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HERCULES CELEBRATES ITS 35th ANNIVERSARY!
The 35th anniversary of the Higher European Research Course for Users of Large Experimental Systems (HERCULES) will be celebrated during a two-day scientific workshop on 27-28 March, at the end of the 2026 edition of the school.
Please find here all the information on the event and how to attend it:
https://hercules-school.eu/news/hercules-celebrates-its-35th-anniversary
https://indico.esrf.fr/event/231/
HERCULES is a European doctoral institution founded in Grenoble in 1991. Since then, it has become world-renowned for training the scientific community in using large-scale facilities (LSFs) which deliver neutron and synchrotron radiation, as well as radiation from free-electron lasers. During the five-week-long school programme, participants spend four weeks at the EPN campus in Grenoble, — home to ILL, ESRF, EMBL and IBS —, and one week at one of the HERCULES partners around Europe: ALBA, DESY-EuXFEL, ELETTRA-FERMI, KIT, MAX IV-ESS, PSI, SOLEIL. Each year, more than 250 lecturers and tutors who are world leaders in their field are involved in the school. More than 40% of the training time is devoted to practicals and tutorials. This includes access to five days of hands-on experience with LSF instruments, which makes this training unique worldwide.
Over the past thirty-five years, HERCULES has trained more than 2,500 scientists, thus building up a unique community of users of LSF in Europe and around the world over the years, playing a crucial role in their development and success.
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the HERCULES School, the ILL, ESRF and HERCULES School are organising a two-day workshop on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March 2026. The event will take place in Grenoble and will bring together LSF representatives, LSF networks, the user community and former HERCULES participants. The workshop will feature presentations by past HERCULES participants and LSF network representatives, as well as round-table discussions.
This will be a unique opportunity to review the rapid development of large-scale facilities over the last fifteen years, consider the future development of the field, and reflect on the long-term need to train the next generation of expert users in Europe and internationally.