ALBA is an instrument that provides solutions to challenges our society is facing. Synchrotron light is fundamental in the analysis of matter at the molecular and atomic level. The development of particle accelerators and high resolution detectors, the manipulation of high intensity and high power photon beams, and the capacity to store and analyze large amounts of data, are valuable tools in the hands of researchers. We respond to health issues, to development of new drugs and new materials, to techniques for production and storage of energy, to environmental challenges, to optimization of the food chain from seeding to packaging, to advances in communication, and also to the understanding and conservation of our cultural heritage.

Thanks to its great technical complexity as the major Spanish research infrastructure, ALBA is furthermore an essential instrument in the science industry for its capacity of technological transfer and innovation. And we are committed to the dissemination of science and technology in society also through specific programs dedicated to students in the different stages of their academic life.

Since the beginning of its operation in 2012, ALBA has hosted in its experimental beamlines more than 8,000 researchers, a third of whom from outside Spain, including industrial users. A program of adding new beamlines is on-going, what will open further opportunities for enhancing our service to the society.