Prior Courses

"Beyond Rg" course series

Beyond Rg course teaches about 30-40 participants in 5 days about small-angle scattering theory, application and analysis as well as strategies to write a good proposal for beamtime. More info Materials, More Info Bio The course also includes demonstration experiments at the APS beamlines designed in such way, that participants can  smartly select the most suitable instrument for their needs. Following courses were organized as part of the "Beyond Rg" series at the APS:

  • Beyond Rg, Materials, October 2019
  • Beyond Rg, Bio, August 2019
  • Beyond Rg, Materials, October 2018
  • Beyond Rg, BioSAXS, October 2018
  • Beyond Rg 2017, BioSAXS, June 26 - June 29, 2017
  • Beyond Rg 2017, Materials, April 17 - 21, 2017
  • Beyond Rg 2016, BioSAXS, June 27 - July 1, 2016
  • Beyond Rg 2015, BioSAXS, July 6 - 9, 2015
  • Beyond Rg 2015, Materials, October 12 - 16, 2015
  • Beyond Rg 2015, March 2 - 6, 2015
  • Beyond Rg 2013, October 26 - 31, 2013
  • Beyond Rg 2012, March 17 - 21, 2012
  • Beyond Rg 2010, March 27 - 31, 2010
  • Beyond Rg 2008, June 28-July 2, 2008

Irena & Nika course series

Irena and Nika are software packages used for SAS data reduction (Nika) and SAS data analysis (Irena). More Info This two-day long course is intended for expert SAS users who need help with application of these two packages to their SAS data. Each course has 15-20 particpants and while most were organized at the APS, courses were also held in Japan, Australia and Europe. Some of the courses were held:

  • May 2019, APS, Theory Presentation, Photo
  • May 2018, APS
  • August 2017, Korea
  • January, 2017, APS, 2x
  • May, 2016, APS, 2x
  • March 2016, Japan
  • May 2015, APS, 2x
  • May 2015, Brazil
  • April 2015, CAMD
  • September, APS, 2014
  • May, 2014, APS, 2x
  • February/March, 2013, Brazil
  • January/Feb, APS, 2013
  • November, 2012, Australia
  • September, APS, 2012
  • April, APS, 2012
  • May, 2012, APS, 2x
  • and other for companies and instituitions

Course objective - Beyond Rg Materials:

The objective of the Materials Small-Angle Scattering Short Course is to raise the capabilities of the materials small-angle scattering (SAS) and grazing-incidence SAXS (GISAXS) community by providing an intermediate-level course for those in need of a better understanding of SAS & GISAXS theory, and techniques utilized at the APS.

This SAXS short course offered an overview of small-angle scattering (SAS, including x-ray and neutron scattering) theory, SAS methods and capabilities for materials science, physics, chemistry, polymers etc - but NO bioSAXS (solution scattering and protein SAXS). Course will include basics on data reduction and hands on course on data analysis tools to enable the community to submit highly effective beam-time proposals and to facilitate better utilization of the resources at the APS.

The course included lectures, software practice, and experimental session. Experimental session will be carried out at selected APS small-angle x-ray scattering beamlines demonstrating the use and capabiltiies of the instruments. Example data will be provided for software practice. Lecturers will be available during software practice and experimental sessions for one-on-one discussion.

Participants are expected to have attained at least a doctoral-level education and are encouraged to have a defined experimental program needing small-angle scattering. Participants need to to bring their own notebook computers to participate on the software part. Either Windows or Mac notebook computers are required for materials course, for preliminary hardware requirements see here : Hardware & software requirements. FInal requirements will be provided to users ahead of the course.

