Home

The League of advanced European Neutron Sources, LENS, is a not-for-profit consortium working to promote cooperation between European-level neutron infrastructure providers offering transnational user programs to external researchers.

Neutron Science in Europe

In Europe, there is a world-leading network of international and national neutron sources serving a scientific community of more than 5,000 researchers with over 32,000 instrument days per year. Nine of these form a strategic consortium with the aim of strengthening European neutron science by enhancing collaboration among the facilities. LENS places emphasis on the relationship between user communities and funding organisations, continuous improvement of source facilities, optimising resources between and aligning policies among partners—all to ensure excellence to the communities they serve. Read more about LENS.

Recent Science Highlights from LENS Members

Smartly solved: How molecules release active ingredients in a targeted way

Smart molecules can change their shape and properties depending on temperature or other parameters such as macromolecular architecture. In pharmaceutic applications, they release active ingredients in a targeted manner at the desired locations. Neutrons at the MLZ reveal these nanostructures and help specifically design new molecules with desired properties.

Read More

Small-angle scattering techniques offer new insight towards the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

Aggregates of amyloid beta- (Aβ-)peptide, known as fibrils, are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease and play a key role in the sequence of events leading to dementia symptoms. Using small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering, researchers from Lund University and the Paul Scherrer Institut have determined the detailed structure of Aβ42-fibril, obtaining important information to design future therapeutics.

Read More

Testing the resilience of electronics for the Internet of Things

Using the ChipIr instrument at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Facility, researchers have studied how ultralow power system-on-chip is affected by the neutron flux in the atmosphere. This study may be helpful in future design of such devices to be more resilient to particle hits.

Read More

Analysis of cosmic dust brings scientists one step closer to quantum and magnonic devices

New research published in Science brings us a step closer to magnonic devices and quantum computing. Neutron analysis has revealed the behaviour of magnetic waves in a class of materials, enabling scientists to picture a future where electronic currents no longer cause our devices to heat up.

Read More

View more Science Highlights >>

Recent News

• 
  International Women’s Day Social Media Campaign
  To celebrate International Women's Day, we asked our female colleagues at Europe's Neutron Scattering facilities to share their insights & advice for women in STEM.
• 
  An update from LENS: General Assembly and Council Meetings
  Over two days of informative and productive meetings, representatives from LENS and the wider neutron scattering community met online to discuss current and future goals of the initiative, in the context of the broader European research landscape.
• 
  BNC-LENS beam time open for proposals until 22 Feb
  Given the current shortage of neutrons in Europe, the Budapest Neutron Centre is offering to accommodate experiments that have been allocated beam time as part of any LENS facility user program, but have not yet been scheduled for any reason, if – at least part of – the experiments are technically feasible to accomplish at BNC­.