The ILL at ICNS 2025

The International Conference on Neutron Scattering ICNS 2025 was held in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Lund (Sweden) from 7 to 10 July. Among the over 750 participants, 66 were from ILL - a strong and active participation with oral presentations, poster contributions, many interesting discussions and a number of prizes.

Juan Rodriguez-Carvajal was awarded the ENSA Walter Haelg Prize 2025 for “his extraordinary impact on the field, namely as the ‘father of FullProf’, the globally renowned software for crystallographic and magnetic studies". Juan gave a comprehensive presentation that covered both the history of FullProf and the current developments he continues to work on and to share with the community - and during which he recalled all the people involved in this long and successful story.

Iurii Kibalin was awarded the Neutron Instrumentation and Innovation Award 2025 for his significant impact on polarized neutron diffraction techniques. His development of the CrysPy software tool has transformed polarized neutron powder diffraction on magnetic samples into a routine, accessible method for a broad scientific community.

In his keynote talk, Frank Gabel discussed the role of the support labs when it comes to getting the best out of neutron experiments - a role that he summarised as: lowering barriers, attracting and accompanying users, assuring quality and success - and introduced his group at ILL: BDCS, Biology, Deuteration, Chemistry and Soft Matter.

ILL Director Ken Andersen presented the 'ILL update', and the news of operation until the end of 2033 earned a round of applause from the (crowded) room. Science Director Jacques Jestin presented the ILL Science Strategy, a roadmap for the next decade that builds on Endurance upgrades to strengthen scientific excellence, expand the user community, address societal challenges, and guide resource allocation.

Fourteen other talks were presented by ILL scientists, including three from ILL PhD students Adheena Painganoor, Aliki Gerakianaki and Kirstin Wilson.

The poster sessions were particularly lively and well attended. We would like to congratulate the ILL poster prize winners Bettina Schwaighofer (Materials), Clément Desalme (Universe Essentials) and Valentin Czamer (Instrumentation). 

But if ILL people were well represented, ILL data was omnipresent, with so many of our users presenting studies using ILL data. The last day of conference was held in Lund and followed by a visit to the European Spallation Source. Our warmest thank-you to the organisers and to all the participants who made the conference so productive, interesting and enjoyable!

On behalf of the Organising Committee, Martin Boehm announced that the next European Conference on Neutron Scattering ECNS2027 will be held in Grenoble - precisely in the very special year in which we will celebrate 70 years of neutrons in Grenoble and the 60th anniversary of the ILL.