CALL for APPLICATIONS for FAculty-STudent (FAST) Teams to Spend Two (2) Months During Calendar Year 2026 at Participating Advanced Light Sources

DEADLINE: 31 OCTOBER 2025

Lightsources for Africa, the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Pacific (LAAAMP) will award FAST Team grants to enhance advanced light source (AdLS) and crystallography sciences in eight (8) targeted regions of the world: Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Pacific.  The grants are sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), and the American Physical Society (APS).  The successful applicants will spend two (2) months during Calendar Year 2026 at LAAAMP’s AdLS Collaborative Partners to acquire expertise in accelerator technology or AdLS beamline techniques, including those involving crystallography.

Application categories

Continuing

Consists of applications from FAST Teams that are led by faculty who were previous New LAAAMP FAST Team Awardees, but not previous Continuation LAAAMP FAST Team Awardees.  

New

Consists of all other applications.  

Who is Eligible under the New Category?

Faculty

• Employed as a full-time faculty member at an accredited Ph.D. granting university that is located in one of the targeted regions enumerated above.
• Accompanied by one’s Ph.D. student research advisee.
• Interested in using AdLSs to further one’s research and training endeavors.
• Previous experience with using AdLSs is limited to a year or less.
• Ability to spend two (2) months during Calendar Year 2026 as a full-time visitor in residence at an AdLS that is a LAAAMP Collaborative Partner. 

Student

• Registered as a full-time Ph.D. student at an accredited university that is located in one of the targeted regions enumerated above.
• Accompanied by one’s faculty research advisor. 
• Interested in using AdLSs in one’s dissertation research.
• Ability to spend two (2) months during Calendar Year 2026 as a full-time visitor in residence at an AdLS that is a LAAAMP Collaborative Partner. 

Amount of Financial Support

LAAAMP will provide 2,000 Euros per person to cover transportation costs. Any excess will be applied to accommodation and subsistence. The remainder of accommodation and subsistence should be negotiated with the host AdLS, which may or may not be able to provide support for local costs, and other sources of support. Please make sure you have prior written agreement before travelling to cover all costs from the sources available to you.

Deliverables

Within one month after the conclusion of the visit to the host AdLS, the FAST team should provide the following:

1. Maximum 10-page description of the research conducted, including any publications that result.
   All publications should acknowledge the support provided by IUPAP-IUCr-ICTP LAAAMP.
2. Maximum 3-page report that evaluates the non-scientific aspects of the visit, including positive experiences as well as ways that the visit could be enhanced in the future.

Who are LAAAMP’s AdLS Collaborative Partners?

• Advanced Light Source (USA)
• Advanced Photon Source (USA)
• ALBA (Spain)
• Australian Synchrotron
• Canadian Light Source
• DELTA (Germany)
• Elettra (Italy)
• European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (France)
• Max IV Laboratory (Sweden)
• National Synchrotron Light Source-II (USA)
• Photon Factory (Japan)
• Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (South Korea)
• SESAME (Jordan)
• Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (China)
• Siam Photon Source (Thailand)
• Sirius Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source
• Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (USA)
• Taiwan Photon Source

To What Persons and Email Addresses Should Applications and Requests of Information be Submitted?

Residents of Africa

Click here to download the application form 

Note: Final funding is dependent upon suitable arrangements being made with a LAAAMP AdLS Collaborative Partner.