Summer School 2020




Advanced Topics in Cs-corrected STEM and Spectroscopy: Theory meets Experiment

postponed until July 2021

We are very sorry to announce that the uncertainties surrounding the current Covid-19 epidemic have led us to take the very difficult decision to postpone the 8th SuperSTEM summer school until the summer of 2021. Even if some travel restrictions are lifted by July, we felt the disruptions we are all facing at the moment would make it impractical (and possibly unsafe) to organise or plan your travels to the event.

Although the exact date is not yet fixed, we are aiming to hold the 2021 summer school around the same time of the year as planned for this year, i.e. early July.

Of course, do check our events page for updates on the summer school and let us know if you have any questions.

In the meantime, please all stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you in Daresbury in happier circumstances.

On behalf of the school organising committee.

Prof Quentin Ramasse

Director SuperSTEM

SuperSTEM with the STFC computational physics group and CCP9

invite you to the 8th biennial SuperSTEM Summer School

Building on the established series of schools and workshops held at SuperSTEM every two years, this years school is going beyond the typical syllabus of introductory courses.

Following recent advances in instrumentation, this year's school will address advanced topics in Cs-corrected STEM and spectroscopy techniques and introduce theoretical methodologies & computational tools necessary to rationalise and simulate experimental findings.

The lectures are intended for PhD students, post-doctoral researchers as well as academics and professionals that have an existing background in electron microscopy or relevant theoretical background.

Topics covered:

  • principles of aberration diagnosis & correction
  • advanced imaging theory
  • EELS & EDX spectroscopy
  • quantitative image analysis and simulations
  • Introduction to DFT and band structure calculations.

The lectures will be complemented by practicals in small groups, including hands on operation of the SuperSTEM instruments and introduction to theoretical calculations and EELS simulations using CASTEP

The school program includes a scientific poster session. Participants are encouraged to bring a poster and present some of their work.

The SuperSTEM Summer School was made possible in part through the generous support of CCP9, RMS and EPSRC

The Summer School Practical sessions include:

  • Hands-on sessions on all SuperSTEM instruments (including aberration correction, spectrum imaging and phonon spectroscopy)
  • Software based praticals for data analysis and simulation, including:
    • Prismatic Software For STEM Simulation
    • HyperSpy: multi-dimensional data analysis toolbox
    • CASTEP: DFT code for calculating the properties of materials from first principles

Confirmed speakers:

Rolf Erni (EMPA), Meiken Falke (Bruker), Andy Lupini (ORNL), Colin Ophus (LBNL), Hamish Brown (LBNL), G. Radtke (Sorbonne), S. Loeffler (TU Vienna)

Application: from 15/02/2020 until 15/04/2020

In order to provide to all the school participants real hands-on experience on the instruments and the computing practicals, the number of places available for this year's summer school is limited.

Should these fill up too quickly, as in previous years, we may have to select applicants based on merit and their need for advanced training in aberration-corrected STEM and theory.

We therefore kindly ask that along with your application, you provide us with a short CV, a short cover letter and for PhD students a letter of support to help us in this process. The details of how you can upload these accompanying documents will be provided in the acknowledgement screen after the submission of the application form. Once both your application form and accompanying documents have been received, we will send you a confirmation e-mail.

Registration: from 20/04/2020 until 30/04/2020

We will notify selected applicants by the 20th April 2020 and they will be able to pay the registration fee and hotel from 20/04/2018 until 30/04/2018 (more details will be sent directly to successful applicants to follow).

The registration fee of £650 (students) or £750 (full) covers:

  • Participation in all lectures and practical sessions
  • Coach transport to/from the hotel to the SciTech Daresbury campus every day of the summer school
  • Lunches, dinners, refreshments during break times
  • Handouts and study material

Accommodation:

The summer school has arranged a group booking of shared twin rooms for the participants at the Village Hotel in Warrington (which is situated about 6km from the campus) and transport by coach from the hotel to the SciTech Daresbury campus in the mornings and back to the hotel in the evenings.

The cost for a shared twin room for 6 nights (check in on Thu 9/7 , check out on the morning Wed 15/7) is £285

per person, in addition to the registration fee (payable at the registration stage).

Additional nights would have to be arranged with the hotel by the participants.

The participants are free to arrange their own accommodation for the duration of the summer school of course. In this case, though, they would also have to arrange transport between their hotel (if different to the Village Hotel) and the campus. Please note, local bus transport is limited (and no Sunday service), see bus travel below.

Please indicate in your application whether you intend to make use of the group booking and whether you have any preference with whom to share a room.

Location:

The summer school will take place at the SuperSTEM Laboratory on the SciTech Daresbury Campus in Daresbury.

The SciTech Daresbury Campus is situated between Manchester and Liverpool, about a half-hour drive from either airport, in the middle of beautiful Cheshire countryside, flanked by woodland and with the Bridgewater Canal running alongside.


Travel:

Car

For SciTech Daresbury campus and the Village Hotel in Warrington take junction 11 on the M56 and follow the A56 towards Warrington. Daresbury village is about 5 miles from Warrington and Runcorn, the two largest towns in the locality.

Train

To Warrington: there are two railway stations Warrington Bank Quay and Warrington Central, which together provide many inter-city train connections. Taxi services to Daresbury campus are available in front of both stations and cost ~ £10.

To Runcorn: Runcorn Station is on the Liverpool - London Euston line and you can take a taxi to either the hotel or SuperSTEM.

For more details about train connections, consult the National Rail Enquiries webpage

Bus

The 62a runs infrequently in the mornings and in the evenings and links Warrington and the Daresbury campus. During daytime the 62 links Warrington with the nearby village Moore from where it is a 15min walk to SciTech Daresbury.

Airplane

SuperSTEM is conveniently located in a short distance of two international airports: Manchester International Airport (most major airlines, as well as several low cost airlines) and Liverpool John Lennon Airport (mainly low cost airlines). Both are located ~30mins by car from the laboratory.

Taxi (about £33 from either airport when booked in advance) and train services (to Warrington Central) are also available from both airports.

If you are travelling to any of the London airports the easiest way to reach Daresbury is to take the train to either Warrington Bank Quay or Runcorn stations from London Euston (~ 2 hours journey). To get to Euston station you may use the London Underground or express trains to Central London (Paddington/Victoria train stations from Heathrow/Gatwick airports, respectively).

Contacts:

Contact in summer school organisational matters: summerschool2020@superstem.org

We are looking forward to seeing you!