On 17 December at 2pm at a ceremony in Sala Senacka in Collegium Novum the Jagiellonian University signed an agreement with Danfysik to design and construct the most important parts of the Polish synchrotron, i.e. 12 magnets constituting the heart of the whole research facility.

The Solaris Synchrotron, which is to be the first research infrastructure of such substantial size and wide scope of possible applications, is currently under construction. It will be located in the Campus of the 600th Anniversary of the Jagiellonian University Revival, known as the Third Campus.

Synchrotrons, in general, are capable of producing a unique source of light whose range extends from infrared to X-rays, generated by electrons travelling in a storage ring with the velocity approximate to the speed of light.

Nowadays, approximately 50 synchrotrons are being used by hundreds of research teams researching in as many different fields of study as physics, chemistry, medicine, biology, biotechnology, materials engineering, environment protection, archeology and history of art. It were synchrotrons that gave rise to some of the discoveries which changed the world and brought Nobel prizes to their authors: they proved to be invaluable in the research in the structure and function of ribosomes, in the study of cancer and other diseases such as Alzheimer or Parkinson, as well as the research into the ozone hole. The list of synchrotron applications is long and covers also the research which aims at improving the quality of diary products or the quality of products of everyday use.

The researchers from the Jagiellonian University stress that the Polish project is unique because the heart of the device, i.e. bending magnets keeping the electrons within the storage ring, will be constructed with the help of the innovative technology designed by Danfysik. Instead of single magnets the synchrotron will be equipped with compact magnet blocks which will increase the effectiveness of the facility.

Danfysik is one of the world's leading companies within the development and manufacturing of high quality equipment for particle accelerator laboratories.

Fore more details about the Solaris project, please visit SOLARIS webpage