SYLLABUS

  • Fundamentals of Small-Angle Scattering
  • Theories and Applications of SAXS and GISAXS
  • SAXS Sample Preparation
  • Small Angle Scattering Instrumentation
  • Specific topics of SAXS applications inChemistry, Polymers, Materials science etc.
  • Software course
  • Strategies to Write Successful Beam-Time Proposals

SPEAKERS

  • Jan Ilavsky, XSD/ Argonne
  • Soenke Seifert, XSD/Argonne
  • Steven Weigand, DND-CAT/Northwestern
  • Byeongdu Lee, XSD/Argonne
  • and other APS XSD and APS CAT's staff members

Course objective - Beyond Rg BioSAXS:

Solution small-angle x-ray scattering has earned great popularity and success in biological studies owing to the advances in brilliant x-ray sources, large area detectors, and, more importantly, data analysis methods in the past two decades. The objective of the “Beyond Rg: BioSAXS Short Course" is to raise the awareness and capabilities of the small-angle scattering (SAS) techniques in the structural biology community by providing an intermediate-level course for those in need of a better understanding of bioSAS theory, and techniques and facilities provided at the APS.

This bioSAXS short course offered an overview of small-angle scattering (SAS, including x-ray and neutron scattering) theory, SAS methods and capabilities for structural biology, and data reduction and analysis tools, to enable the community to submit highly effective beam-time proposals and to facilitate better utilization of the resources at the APS. Although many methods covered in this course were originally developed for biomolecules which are often mono-dispersed, this course may be also useful for those work with solution samples with high structural homogeneity. However, this course is NOT for soft materials that are polydispersed.

The course included lectures, software practice, and hands-on experimental sessions. Experimental session was carried out at selected APS small-angle x-ray scattering beamlines for samples that are brought by participants and demo samples. Example data will be provided for software practice. Lecturers will be available during software practice and experimental sessions for one-on-one discussion.

Participants are expected to have attained at least a graduate student-level education and are encouraged to have a defined experimental program so that they can collect data for a set of samples that they bring. Participants are also encouraged to bring their own notebook computers.

SYLLABUS

  • Fundamentals of Small-Angle Scattering
  • Theories and Applications of BioSAXS
  • BioSAXS Sample Preparation
  • Small Angle Scattering Instrumentation
  • Specific Topics of BioSAXS Methods on Various Systems
  • Time-Resolved X-ray Scattering
  • Software Practice
  • Strategies to Write Successful Beam-Time Proposals

SPEAKERS

  • Srinivas Chakravarthy, BioCAT/IIT
  • Jan Ilavsky, XSD/Argonne
  • Peter R. Jemian, XSD/Argonne
  • Tom Irving, BioCAT/IIT
  • Soenke Seifert, XSD/Argonne
  • Steven Weigand, DND-CAT/Northwestern
  • Xiaobing Zuo, XSD/Argonne
  • and other APS XSD and APS CAT's staff members

Course objective - Irena & Nika software

Successful small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) experiment requires appropriate data reduction and analysis tools. Igor Pro based packages Nika (for SAXS data reduction) and Irena (for SAXS data analysis) were developed during the last 10 years at the APS. They are already being used widely for material science, physics, and chemistry SAXS at the APS and at other facilities worldwide. These tools are commonly taught during "Beyond Rg" - SAXS short courses organized semi-annually by APS SAXS SIG (see above). However, the main audience of the SAXS short course is new SAXS users, starting with their own SAXS program and therefore it focuses more heavily on experiments, theory etc. The time devoted in this course for software is insufficient for experienced experimenters interested in complex software applications.

The course will be taught by the software author, Jan Ilavsky, APS staff member. In order to provide high educational value, the number of participants will be limited to 20. Participants are expected to have a high level of SAXS experience and bring their own computers (Windows or OSX). In addition, they are encouraged to bring their own SAXS experimental results.

NOTE: This course is NOT for bioSAXS (protein structure and similar mono dispersed systems), the Irena software is mostly suitable for polydispersed and complex (hierarchical) systems. If you are not sure if your scientific application fits in the scope of this software, please ask.

SYLLABUS

  • Igor Pro Basics
  • Installation of both packages/verification of functionality
  • Nika data reduction
  • Irena data analysis
  •  Import & Export of data
  •  Data plotting
  •  Data manipulation
  •  Unified fit, advanced analysis
  •  Size distribution
  •  Modeling tools
  •  Scattering contrast calculator
  •  Analytical tools
  •  SA Diffraction tool
  •  Reflectivity tool

SPEAKER

Jan Ilavsky, Argonne

SOFTWARE

Irena” & “Nika”