May 29, 2026
Successful delivery: how drug molecules behave within tiny carriers
Neutrons reveal molecular diffusion mechanisms inside drug-releasing hydrogels
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April 21, 2026
Room to move: how proteins behave in crowded environments
Neutron scattering shows how local density shapes motion within self-assembled protein structures
Feb. 12, 2026
Cooling without gases: molecular design brings solid-state cooling closer to reality
A recent study shows that small molecular modifications can make barocaloric materials respond more reliably under pressure, supporting the development of solid-state cooling technologies without climate-damaging refrigerant gases.
Dec. 15, 2025
Life in the cold: how microbes thrive - and die - at extreme temperatures
A new study based on neutrons provides valuable insights into the thermal vulnerability of different bacterial families. It shows that organisms adapted to very low temperatures are also surprisingly fragile: even a slight rise in temperature can be lethal, long before any structural damage appears.
June 15, 2025
Crystal clear: using neutrons to tackle a fundamental biotechnological challenge
ILL's instruments play a crucial role in disentangling complex protein crystallisation pathways.
April 22, 2025
GATES Initiative : PhD pathways in partnership with UGA
As a long-standing partner of Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), the Institut Laue-Langevin is happy to play a key role in the GATES project (Grenoble ATtractiveness and ExcellenceS) - an ambitious initiative designed to foster top-level research and reinforce Grenoble’s position as a leading international scientific hub.
March 10, 2025
Protons on the move
Energy-resolved neutron experiments provide insights into novel energy technologies
Jan. 31, 2025
Neutrons bridge predictions and reality of quantum spin ice
By linking theoretical predictions with neutron experiments, researchers have found evidence for quantum spin ice in the material Ce2Sn2O7. Their findings could inspire the technology of tomorrow, such as quantum computers. The results have been published in the journal ‘Nature Physics’.
Jan. 10, 2025
Never diffuse alone: understanding antibody teamwork to design tomorrow's therapeutics
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are used to treat a large variety of diseases. In order to allow patients to inject these therapeutic molecules autonomously, it is crucial to understand the origin of and to control their viscosity. An international team of researchers used an interdisciplinary approach to understand how molecular interactions and motions influence the viscosity of different mAbs. The study has now been published in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.
April 3, 2024
Protein dynamics: dancing at different rhythms
The goal of this study was to complete the mapping of the dynamics of the well-known protein Hsp90 by studying the 5-500 ns timescale using a combination of state-of-the-art complementary techniques, and to take the first steps towards understanding how this timescale relates to the slower dynamics known to drive the protein’s functioning.
Jan. 30, 2023
The dynamics of the E. coli proteome at cell death temperature
What exactly happens inside a cell during thermal death was, until recently, a hotly debated question. Collaborative research led by Alessandro Paciaroni, Associate Professor at the University of Perugia, Judith Peters, Professor of Physics at the Université Grenoble Alpes and Fabio Sterpone, CNRS…
July 6, 2022
Towards the ideal fuel cell
Semipermeable polymeric membranes that selectively allow the passage of negative ions (anions) play a key role in several important technologies including fuel cells. Neutron studies untangle the complex dynamics in an anion exchange membrane when employed in a fuel cell setting.
Fuel cells genera…