Diamond invests in Physical Sciences development

Renowned scientist Dr Adrian Mancuso, a well-known figure in the light sources’ community has joined the UK’s national synchrotron, Diamond Light Source, as the new Physical Science Director with responsibility for the overall strategic leadership and management of the division.

Adrian joined Diamond from the European XFEL facility, the world’s largest X-ray laser located in Hamburg, where he was Group Leader and Leading Scientist for the Single Particles, Clusters, and Biomolecules & Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (SPB/SFX) instrument Group since 2010.  

Professor Sir Adrian Smith, Chairman of the Board of Directors says; “We are delighted to have Adrian join our team with the wealth of experience he brings to the organisation. He not only has extensive scientific leadership, but also hands-on knowledge of the pressure to deliver complex experiments for users. As a physicist, his input into the Diamond Executive will be key and his strong interest in technology development and science strategy will be invaluable moving into the detailed planning for Diamond-II.”

Adrian already has a strong connection with Diamond, having served as a member of its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) for over three years, contributing along with other members of science facilities worldwide to inform on the technical and scientific questions impacting the specification, design, commissioning and operation of Diamond. He also holds an adjunct Professorship in the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at La Trobe University, Australia.

Commenting on his new role, Adrian told International Labmate that on completion the brighter light of Diamond-II will offer the physical sciences community in both academia and industry new avenues of research into the structure of everything from batteries to energy technologies, to new materials.

“I’m delighted to be joining such a broad and successful facility as Diamond. I’m very much looking forward to seeing up close, Diamond’s part in the UK and international scientific landscape and being part of discovering even more applications and relationships that will make the most of Diamond’s superlative capabilities to perform societally relevant and fundamental science.

“Diamond-II is the next great opportunity to provide even brighter X-rays for experiments.  It leans towards my own experience of using ultra-bright X-rays from X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) to perform unique investigations into not only the structure of physical and biological systems and more, but also the dynamics of how these materials change in time. Watching what are essentially movies of fundamental processes provides much more insight into how things work—much like the difference between watching a football match or just knowing the full-time score. Diamond, and in future Diamond-II, has both the capability and capacity to be a central contributor to a broad range of science, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of these next steps.”

Prior to joining EuXFEL, Adrian undertook post-doctoral positions at the University of California (Department of Physics and Astronomy) and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, having achieved his PhD in Physics from the University of Melbourne in Australia. His areas of expertise include imaging using spatially coherent X-rays as well as the simulation and modelling of experiments using appropriately detailed physical models.

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