Researchers from across Poland and Europe gathered at the Potocki Palace in Będlewo, near Poznań, this summer for the 2026 Conference on Neutron Scattering and Complementary Methods in Modern Research.
Co-organised by the Institute of Molecular Physics and Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, along with the Polish Neutron Scattering Society, this edition marks a new chapter for one of Poland’s long-running scientific meetings.
Traditionally organised as a national conference, this year’s edition was the first to take on an international format, reflecting Poland’s growing engagement with the wider European neutron science community, including with future ESS opportunities.
For ESS, the meeting was an opportunity to connect directly with researchers who could become part of the facility’s user community. Conversations focused not only on instruments and capabilities, but on how neutron experiments are developed, how researchers can prepare strong science proposals, and how complementary techniques such as neutron and X-ray scattering can strengthen scientific studies.
Particular attention was given to early-career researchers and building new collaborations ahead of future ESS experiments.
Building future collaborations across Europe’s neutron community
Alongside discussions on materials science, condensed matter physics and complementary experimental techniques, the conference focused on how Poland’s neutron community can strengthen its participation in European research through ESS, the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), and Poland’s future national infrastructure.
Discussions also highlighted the importance of maintaining national capabilities alongside access to international facilities. Plans connected to Poland’s MARIA reactor and broader national neutron infrastructure were presented as complementary to ESS, supporting training, preliminary experiments and long-term scientific expertise.
The conference programme reflected the interdisciplinary nature of neutron research, bringing together scientists from physics, chemistry, engineering, and materials science. ESS contributions included presentations on future user opportunities from Denis Vasiukov (neutron diffraction), Christian Balz (neutron spectroscopy), and Tom Arnold (neutron reflectometry), as well as Andrew Jackson’s opening lecture, which described opportunities that ESS’s leading-edge large-scale structure instruments will open, for example, in the study of proteins.
The conference chairpersons emphasise:
Building strong national user communities now will help researchers take advantage of future opportunities from the earliest experimental cycles.