SESAME 19th Users' Meeting

13 Sept 2026, 07:30 → 15 Sept 2026, 23:30 Asia/Amman

SESAME

The 19th SESAME Users' Meeting will take place at SESAME, Allan (Jordan), from 13 to 15 September 2026.

The Users' Meeting will bring together users, beamline scientists, facility staff and international experts to present the latest scientific results obtained at SESAME and to discuss future opportunities for research and collaboration.

The meeting will provide updates on the scientific and strategic development of the facility, including recent advances at the SESAME beamlines, new user capabilities, international collaborations and future initiatives.

The programme will feature invited keynote lectures, strategic updates, beamline developments, presentations by SESAME users covering a broad range of disciplines - including materials science, chemistry, life sciences, archaeology and cultural heritage - and discussions on future scientific opportunities. It will also include sessions on data analysis and management, cybersecurity, proposal writing, research funding, scientific publishing, and career development, together with a visit to the facility.

The meeting offers an excellent opportunity to strengthen collaborations within the SESAME community, establish new partnerships with leading international research institutions, and shape the future scientific programme of the facility.

Participants will also have the opportunity to present a scientific poster. During registration, those wishing to do so may indicate their interest and provide the research field of their contribution, allowing the programme committee to organise the poster session accordingly.

We look forward to welcoming you to SESAME in September 2026.

SESAME makes available a limited number of grants for participation in the 19th Users Meeting.

Sunday 13 September

Registration

Opening

Conveners: Dr Khaled Toukan (SESAME), Dr Atef Elkadime (SESAME), Dr Maher Attal (SESAME), Dr Andrea Lausi (SESAME)

11:15 Coffee break and group photo

Session 1: Strategic updates

Session 1: Strategic updates: Sunstone

Convener: Mrs Mirjam Van Daalen (Paul Scherrer Institute)

Session 1: Strategic updates: IAEA–SESAME Collaboration: Expanding Access to Synchrotron Research and Strengthening Scientific Capacity

Session 1: Strategic updates: European-Palestinian laboratory

13:15 Lunch

Session 2: Beamline Updates

1 HESEB beamline updates

Speaker: Mustafa Genisel

Session 2: Beamline Updates: IR Beamline

Session 2: Beamline Updates: XAFS/XRF Beamline

Session 2: Beamline Updates: MS/XPD Beamline

16:00 Afternoon tea

Session 2: Beamline Updates: HESEB Beamline

Convener: Dr Mustafa GENISEL (SESAME)

Session 2: Beamline Updates: TXPES Beamline

Session 2: Beamline Updates: BEATS beamline

18:00 Dinner

Monday 14 September

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: TBA

Convener: Messaoud Harfouche (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME))

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: Shining synchrotron light on heterogeneous catalytic reactions: new tools to decipher dynamic structure-activity relationships

Convener: Dr Maarten Nachtegaal (Paul Scherrer Institute)

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: Tomography

Convener: Dr Christoph Rau (Diamond)

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: Accessing hidden text on papyri – An example for cultural heritage

Convener: Dr Heinz-Eberhard Mahnke (Freie Universitat Berlin)

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: SESAME Synchrotron tomography for cultural heritage: structural diagnostics of Roman mosaics mock-ups

Convener: Dr Andrea Campostrini (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia)

11:00 Coffee Break

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: Soft X-ray absorption and XMCD

Convener: Dr Javier Herrero Martin (CELL)

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: TBA

Conveners: Dr Mohammad Abu Haija (Khalifa University), Roa AlNatour

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: IR experiments

Convener: Gihan Kamel (SESAME Synchrotron light Source)

Session 3: Groundbreaking applications of synchrotron facilities: Not all teeth are created equal: How Variations in Enamel Crystallography and Protein Content Affect Tooth Optical and Mechanical Properties

Convener: Dr Faleh Tamimi (Qatar University)

13:30 Lunch and poster session

Session 4: Sunstone panel discussion

Conveners: Dr Alejandro Gruseo (SUNSTONE), Dr Annick Froideval (SUNSTONE), Dr Edward MITCHELL (ESRF), Dr Mariangela Cestelli Guidi (INFN), Dr Mirjam Van Daalen (SUNSTONE)

