UC professor is the first Portuguese member appointed to the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Spallation Source

English version: Diana Taborda

Maria Paula Marques, professor at the Department of Life Sciences (DCV) of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) is the first Portuguese member appointed to the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Spallation Source (ESS), a laboratory that is being built in Lund, Sweden, which aims to update and complement the existing neutron facilities by providing access to researchers across the world in the most diverse fields of study.

"The Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Spallation Source is a committee with experienced scientists of recognized competence in neutron scattering methods, so I feel honoured by this invitation. I am very pleased to be able to contribute to the establishment of a cutting-edge institution that will certainly be one of the main centres of world research in the upcoming decades, providing results with high impact on society", says the FCTUC professor.

According to Professor Maria Paula Marques, ESS is a pan-European research facility of excellence in the area of spectroscopic and diffraction methods using a neutron beam, currently used by around 6000 researchers across Europe. The ESS Scientific Advisory Committee aims to optimize the new instruments and laboratories available to future users, thus making ESS a world-leading laboratory in this knowledge field/scientific research.

Maria Paula Marques believes that this appointment is important and of great interest for the University of Coimbra and FCTUC, as well as for Portugal, because "by being included in this type of international infrastructure, we will be able to boost the research that is carried out here and pave the way for Portuguese scientists from the most diverse fields of study to have access to these pan-European laboratories. All the more so, since Portugal is not part of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) - the ESS founding consortium, which brings together thirteen European countries. I am currently the only Portuguese representative in the ESS Scientific Advisory Committee,” she adds.

The new European laboratory is scheduled to open in 2025 and will allow the widespread use by researchers from all over the world. More information can be found on the websites of the European Spallation Source and the ESS Scientific Advisory Committee.