The ESRF, the European Synchrotron in Grenoble, is one of the most powerful X-ray sources in the world — an international facility supported by more than twenty partner nations that lets scientists study the inner structure of materials and living matter right down to the atom.
Founded in 1988 and in operation since 1994, the ESRF is a high-energy synchrotron whose 6 GeV electron beam produces hard X-rays of exceptional brilliance. Each year more than seven thousand researchers from academia and industry travel to Grenoble to use its beamlines, applying diffraction, scattering, spectroscopy and imaging to questions across physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, medicine and palaeontology.
At a glanceFacility profile
- Location
- Grenoble, France
- Operator
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, an international consortium of partner nations
- Type
- Fourth-generation high-energy synchrotron
- Energy
- 6 GeV
- Beam current
- 200 mA
- Beamlines
- 44 in operation
- First light
- 1994
- Website
- esrf.fr
The scienceWhat researchers do here
The ESRF’s hard X-rays penetrate deep into dense and complex samples, making it a tool of choice for studying matter under realistic conditions — materials under extreme pressure or temperature, working catalysts and batteries, and the three-dimensional architecture of biological tissue. Its imaging beamlines have reconstructed everything from human organs to the fossilised eggs of ancient animals, while its spectroscopy and scattering stations resolve chemistry and atomic structure with extraordinary precision.
An international laboratory where more than seven thousand scientists a year converge on one ring of light beneath the French Alps.
The Extremely Brilliant Source
In 2020 the ESRF completed its Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) upgrade, rebuilding the storage ring with a pioneering multi-bend lattice. The result was the world’s first high-energy fourth-generation synchrotron, with X-ray brilliance and coherence increased by roughly a hundredfold — opening new reach for nanoscale imaging and dynamic, in situ studies.
Access for researchers
The ESRF reviews standard and BAG proposals twice a year, with deadlines around 1 March and 10 September, and accepts Long Term Project proposals on a separate annual cycle. Beam time is awarded on scientific merit and is free for research intended for publication.