This week Lund has hosted the 14th annual meetings of the Swedish Neutron Scattering Society, SNSS, which has illustrated the usefulness of neutron scattering methods to study properties of matter.

Exciting research programmes have been presented that cover many aspects of materials sciences, ranging from biology and bio-materials to hard materials such as mechanical engineering components or the magnetic devices of the future.

This particular meeting, the first SNSS meeting after the decision to construct the ESS in Lund was made, has been the occasion to attract Scandinavian scientists – including ESS scientists - to the ESS site, and to build up an enthusiastic user community around ESS. About 110 participants from all over the world have participated.

Workshop on bio-materials

As a further demonstration of the significance of neutron methods, an international workshop on bio-materials was held as part of the SNSS meeting to discuss how bio-interfaces such as biological membranes can shape processes in the life cycle. Internationally renowned scientists presented their current works that extend from the basic understanding of molecular phenomena to new medical applications.