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ESRF welcomes 19th country to the family of members

20-08-2008

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia have joined in a consortium to become a new Associate Member of the ESRF. In an informal ceremony at the ESRF on 14 August, representatives of the three countries and the ESRF signed the CENTRALSYNC consortium agreement. CENTRALSYNC has a financial share of 1.05% of the ESRF budget.

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The Czech Republic and Hungary have been cooperating with the ESRF for several years under a contractual arrangement providing scientists from these countries with access to ESRF facilities. With the adhesion of Slovakia and the creation of CENTRALSYNC, these central European countries have gained the status of Associate Member of the ESRF and participation in the governing bodies of the facility.

 
centralsync

The agreement was signed by Prof. Dusan Petras, Vice-Rector of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Dr. Jan Ridky, Director of the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prof. Robert Feidenhans’l of Copenhagen University, President of the ESRF Council, Prof. Tamas Nemeth, Secretary of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Prof. William G. Stirling, Director General.

All participants at the ceremony expressed their wish for a further increase of the presence of central European countries at the ESRF through experiments, procurements and ESRF staff. They also stressed that having access to a world-class synchrotron light source adds a new very valuable tool to their research infrastructures.

CENTRALSYNC is represented at the ESRF by the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava.

 

 

Top image: Map of the ESRF Member countries (in dark green) and Associate Members (in light green).