Neutron Science and the ILL

The ILL is a user facility welcoming scientists from all around the world to perform cutting-edge experiments fostering progress in a variety of scientific and technological domains. Neutrons are used at the ILL to probe the microscopic structure and dynamics of a broad range of materials at molecular, atomic and nuclear level. The impact of the neutron science carried out at ILL ranges from scientific discovery and excellence to addressing societal challenges in the fields of health, the environment, energy, computing technologies, and in exploring the mysteries of the Universe we live in. For an introduction to neutron science, see below in this page.

As a service infrastructure, ILL makes its facilities and expertise in neutron science and technology available to its 'scientific users' (visiting scientists). ILL scientists, engineers and technicians and administrators are organised in 'science groups', according to the instrument and support facilities they operate for the benefit of the users. Go to ILL's Science Groups page.

Scientific life at the ILL is organised in 'colleges', each dealing with a particular field of research. The areas covered include condensed matter physics, chemistry, biology, materials science and engineering, Earth sciences, and nuclear and particle physics. ILL scientists belong to one or more colleges, depending on their personal research interests. Each college is animated by a 'college secretary' elected amongst college members. Colleges play an important role in the scientific life of the ILL, including in the proposal evaluation scheme. More on the ILL's college organisation.

To learn more about the technologies that make all this possible, go to Neutron technologies at the ILL.

To learn more about the ILL facilities and instrumentations, go to A unique facility.