Answers to frequently asked questions from and to people in general

The archetype is the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), which is best known for hosting Albert Einstein. IAS was founded in 1930 and still brings leading scientists together and gives them the resources, time and space to do science which advances the limits of human knowledge.

There are now a number of similar institutes worldwide based on a variety of funding models and operating principles. LINXS has its own approach, with the KITP in Santa Barbara, the Pufendorf institute in Lund, and to some extent NORDITA in Stockholm being specific inspirations for our working principles.

In the context of LINXS, it is recognised that "advanced" is relative; the forefront of science that can be done with the help of light sources and neutrons can be found at different levels and manifestations depending on which research community is involved.

LINXS is an advanced studies institute for x-ray and neutron related science where “advanced” refers to:

• Advancing science and understanding through new interdisciplinary connections.

• Bringing different scientific communities together, especially experimentalists, theoreticians and modellers.

• Advancing the scientific possibilities, capabilities and limits of knowledge for as many different disciplines, areas and communities as possible.

Absolutely not. LINXS' long-term goal is to be an independent institute with national and international membership and funding. Lund University is incubating LINXS, but the organisation should ultimately be directed by partnering organisations. LINXS is evolving toward this state, as of 2022, a new LINXS Theme call format provides a mechanism for concrete partnerships around Themes.

LINXS provides a community, and support for bringing together leading international expertise to advance the next generation of synchrotron and neutron relevant researchers. If you think that such facilities can benefit your work and your personal development - no matter if you are an existing or prospective user - LINXS is for you.

Researchers doing relevant research are always free to use the LINXS premises and benefit from the associated scientific environment on an ad hoc basis whenever they are in town as long as there is space available. This of course means that people doing experiments at MAX IV and ESS are also always welcome to use the LINXS premises in connection with their work, and if you have been granted beamtime at MAX IV and/or ESS you can always book a place at LINXS. Please contact the LINXS Management for any questions.

Apart from its hosting function, LINXS organises its work in themes with a core group and working groups, and funds activities connected to these. This often means funding or co-funding workshops, sabbaticals, hackathons, clinics, schools and similar targeted research efforts connected to themes and other activities.

Anyone with interest in the science being done at LINXS can participate in its activities. The majority of the work done in connection to LINXS activities is contributed in-kind from researchers from their own time because they are interested in an activity.

If you wish to get involved in a current activity, you can contact the leader(s) or member(s) in a corresponding core group (governing a Theme), or working group (in charge of a set of activities). We advise you to look up who is involved in a particular theme and its working groups via the “Theme” menu at the top of the page. Themes quite often evolve from concepts and ideas germinated in a working group or a networking event. Anyone based at any organisation can participate in a working group, by invitation of the core group.

To suggest and/or lead new Themes requires a commitment of resources from the organisation(s) of the proposer(s) and these organisations typically support their people participating with a modest percentage contribution to their salary for time to coordinate activities. Most people active in a theme are participating with their own time in-kind because they are interested in the research topics.

As of 2022 the new Theme call structure provides a concrete way to partner with LINXS for the purposes of running a specific Theme. Other general partnerships and memberships can come in different shapes and forms according to the needs and desired level and character of involvement for your organisation. Please contact the LINXS Management for more details or any questions.

LINXS has been started with a contribution from the Crafoord foundation and by Lund University including the Faculties of Science, Engineering and Medicine. LINXS currently has an annual income of about 8,5 million SEK and has a long-term target turnover of 16-24 million SEK/year for steady-state operations. This assumes full development, partnering with other organisations to run Themes, and a location between MAX IV and ESS in the Science Village area.

Not in the traditional sense. LINXS supports collaborative activities that can increase the user base and further the long-term use and development of major light- or neutron-based research infrastructures. The key is that the efforts should span several disciplines, be useful to a broad community and/or open up new avenues for research. It is the aim of many of these activities to garner additional support for the participants through traditional funding bodies, using the critical mass that LINXS helps create.

As an advanced study institute, LINXS generally hosts researchers but not their research. LINXS should not attract its own research project funding - this should be hosted by universities and research departments. However, LINXS contributes resources to projects through the activities, functions and community we provide. This is especially suited to network-, capacity- and competence building, as well as education-focused projects, such as schools related to synchrotron and neutron-relevant research. If your project has this scope and you think LINXS can help, we are very interested in talking to you.

LINXS does sometimes manage or host resources to fund targeted research efforts, including postdoc fellows, where the work is deemed to have significant impact on bringing in new research communities and ideas, or as a platform in proximity to ESS and MAX IV. As a rule, LINXS tries to keep its organisation lean and does not aim or seek to directly employ PhDs, postdocs, fellows or academic staff. Rather, we encourage participating organisations to do this. The exceptions are where consortia or funding bodies have explicitly asked LINXS to employ staff, and the LINXS Board has approved this.

No. We do not generally provide commercial-style sponsorships of events. LINXS is not a funding agency as such and is a lean organisation with a modest turnover. For relevant activities, LINXS can collaborate in event creation, and provide its resources in-kind, for example with event space, equipment, staff time, and in the planning of particular sessions.

Please don't hesitate to contact the LINXS Management if you want to establish a collaboration of any kind.