Networks, relationships and enticing scientific environment - LINXS guest researcher programme creates important value

From the left: Andrew Boothroyd, then top row: Michael Philipp Adams, Andreas Stadler, bottom row: Carlos Campos and Samuele Masoni - five guest researchers who visited LINXS during 2023.

LINXS Guest Researcher programme aims to attract world-leading scientists for short-term focused research visits, and to create international networks that can contribute towards building community and promoting science and education focusing on the use of neutrons and X-rays.

In this article, we share some reflections from five guest researchers who visited LINXS during 2023. LINXS is extremely grateful for how they shared their experience, passion, and science with the LINXS community.

Andreas Stadler, senior scientist at Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Forschungszentrum Jülic. He worked with the Integrative Pharmacology and Drug Discovery theme, specifically with the Antibodies in solution working group.

“I spent in total six weeks in Lund. I used the time here to interact with colleagues from the Physical Chemistry Faculty at Lund University and, in particular, with my host Prof. Anna Stradner and her group. I had many discussions about our Antibody in solution project with members who are part of our Antibodies working group. I also spoke to other people involved in Physical Chemistry, about disordered proteins, also about small angle scattering. I had an excellent interchange with many colleagues! I attended several LINXS events, for example I presented the work of our working group at the IPDD theme meeting in May, and I also gave a LINXS Guest Seminar. Based on the visit we performed a neutron scattering experiment at the ILL in Grenoble to study the dynamics of antibodies in solution together with Marco Polimeni and Szilárd Sáringer who are Postdoctoral Researchers at Lund University and members of Anna’s research group.“

“I would recommend everyone to come to Lund and spend time there. You have the new spallation source, ESS, coming. As a neutron scattering scientist, I am excited about this. You have something new coming, and time to think about how to use the possibilities.”

“I have established many excellent contacts. I used my time in Lund to communicate with people I met at LINXS. This led to meetings with people I wouldn’t have come across at conferences, like Andrew Boothroyd or Michael Adams. We discussed neutron scattering. I also spoke and met with many people from MAX IV and ESS, since I visited both those facilities. Pascale Deen gave me a very nice tour of the ESS together with Andrew Boothroyd and showed us her instrument CSPEC that is currently under construction.”

Samuele Masoni, PhD student at the University of Pisa in Italy. He worked with the Integrative Pharmacology and Drug Discovery theme.

“My time in Lund brought forth numerous opportunities through my engagement with the LINXS community. Beyond the memorable connections with wonderful individuals whom I will carry with me throughout my life, I had the chance to present my research and establish connections that are instrumental in advancing my current project. This was made possible by the various events organised by the LINXS institute. For instance, during the LINXS Science Day, I received a particularly interesting and critical suggestion on my project that helped me overcome a challenging issue.”

“The network I became a part of not only provided me with fresh perspectives on my project but also offered valuable insights into innovative procedures and techniques for analysis and information gathering, potentially paving the way for future collaborations. My project focuses on life science, specifically the development of novel small molecule drugs; however, the diverse subjects covered by the themes of LINXS institute ensure constructive and beneficial involvement for projects in all science fields.”

Carlos Campos, Professor at the Department of Physics, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. He worked with the New Materials theme.

“When I read about the goals of the New Materials’ theme, I felt that they really connected to my science. During my stay, theme leader Professor Elizabeth Blackburn opened many doors for me to meet people and researchers, also in Uppsala which I was happy about.”

“It was so magic to me to be at the fifth floor in LINXS. All the events I attended, all the schools. I love it! I really admire how you do it. Every week I am checking out the LINXS event page, and I find something interesting. Such a big list, I would like to jump on it, but I have also deadlines to do! I am so excited about the ESS, so excited about being here in Lund.”

