Future Courses

List of Courses planned by APS SAXS SIG

 

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Irena and Nika software course
Beyond Rg Materials
Beyond Rg Bio

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SAXS Software Packages Irena and Nika

To be announced... 

registration site

Hardware & software requirements

Successful small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS, SANS) experiment requires appropriate data reduction and analysis tools. Igor Pro based packages Nika (for SAXS data reduction) and Irena (for SAS = SAXS/SANS/USAXS/USANS data analysis) were developed during the last 15 years at the APS. They are already being used widely for material science SAS at the APS and at other facilities worldwide. These tools are commonly included in syllabus of "Beyond Rg Materials" - SAXS short course organized semi-annually by APS SAXS SIG (see this page for next one). However, the main audience of this 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.

Therefore, the APS SAXS Special Interest Group (SIG) is organizing this specialized, hands-on, course specifically on the SAS software Nika and Irena. 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 SAS experience and bring their own computers (Windows or OSX). In addition, they are encouraged to bring their own SAS 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.

 

 

Beyond Rg Materials SAXS

Expected for March/April 2025

Schedule.

Hardware requirements for software participation.

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 will offer 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. Course will include basics on data reduction and short introduction to 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.

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 encouraged to bring their own notebook computers.

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 in Chemistry, Polymers, Materials science etc.
    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.

 

Beyond Rg BioSAXS

Expected July 2025.  

registration site

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 will offer 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.

Participants are expected to have attained at least a graduate student-level education and are encouraged to have a defined experimental program. Participants must bring their own notebook computers for software practice.

SYLLABUS
    Fundamentals of Small-Angle Scattering
    Small Angle Scattering Instrumentation
    Fundamentals and Theories BioSAXS
    Theories and Applications of BioSANS
    BioSAXS Sample Preparation
    Time-Resolved X-ray Scattering
    Overview of ATSAS software package
    ATSAS Software Practice
    BioXTAS RAW Intro and Practice
    Applying Beamtime at APS

SPEAKERS
    Jesse Hopkins, BioCAT/IIT
    Jan Ilavsky, XSD/Argonne
    Irina Kosheleva, BioCAR/UChicago
    Shuo Qian, ORNL
    Soenke Seifert, XSD/Argonne
    Max Watkins, BioCAT/IIT
    Steven Weigand, DND-CAT/Northwestern
    Xiaobing Zuo, XSD/Argonne
    and other APS XSD and APS CAT's staff members

 

Last Webpage update 8/24/2022