The XMaS mid-range facility is a synchrotron x-ray beamline embedded in the heart of the European Photon and Neutron (EPN) Science Campus in Grenoble, France and is managed by the Universities of Liverpool and Warwick. The beamline is part of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) which forms part of the EPN along with the other European institutes including the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Institute Laué-Langevin (ILL) neutron source. The original beamline was conceived primarily as a tool to study magnetic materials, hence the acronym X-ray Magnetic Scattering (XMaS). The beamline has been supporting users since 1997 but has a far broader remit than magnetic scattering and supports active research groups in over 49 UK universities (representing over 400 independent researchers) and covers research in materials science, physics, chemistry, soft condensed matter as well as biomaterials and healthcare. The facility is an enabling tool serving the materials science community (including academic researchers, national research laboratories and industry) – hence its rebirth as the UK’s X-ray Material Science beamline at the ESRF. It plays a major role in underpinning interdisciplinary projects and contributes directly to societal challenges such as energy storage and recovery, the digital economy and advances in healthcare technologies as well as contributing to the UK research infrastructure.

The objectives of the facility are to provide access to the UK materials science community to a state-of-the-art x-ray facility (machine and experimental equipment) and to provide training for early career scientists as well as postgraduate and undergraduate students in advanced scientific methodologies, all nestled within a vibrant international environment. For more information see: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/xmas