“I can give you three reasons why you should come to Lund! It’s easy! The first one is the people! Trevor, Daniel, Martin – I can mention many others! LINXS is passionate about science! That is important. People here are passionate; it is bigger than just the science. LINXS is also in the middle of the big facilities, MAX IV and ESS. The final reason is connected to the many activities that LINXS organises, it’s a chance to be in contact with so many people, and to learn so many things.”

“One of my goals also is science education so this is important to me, all the schools LINXS had. To have the practical element in the school, and to see people doing science experiments is good. It was great to also contribute by giving seminars to present my own science and participating in discussions.”

Michael Philipp Adams, PhD student at the University of Luxembourg under the group Magnetic Neutron Scattering Group of Luxembourg. He worked with the New Materials theme.

“During my research stay at LINXS and Lund University, I had the fantastic chance to immerse myself in a welcoming and collaborative environment. I expanded my professional network by connecting with scientists at the ESS and had the privilege of sharing my research through seminars, including ones hosted by Prof. Elizabeth Blackburn at Lund University and Prof. Kim Lefmann at Copenhagen University. At the end of my three-month stay in Lund, I held a seminar at LINXS summarising the knowledge and experience I had gained during this time.”

“In collaboration with Dr. Wojciech Potrzebowski (ESS), I started with a contribution to the Python-based SASview software. Dr. Potrzebowski helped me with the first steps and introduced me to the SASview development team. My project was about adding the MuMag2022 software tool to the SASview library. I had previously developed this tool (MuMag2022) in the nanomagnetism group led by Prof. Andreas Michels at the University of Luxembourg. Through this collaboration, I was able to gain a lot of valuable experience and insights into the development of large software projects. I would like to thank the SASview team for this great opportunity.”

“In addition to expanding my professional network, I find great joy in forming new friendships. The experience goes beyond the realm of professional connections, allowing me to build meaningful and lasting relationships with colleagues and peers.”

Andrew Boothroyd, Professor of Physics at the Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford University, and a member of the LINXS Scientific Advisory Board, SAB, since 2021.

“The time I spent as a Guest Researcher at LINXS was incredibly inspiring, and has led to some lasting impacts and new scientific collaborations. I am very grateful to the staff at LINXS for their warm welcome and hospitality.”

“I had a very productive time at LINXS. For example, I visited and had a tour of the ESS, met and had discussions with several of the local scientists at Lund University, including Professor Elizabeth Blackburn, with whom I have been collaborating, and Crispin Hetherington who runs an electron microscopy facility in the Department of Chemistry. I also attended scientific meetings here at LINXS, and gave a seminar, which I did at the University of Copenhagen too.”

“I also enjoyed interacting with the LINXS staff, socially – they’re very nice people! – and had lots of chats over lunch especially with the post-doc, Daniel, Anurag and Gudrun, and other visiting researchers.”

“A lasting impact to come out of my visit to LINXS is my collaboration wtih Michael Adams, who is a graduate student at the University of Luxembourg and was a Visiting Researcher at the same time as me. He has expertise in calculating micro-magnetic fields from systems of magnetic dipoles, and he is using this in his PhD thesis. We struck up a collaboration as a result of something strange that happened. I was contacted by a journalist from the Agence France Presse (AFP, a global media organisation). The journalist works in a department which seeks to debunk myths about science, fake news, etc, and wanted my opinion about a report that had appeared online which claimed that putting magnets on the door of your refrigerator could affect food inside the refrigerator and increase the risk of cancer development. I mentioned this to Michael, and he calculated the magnetic field inside the refrigerator due to a magnet on the door. His calculation showed that the field was comparable with the earth’s magnetic field, so there is inconceivable that fridge magnets on the fridge door can give an increased cancer risk. The journalist wrote an online article based on Michael’s result and my analysis of it.”

“I have now arranged for Michael to spend three months in my group in Oxford during 2024. The aim is to collaborate on some other topics of common interest. This is an example of how a serendipitous encounter facilitated by LINXS can lead to a new scientific collaboration!”