With increasing consumerism depleting finite resources and producing growing quantities of waste, the need for a shift to sustainable, circular products is urgent. Through ReMade@ARI (REcyclable MAterials Development at Analytical Research Infrastructures), more than 50 European research infrastructures, including MAX IV, have formed a consortium to support advanced materials research.
With its participation in the platform, MAX IV offers scientists working on designing new recyclabe materials access to its brilliant light and the possibility to study material properties at the ForMAX and Balder beamlines. ReMade@ARI receives funding from the European Union and co-funding from the UK Research and Innovation and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.
Through its Smart Science Cluster (SSC) and its extensive expert network, ReMade@ARI supports researchers who are new to large-scale research facilities, or who are interested in exploring techniques with which they are not yet familiar.
Santiago Pablo Fernandez Bordín, a postdoctoral researcher within the SSC stationed at ForMAX, works with the rest of the cohort to guide users through the research process, from finetuning proposals to accompanying users to beamtimes. Applicants can contact the SSC by email to be matched with a Junior Scientist – like Bordín – based on techniques that will support their research aims.
“That is the nice opportunity that ReMade provides, to have people to help you write the proposal, find the right experiment, and with the data,” says Bordín, who specialises in SAXS. It’s not only a learning experience for the users but for the Junior Scientists as well, who must help select the best techniques for the material and research aim at hand.
Kaja Sigfridsson Clauss is an expert in X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at Balder, which has hosted one of ReMade’s users for nearly a week-long beamtime. The beamline is one of the most in-demand at MAX IV.
“For the user communities, I think new access routes like ReMade can be good – for new people, for finding new techniques,” Sigfridsson Clauss says. “I appreciate that these efforts happen.”
The final call for ReMade@ARI is currently open, with different closing deadlines for each facility. At MAX IV, applications are open until 27 February, 2026, but may close earlier if a suitable proposal is accepted. The beamtime must be completed by 31 July, 2026.
Learn about some research highlights from ReMade@ARI:
