Delegation from the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory Visits Diamond Light Source for Academic Exchange

From July 6 to 9, 2026, under the invitation of Diamond Light Source (Diamond) in the United Kingdom, and supported by the University of Science and Technology of China’s Global Initiative Fund (2026 General Research Collaboration Exploration Category), a team from the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) undertook a four-day academic visit to Diamond Light Source. The delegation was led by Professor Zhou Ke-Jin, Deputy Director of the Laboratory. Through various formats including scientific and technical workshops, on-site beamline tours, and roundtable discussions, the delegation engaged in extensive and in-depth academic exchanges with several core teams at Diamond Light Source, achieving positive progress in scientific research, facility technology, engineering management, and international collaboration.

Figure 1 Group photo of Professor Zhou Ke-Jin and the delegation at Diamond Light Source, UK.

During the visit, the Chinese and British sides jointly organised a symposium on “Frontier Research on Synchrotron-Based Quantum Functional and Energy Catalytic Materials,” which featured 18 academic presentations that systematically showcased the scientific strategies and technological capabilities of the two facilities in relevant fields.

 Figure 2 Representatives from both sides presenting and exchanging ideas.

The two parties held in-depth discussions on core methodologies for quantum functional materials and energy catalytic materials. The Chinese side presented the scientific goals and construction progress of multiple beamlines at the Hefei Advanced Light Source (HALF), while the UK side shared their latest achievements and design concepts from their beamline upgrades. Through on-site visits to the experimental stations, the delegation gained valuable experience in facility design and operation. Both sides also reached a preliminary agreement on collaborative development of a shared X-ray absorption spectroscopy reference database, with future plans to share data, standardise procedures, and promote open-source cooperation.

In terms of facility technology, the delegation learned about the overall plan and key milestones for the Diamond-II upgrade, as well as technical roadmaps such as new insertion devices and the transition of experimental control systems to a cloud-native architecture. Diamond’s internal cross-departmental collaboration model also provided useful references for the construction of related systems at HALF.

On engineering management, the delegation heard about lessons learned during Diamond’s earlier construction phases, covering aspects such as outsourcing interface management and supplier integration, which offered valuable warnings for HALF to avoid similar issues. The delegation also visited the radioactive materials laboratory, biosafety laboratory, and optical fabrication and metrology laboratory, gaining insights into their service models, safety management, and fullchain optical manufacturing capabilities, thereby deepening their understanding of the comprehensive support systems for synchrotron radiation facilities.

Figure 3 Roundtable discussion.

Figure 4 Visit and study at the optical fabrication and metrology laboratory.

Based on this visit, the two sides reached consensus on cooperation in nine areas: staff exchanges, student exchanges, joint postdoctoral training, joint project applications, data sharing, expert visits, micro-course development, joint scientific research, and beamtime applications. They also planned multiple specific collaborative activities over the next two years.

Figure 5 Group photo of the delegations from both sides, building a bridge of cooperation.

This visit has opened a new chapter in the collaboration between our laboratory and Diamond Light Source in the field of synchrotron radiation, laid a solid foundation for HALF construction and the further deepening of international cooperation, and provided important support for the iteration of domestic synchrotron radiation facilities, overseas training of young researchers, and the development of HALF’s international user community.