What is COST Action MP0601?

COST Action MP0601 is a network of scientists with common interests directly related to short wavelength laboratory sources.

Short wavelength radiation has been used in medicine and materials studies since immediately after the 1895 discovery of x-rays. The development of synchrotron sources over the last 25 years, or so, has led to a boom in applications in other areas.

But synchrotron beam-lines are often over-subscribed by factors of three or more; despite the widely-acknowledged advantages of synchrotron radiation, there is not enough to go round. Due to the cost of such sources (more than 100M€ to build, perhaps about 1M€ per beam-line per year to run) this is likely to remain the case.

Also, there is work, of economic, societal or health significance, that can never be done using synchrotron sources, including:

• Security inspections at airports and ports – as these inevitably become more extensive, and sophisticated, throughput must be increased significantly to minimise delays;
• In-field studies of valuable items that cannot be transported to synchrotrons, requiring the development of compact integrated (source, optics, detector) systems;
• In-field studies of pollutants in situ, requiring similar development of integrated systems but probably at different energies;
• Routine medical and dental work, where improved sources and associated equipment will lead to reductions in patient dose;
• Applications that need continuous, high throughput, access; these include:
  EUV lithography, for future generation micro- (nano-?) circuits; radiobiological studies of radiation-induced mutations; so far, only cell-death studies have been possible as mutations take place in only around 1 in 10,000 irradiations.

According to the Web of Science, since 1990 the total number of scientific papers per year has risen by 45%, while there has been an eleven-fold increase in publications concerning x-rays. Over the same period there has been a 30 times increase in papers involving synchrotron sources, but even so fewer than 7% of x-ray applications use synchrotrons.

All the above point to the need to develop alternative, cheaper, more accessible sources which can offer at least some of the properties of synchrotrons.

Who can join our Action?

Anybody who has a genuine interest in the Action can attend the Working Group meetings. To become a member of the Action, and be eligible for travel and subsistence reimbursements, the candidate’s main research must be based in one of the European countries:

• a country which is a COST member and signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU);
• a country which is a COST member but did not signed the MoU (contact Chair or Vice-Chair for further details).

Additionally, to participate in Short Term Scientific Missions supported by the Action the candidate must have national research funds available;

COST MP0601 started on 2nd of April 2007 and will end on 1st of April 2011.

What are the funds available for?

• Travel — the eligible members will be refunded the costs of their travel to the meeting place. The travel may be by air, train, bus, private or hired car provided it is the most economical expenditure. The originals or legible photocopies of travel tickets and documents, showing the amount paid and full routing, must be submitted.
• Accommodation — the reimbursements for room and breakfast are made on a fixed rate per night and to a maximum of one night before and one night after the meeting.
• Meals — the expenses are reimbursed at a fixed rate per meal (lunch or dinner).

To read more about travel and subsistence reimbursements follow this link Refunds Vademecum (992kb pdf)