The Project

The techniques cover materials, biomedical and environmental research and technology, and are complementary to the existing synchrotron and neutron radiation networks.

The partners offer highly complementary equipment and areas of specialization.

SPIRIT will increase user access and the quality of research by sharing best practice, balancing supply and demand, harmonizing procedures and extending the services into new emerging fields and to new users especially from the New Member States and industry.

An independent European User Selection Panel will examine proposals for Transnational Access under a common SPIRIT procedure.

Networking activities include the development of common standards for quality assessment; training and consultancy for user researchers and foresight studies.

Joint Research Activities will promote emerging fields such as targeted single ion implantation for irradiation of living cells; ion-beam based analysis with ultrahigh depth resolution; ion-based 3-D tomography, and chemical and molecular imaging.

Joint efforts are also envisaged to improve the systems for detection of ion-induced secondary radiation and the associated software, and to develop means to reduce sample deterioration by the analyzing ion beams.