2 Archaeology

Preservation of organic compounds in non-adult and adult bones: A case study from 3,500-year-old Cyprus (Yuko Miyauchi)
From Petra to SESAME: Using Synchrotron-Based Techniques to Better Understand and Preserve Cultural Heritage (Samah Khasawneh)
Innovative Analytical Approaches for the Study of Natural Dyes in Historical Wool Fibers: Insights from Synchrotron IR Spectroscopy (Manijeh Hadian)

Speakers: Dr Keyron Hickman-Lewis (The Natural History Museum), Dr Manijeh HADIAN DEHKORDI (Research for Conservation of Cultural Relics (RCCCR) in Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism), Dr Mohammad Ali Haddad (Yazd University), Dr Samah Khasawneh (Sela for Training and Protection Heritage), Dr Yuko Miyauchi (SESAME)

3 Chemical Sciences

Mechanistic Investigation of Phototoxic Brominated Fluorophores (Sara GHAZAL)
Surface Reconstruction and Defect Evolution in Tin Oxide Materials under Sub-bandgap Illumination (Berkan Atman)
XAFS Investigation of Carbonation Phases in Mg-Based Binders: Impact of Carbonation Curing on Strength Development (Inderjeet Singh)
Electronic and Structural Properties Investigations of InN based on Synchrotron Radiation (Leyla Colakerol ARSLAN)

Speakers: Dr Berkan Atman (Middle East Technical University), Dr Inderjeet Singh (New York University Abu Dhabi), Dr Leyla Colakerol ARSLAN (Gebze Technical University), Dr Omer Suat Taskin (Istanbul University), Dr Sara GHAZAL (The University of Jordan)

4 Life Sciences test

Heavy metal uptake in olive trees (Olea europaea L.) in the circum-Mediterranean region (Zeynep DELEN NIRCAN)
Comparative study of anatomical structures of the mouthparts of Macrolophus pygmaeus and Nesidiocoris tenuis (Hemiptera: Miridae) (Hassan Hoda)
Early structural changes in Multiple Myeloma Bone Disease (Wei Li)

Speakers: Dr Hassan Hoda (online) (Iranian research institute of plant protection), Dr Majed Al Holi (The University of Jordan), Dr Murat Kazanci (Istanbul Medeniyet University), Dr Murat Kazanci (Istanbul Medeniyet University), Dr Wei Li (Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin), Dr Zeynep DELEN NIRCAN (Sabanci University)

5 Materials and Physical Sciences

Synchrotron-radiation probes utilized for specialty photonic materials (Ali Karatutlu)
Geological Characterisation of Depleted Reservoirs for Carbon Capture and Storage in the Niger Delta (Itai Mutadza)
Spectroscopy based chemo-metric analysis for high energy radiation damaged quantification in polymers (Sajjad Hussain)
Constructing Holocene Climate from Speleothems (Ahlam Farhan)
TBA (Fawad Ehsan)

Speakers: Dr Ali Karatutlu (Sivas University of Science and Technology), Dr Itai Mutadza (Harare Institute of Technology), Dr Sajjad Hussain (The Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University), Dr Ahlam Farhan (SESAME), Dr Fawad Ehsan (Lyallpur Oil Tool)

18:00 Dinner

Tuesday 15 September

Session 6: Cutting edge data analysis and data handling

Session 6: Cutting edge data analysis and data handling: Enhancing Experimental Data Visibility

Convener: Mr Mustafa Al-Zu’bi (SESAME)

Session 6: Cutting edge data analysis and data handling: Cybersecurity Awareness

Convener: Dr Stefan Lueders

Session 6: Cutting edge data analysis and data handling: User and Data Access

Convener: Mr Salman Matalgah (SESAME)

Session 6: Cutting edge data analysis and data handling: TBA

Convener: Mr Haider SHAH (SESAME)

11:30 Coffee break

Session 7: Parallel career development sessions

Session 7: Parallel career development sessions: How to write a successful proposal

Convener: Dr Gihan KAMEL (SESAME)

Session 7: Parallel career development sessions: Funding your research

Convener: Dr Lubna Tahtamouni (Hashemite University)

Session 7: Parallel career development sessions: Positioning for publication

Convener: Dr Elizabeth NEW (SESAME)

13:30 Lunch

SESAME tour

Session 8: Panel discussion of the SESAME trainees

Meeting Close

18:00 Dinner