent EFRC discussions have generated a large number of R&D ideas for both NSLS and NSLS-II. Lonny Berman, the new head of the NSLS Beamline R&D Section, is looking to cultivate some of these ideas through regular informal brainstorming meetings focused on advanced beamline optics, instruments, and techniques. Please contact Lonny if you have any suggestions or would like to be involved. There’s a lot of work to be done for both NSLS and NSLS-II, and much of it can be developed and tested right here at the NSLS.

Finally, a team of researchers from the NSLS and Southern University have tested a way to amplify weak signals from dilute elements through the use of a gas electron multiplier (GEM). After running an extended x-ray absorption fluorescence spectroscopy scan for iron in a tree leaf, the scientists found that their set-up creates a signal up to 20 times stronger than those produced by traditionally used detectors. You can read more about their work in this edition of eNews.