MAX IV and ESS

MAX IV Laboratory

MAX IV Laboratory is a national electron accelerator laboratory for synchrotron radiation research which was inaugurated on 21 June 2016, in the presence of the Swedish King, His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf and the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven. 

The MAX IV facility is the largest and most ambitious Swedish investment in research infrastructure and the brightest source of x-rays worldwide. It will receive more than 2,000 scientists annually from Sweden and the rest of the world.

Research takes place in areas such as materials science, structural biology, chemistry and nanotechnology.

MAX IV Laboratory is located in Lund, Sweden, and hosted by Lund University. Funders include the Swedish Research Council, VINNOVA, Lund University, Region Skåne and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

• MAX IV website
• This is MAX IV - visual diagram with key facts, presented on the MAX IV website 
• Pictures from the MAX IV inauguration on 21 June 2016
• The Swedish Research Council website

Conceptual design of ESS image by ESS/Team Henning Larsen Architects

European Spallation Source

In an area of two square kilometres in north-west Lund, the European Spallation Source (ESS), a unique facility for materials research, is being built. The ESS will be a multidisciplinary scientific research centre harnessing the world’s most powerful neutron source. Researchers will be able to study the materials of everyday life, from plastics and proteins to medicines and molecules, in order to understand how they are built up and how they work. 

The facility can be likened to a giant microscope, where neutrons are fired at different types of material so that they can be analysed in detail. ESS will be responsible for future research breakthroughs in medicine, environmental science, climate, communication and transport.

Despite competition from British, Spanish, Hungarian and German rivals, Lund was given the honour of building the facility, which is being co-financed by a number of countries in the EU who will all benefit from it. 

Along with the recently inaugurated MAX IV facility, ESS will form a hub in the European research infrastructure. ESS is expected to deliver its first neutrons by the end of the decade with the user programme to follow in 2023.

European Spallation Source (ESS) website

Science Village Scandinavia

Lund University, City of Lund and Region Skåne have together established Science Village Scandinavia to support the development of infrastructure for the two new research facilities. The area has a strong international character and focus on sustainable urban development.

Science Village Scandinavia website