UNESCO
08-02-2007

The MoC was signed by Ms Ana Maria Cetto, Deputy Director-General and Head of the Department of Technical Co-operation at the International Atomic Energy Agency, and H.E. Professor Khaled Toukan, Director of SESAME after having been approved by all eight Members of SESAME in October 2006. Mr Yasser Elshayeb, Administrative and Financial Officer of SESAME will be the focal point for interaction with the IAEA in the inter-regional project.

The following Council Members participated in the Petra Council meeting: Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority and Turkey. Delegations representing the following Council Observers were present: France, Germany, Greece, Sweden, and U.S.A.

Other news:

·   The SESAME building will be completed and SESAME staff able to move in mid-2007.  At the same time, the BESSY I equipment will also be moved to the SESAME building, probably by scientists from Novosibirsk who helped when the machine was disassembled in Berlin before its shipment to Jordan.

·   SESAME will receive 1 million euros via a bilateral agreement between the European Commission (EC) and Jordan. The Agreement signed in October 2006 stipulates that this money is to be used for equipment and training for 4 laboratories in the SESAME project which will act as a centre of excellence and will disseminate its activities to the whole region and its members.

·   The 5^th Users Meeting that was held in Alexandria (Egypt) in November 2006. It resulted in 2 concrete examples of countries expressing their intention to take responsibility for the creation of beamlines. Importance will be given to training staff to install and later operate beamlines and to training potential users.

·   Possible new Members. Of the 12 Members of the Interim Council, 8 are already Members of the permanent Council. Moreover, Iran’s membership is being processed and there is every reason to believe that Morocco will also become a Member. In October 2006, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus had written to the Director-General of UNESCO informing him that Cyprus accepts the Statutes of SESAME and has decided to become a Member. The French Authorities have also sent the Director-General the required letter informing him that France has decided to become an Observer. 

·   Concerning the dismantled of equipment at LURE (Laboratoire pour l’utilisation du rayonnement electromagnetique, Universite d’Orsay-Paris XI, France ) that France is donating to SESAME, once finalized, the draft Agreement is signed by the French Authorities and SESAME for the donation of the  LURE equipment, the agreement will be communicated electronically to delegates of Members for their approval.

·   It has been decided to upgrade the SESAME machine according to the revised cost estimate prepared by the Technical Director in July 2006 which include upgrading current instead of energy. SESAME will also seek to benefit from existing accelerator laboratories through patronage.

·   Report of the Training Committee: The Chair of the Training Committee started his presentation by referring to the 6 six-month fellowships for beamline training provided in 2006 by the IAEA, 1 from the national project with and the remaining 5 from an inter-regional project. 3 scientists (Iran, Jordan and Turkey), selected for the one-year fellowships granted in 2006 by the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre (NSRRC) in Taiwan, have starting their work there, and 2 scientists (Iran and Turkey) who were granted support by Chester University and Daresbury Laboratory in the U.K. for their Synchrotron Radiation Summer School (29 August to 8 September 2006) had successfully taken part in the School. He indicated that 25 applications had been received for the 2007

·    The next SESAME Council meeting will be held in late June/early July 2007 at the IAEA in Vienna, or if not possible, at the Swiss Light Source or CERN in Switzerland.

Current members of SESAME:
Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey.

Observer countries:  
France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Portugal, Russian Federation, Sweden, U.K. and U.S.A.

The following countries, deeply involved in the early stages of the project, are in the process of confirming their status in the Center: Iran, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.

For further information contact c.formosa-gauci@unesco.org

Website 1 (URL) http://www.sesame.org.jo/