In March, the XAS-school gathered 20 students from all over Europe at LINXS to train new and early users to design, plan, prepare, perform and analyse an X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiment at a synchrotron beamline. Learning XAS is important, according to researcher Jens Uhlig, since the technique can be used within a wide range of scientific areas and serves as an entry point into other complementary techniques.

A man, Jens Uhlig. Photo. — Jens Uhlig is a senior lecturer at Chemical Physics at Lund University, and working group leader of the Light Harvesting Processes working group.

Integration of theory and practice is integral to the school

Jens Uhlig, Light Harvesting Processes working group leader, under the New Materials theme, explains that the integration of practice and theory is integral to the school, and its aim of getting users ready for MAX IV, and other synchrotron facilities.

One day of the school is dedicated to practical training at MAX IV, where the students get to “touch” the instrument. On this day the students get to prepare and mount different samples and then measure them during a mini beamtime. This includes to get hands on training in preparing a sample, go through all the safety steps and then bring the sample to the hutch, mount it, control the machine to measure the data, and in the following days analyse the data to extract the hidden knowledge. Of course, before this day the students also learn how to prepare a proposal and what is needed to publish the results.

Other sections of the school are devoted to practical data analysis, lectures on the theory behind the techniques and an overview over complementary techniques available at synchrotron facilities.

People in a room, at the XAS school. Photo. — Students at the New Materials XAS-school.

– The aim is that the students should get an understanding of what can be done, and what it means to prepare, and perform their experiment, including analysing their results. If something goes wrong, they are better equipped to recognise the problem both theoretically and practically, says Jens Uhlig, senior lecturer at Chemical Physics at Lund University.

He continues:

–It is about bringing people all the way from understanding the basic theory, to a place where they can conceptualise an idea, realise the experiment and bring it to a conclusion with the publication.

Learn as a teacher and a researcher

As a teacher, Jens Uhlig learns a lot every time he runs the school. This is because he must conceptualise and explain theories and practical aspects in a way that different students can understand – something that he sees as very healthy, and beneficial for his teaching. Likewise, he develops as a researcher.

– I get to immerse myself in the students’ research problems for a short time. This exercise makes me grow as a researcher and widens my perspectives. As part of this experience I learn e.g. how to study the growth of new ferromagnetic materials on surfaces. Another benefit is network we build through the recurring schools.

Feedback from students very positive

The most important take away, however, is the positive feedback from students. The popularity is also shown by the fact that both times more than double the number of people applied to the school, despite a very short and limited promotion. The school is limited to 20 people due to the training at MAX IV.

– It is great to hear about students making use of what they learnt. The course is very intense, but through its focus on the practicality, very effective. The long-term goal is that they will go on to become independent users of MAX IV.

The next XAS-school is scheduled for 2025. To date it is not decided it will fall under LINXS, or be organised under a department at Lund University.

Read about the recent XAS-school. It was organised under the New Materials Theme

Read about the New Materials Theme