Since their creation in 1992, under the auspices of J. Rossat-Mignod, then director of Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, the JDN became a key annual event where scientists, engineers, and students exchange on the latest advances in neutron-based research.

This year’s programme featured a rich mix of scientific talks covering a wide range of disciplines - from condensed matter and magnetism to soft matter, biology, and instrumentation. The productive discussions reflected the active engagement of the neutron scattering community through a diversity of research topics.

A particularly memorable moment was the award ceremony honouring Valentin Czamler with the 2025 Best PhD Thesis Award. Valentin completed his PhD within the ILL’s Nuclear and Particle Physics group (NPP) at the end of 2024. He received this well-deserved recognition for the quality and impact of his work, investigating new sources for very cold neutrons (VCN). Valentin still works in Grenoble, now as a postdoctoral researcher at LPSC, and visits the ILL for new experiments.

In addition to the scientific sessions, the programme included a session on invisible disabilities in the research environment, featuring contributions from several ILL colleagues and opening up important discussions around inclusion and accessibility in science.

A special session on research infrastructures was also held, addressing synergies, data analysis, access modes, and complementarities. The JDN participants – coming mostly from neutron facilities (ESS, ILL, 2FDN, LLB) and other large-scale infrastructures (ESRF, PSI, CERN, EMFL) engaged in lively exchanges with subject matter experts (from EMBL, energy hub, FAIR data networks, AI4Science).

This 2025 edition once again confirmed how valuable the JDN are - not only as a scientific meeting point, but as a supportive community event where ideas are exchanged, collaborations sparked, and early-career researchers encouraged.

(Photo credit : K. Beauvois)