Membership in ILL opens up direct access to research teams from Slovakia to facilities and laboratories forming the basis of the institute’s equipment, which individually or comprehensively are often not possible to implement in domestic conditions.
The share of Slovakia represents approx. 0.39% of the measurement time – which is approx. 7-10 measurement days. Slovak workplaces meet and even exceed this quota, thanks to the quality of the proposed projects and participation in international cooperation.
Proposals for experiments are usually submitted twice a year via the ILL platform: https://www.ill.eu/for-ill-users/applying-for-beamtime/type-of-beamtime-access.
The agreement between the Slovak Republic and ILL allows you to receive a scholarship for doctoral/postdoctoral studies directly at ILL under the supervision of a local scientist, when the latter is a supervisor – specialist. Successful study stays were completed in 2012 – 2013 by a doctoral student of FMFI Comenius University in Bratislava, in 2018-2019 by a doctoral student of FaF Comenius University in Bratislava, and in 2020-2022 by a doctoral student of UPJŠ in Košice. For the contractual period 2024-2028, doctoral students from Slovakia can again apply for funding for a study stay within cooperation projects with ILL scientists. This opportunity is open to all areas of research that can be addressed using neutrons. ILL, together with the ESRF, organizes a four-week course for master’s students during the summer holidays „ILL/ESRF International Student Summer Programme on X-Ray and Neutron Science“.
In 2015, a student from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Bratislava received one of the 15 scholarships. For PhD students and beginners in neutron applications after graduating from university, ILL co-organizes a one-month course HERCULES. In previous years, this course was attended by 3 doctoral students from the Faculty of Economics and Management of Comenius University in Bratislava, a graduate from the Faculty of Economics of Comenius University in Bratislava, and a graduate from the Pavol Jozef Šafárik Univeristy in Košice.