SESAME — Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East — is a third-generation synchrotron in Allan, Jordan, and the Middle East’s first major international research centre, built and run jointly by the scientists and governments of its member states.
SESAME was established under the auspices of UNESCO and opened to users in May 2017. Its members are Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine and Turkey — a rare scientific partnership that brings together researchers from across a diverse region around a single shared instrument. The facility sits in Allan, roughly 30 km from Amman and a similar distance from the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge crossing of the Jordan River.
At a glanceFacility profile
- Location
- Allan, Jordan
- Operator
- SESAME, an intergovernmental organisation of its member states
- Type
- Third-generation synchrotron light source
- Energy
- 2.5 GeV
- Beam current
- 400 mA
- Beamlines
- Operating beamlines spanning infrared to X-rays, with more under construction
- First light
- Open to users 2017
- Website
- sesame.org.jo
The scienceWhat researchers do here
SESAME’s beamlines deliver light from the infrared through to hard X-rays, supporting techniques such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy, infrared microspectroscopy, powder diffraction and materials and structural studies. Researchers use it for work in environmental science, archaeology and cultural heritage, the life sciences, materials and condensed-matter physics — much of it addressing questions of direct relevance to the region, from water and soil quality to the conservation of ancient artefacts.
A shared instrument for a whole region: scientists from eight member states travel to Jordan to run experiments that no single member could build alone.
A regional first
As the Middle East’s first synchrotron, SESAME also serves as a training ground: it builds advanced scientific and technical capacity across its member communities and helps anchor researchers who might otherwise have to work abroad. The facility is powered in part by a dedicated solar plant, making it one of the world’s first large research infrastructures designed to run on renewable energy.
Access for researchers
Beam time is awarded through periodic, peer-reviewed calls for proposals and is open to researchers from the member states and, on a collaborative basis, beyond. Details and deadlines are published on the facility’s website.