ALBA
ALBA
Meet the team
ALBA is the only synchrotron light source in Spain and one of the most recent in Europe. Its operation, based on a complex of electron accelerators, lets you visualise and analyse matter and its properties at an atomic and molecular level. Located in Cerdayola del Vallès (Barcelona), the ALBA Synchrotron generates about 6,000 hours of synchrotron light per year and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Managed by the public Consortium for the Construction, Equipment and Exploitation of the Synchrotron Light Laboratory (CELLS) and jointly financed by the Spanish and Catalan governments, the ALBA Synchrotron is a unique scientific and technical infrastructure (ICTS in Spanish) that brings added value to the scientific and industrial sectors.
Dr. Laura Simonelli (Experiments Division, ALBA Synchrotron)
CLAESS beamline group leader and coordinator of the Battery investigation
LS has worked since 2004 on the investigation of functional materials, with a particular focus on the interplay between the lattice and electronic properties and their correlations with the functional ones. She mainly focused on the study of batteries, high Tc superconductors, and environments or health-related materials. She got her PhD in Material Science in 2007 and has been the group leader and responsible for the CLAESS beamline at the ALBA synchrotron since 2013. In 19 years of research, she produced 130 publications in international journals, reaching an H-index of 25.
Dr. Manuel Valvidares (Experiments Division, ALBA Synchrotron)
BOREAS beamline group leader and coordinator of the Electronic and Magnetic Structure Section
MV is a specialist in advanced materials in the areas of magnetism and nanoscience, with a solid experience in fabrication as well as characterisation by a broad range of x-ray synchrotron techniques. MV performed a PhD at the European Synchrotron (2005) and received fellowships from the MEC ‘International Scientific Organisms’ program (2005), MEC/DOE Fulbright postdoctoral program (2006), and DOE/Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (2008). He joined ALBA in 2009, leading BOREAS since 2012 and its start of user operation operation. MV has co-authored 112 publications in international peer-reviewed journals (h-index 29), 1 utility patent and 100+ communications in scientific conferences and workshops.
Dr. Klaus Attenkoffer (Experiments Division, ALBA Synchrotron)
Scientific Director
KA is the Scientific Director of the ALBA Synchrotron since 2019. He has 30 years of experience in using synchrotron light for materials and chemical sciences and was responsible for building 3 beamlines in the US and Europe, going from beamline scientist to various management positions. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and 4 patents and is involved in industrial collaborations targeting photon detection, semiconductors and energy applications.
Dr. Bárbara Calisto
Industry and International Relationships Agent of the ALBA Synchrotron
BC is a trained Structural Biologist who joined ALBA in 2016. She manages the access of industrial users to the ALBA Synchrotron and participates in outreaching activities. She also has responsibilities in fostering institutional relationships bridging ALBA Management and ALBA Scientist with relevant actors of the large-scale Research Infrastructures in Europe, namely the LEAPS consortium.
