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KEK revitalizes collaborative partnership with Thailand
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On 17 December, Dr. Prayoon Songsiriritthigul, the acting Director, and representatives from the Synchrotron Light Research institute (SLRI) of Thailand visited KEK's Photon Factory. SLRI and KEK have maintained a productive partnership since 2000 when the two institutions signed an agreement on academic exchanges in order to promote research into synchrotron radiation light sources, beamlines and spectroscopy. The aim of the visit is to further strengthen relations between the institutions, following the second renewal of the SLRI-KEK agreement ratified last October.
SLRI is operating the Siam Photon Source, the first storage ring in Thailand. The ring, which has been modified, was formerly the property SORTEC Corporation, located in Tsukuba, Japan. The number of synchrotron radiation users in Thailand is growing. Currently, SLRI is operating five beamlines, and is planning to construct additional beamlines, bringing the total to 18.
Dr. Songsiriritthigul and Dr. Soichi Wakatsuki, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Materials Structure Science at KEK, discussed possible avenues of research collaboration between SLRI and KEK, including KEK providing know-how gained through its research activities at the Photon Factory (PF), and which will be of value to SLRI's beamline construction plans.