A dream that began in 1997 will turn into a reality in 2009. More than halfway through their journey, proponents of the SESAME project have a great deal to celebrate and a great deal more work to do.

Open SESAME

The Fourth Meeting of the Council of the SESAME project (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) took place at ICTP on 13-14 July 2004. Council president Herwig Schopper, former Director-General of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) and one of the guiding lights for SESAME since the project's earliest days, presided over the discussion.
The SESAME project will lead to the construction--or, more precisely, the reconstruction--of the first synchrotron radiation light facility in the Middle East (see "Two Steps Closer," News from ICTP, Autumn 2002, p. 3).

In 1999, the German government announced that it would be willing to donate its decommissioned synchrotron-light facility, BESSY I, to a developing country or region. Three years later, a group of institutions, led by UNESCO, arranged for BESSY I to be shipped from Germany to Jordan. SESAME's official groundbreaking ceremony, took place on 6 January 2003 in Allan, Jordan (30 kilometres northwest of Amman), where King Abdullah II of Jordan laid the cornerstone for the future complex. Jordan has not only donated the land for the project but has pledged more than US$5 million for upgrading and housing the facility.
The beams generated by the upgraded BESSY I will cover a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum--from infrared to hard x-rays--casting light, for example, on the study of molecular biology, material science, the environment and archaeological microanalysis. More than 1000 scientists a year are expected to conduct research at SESAME when it becomes fully operational in 2009.
"The inspiration for SESAME," Schopper recently noted, "rests with two organizations that share the same vision: CERN, which was built in the 1950s to promote peace and harmony in post World War II Europe through scientific exchange; and ICTP, whose mandate is to serve as a forum for scientific exchange and cross-cultural dialogue primarily through efforts to promote science in the developing world. Indeed if not for the research and training activities that ICTP has sponsored over the past four decades, it's unlikely the Middle East would have developed the scientific wherewithal to take advantage of SESAME."
"Since 2000," Schopper adds, "ICTP has also had lead responsibility for organizising the training of engineers who have subsequently been put to work on efforts to upgrade and expand BESSY I from 0.8 GEV to 2.5 GEV." Training has taken place at synchrotron facilities across Europe, including the Elettra facility in Trieste. Overall administration for this part of the SESAME project has been given to ICTP under the direction of the Centre's long-time staff scientist Gallieno Denardo.
"At first, we thought the reconstruction of the facility would have to be done by the experts who had dismantled BESSY I," notes Schopper. "However, the skill levels of the SESAME trainees advanced so rapidly that we were able to change course and turn to our own trainees to do the job. As a result, we have successfully tapped the talents of the region's technologists even before the facility has begun its operation. This is an extra bonus we did not expect."
Schopper now hopes to follow the same course in the construction of SESAME's first six beam lines. If all goes according to plan, ICTP will again be asked to manage the training programme. At the same time, synchrotron facilities throughout Europe will again be called on to host young Middle Eastern scientists who--upon successful completion of their training--will be recruited to work on the SESAME project.
"Thanks to both inspiration and hands-on help that institutions like ICTP have given to SESAME, the project is on track. We only hope that we can achieve the same level of success and impact of the two institutions that have inspired this effort in the first place: CERN and ICTP."

For additional information about SESAME, see www.sesame.org.jo.

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