Newsletter From AONSAThe Asia-Oceania Neutron Scattering Association

Volume 4, No. 1 (April, 2012)

Group photo of the 1st AOCNS participants

Index
Messages from New Board Members………… p.2
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Public Relations Officer

Volume 4, Number 1, 2012

Society Report ………………………………
ANBUG
TWNSS

p.6

Event’s Report ………………………………
AWSAXA 2011 in Thailand

p.8

Calendar ……………………………………… p.9

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Newsletter from AONSAAONSA Board Members(January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2013)

The largest international event in this term will be thenext International Conference on Neutron Scattering(ICNS 2013) at Edinburgh in July 2013. The AONSA
is expected to share responsibility as one of alliedorganizations with ENSA (Europe) and NSSA (North
America) forming a tripolar framework covering theglobe. Your participation is very welcome andencouraged. We will make our best effort to invite the
ICNS 2017 in our Region (Korea) after Edinburgh.

President’s message

By Prof. Yasuhiko FUJIIJSNS, CROSS-Tokai

We are looking forward to working with you andreceiving your personal views for AONSA.

The Big Momentum
Under the former Presidency led by Prof. John White,the 1st AOCNS co-organized by JSNS and AONSA
last November was such a great and enthusiastic eventas nearly 600 worldwide colleagues got together at
Tsukuba. The AONSA has greatly appreciated yourparticipation and voluntary monetary contribution as
much as 321,000JPY. Your generous support hasgiven the big momentum for AONSA to promotefurther actions.

[ Prof. Yasuhiko Fujii ]Prof. Fujii’s career since leaving the Graduate School of Science,
Osaka Univ. in 1969 is as follows: 1970-78 Research Associate,
Institute for Solid State Physics (ISSP), Tokyo Univ.; 79-82
Associate Physicist, Dept. of Phys., Brookhaven National Lab.,
USA; 83-87 Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering Science,
Osaka Univ.; 88-91 Professor, Institute of Materials Science,
Tsukuba Univ.; 92-2003 Professor, ISSP, Tokyo Univ.; 93-2002
Chair, Neutron Scattering Lab. of ISSP; 2001-04 President, The
Japanese Society for Neutron Science; 04 Emeritus Professor ofTokyo Univ.

During the current two-year term (Jan. 2012 – Dec.
2013) , the AONSA aims at the further development of
the regional as well as worldwide cooperation. In the
Asia-Oceania Region, we will encourage rapidlygrowing countries/regions to form their Society
participating in the AONSA Executive Committee(EC) as a regular member and a non-registeredcountry/region with/without neutron facility to join us
as an observer to exchange information and work
together for their domestic community. We are also
pursuing cooperation with the Asia-Oceania Forum for
Synchrotron Radiation Research (AOFSRR) because
we share the same destiny to protect the so-called“Small Science at Large Facility” (AONSA Newsletter
Vol.2, No.1, Feb. 2010) .

Volume 4, Number 1, 201203-05 Director, Neutron Science Research Center, Japan Atomic
Energy Research Institute (JAERI); 05-07 Deputy Director
General, Quantum Beam Science Directorate, Japan Atomic
Energy Agency (JAEA); 09-10 Director General of above, JAEA;
10-present Director, Research Center for Neutron Science andTechnology, Comprehensive Research Organization for Scienceand Society (CROSS-Tokai) designated as Registered Institution
for Advanced Neutron Beam Facility of J-PARC.
11-present Chair of C10, IUPAP (Commission on Structure andDynamics of Condensed Matter).
He was a JapaneseRepresentative for the US-Japan Cooperative Research Program on
Neutron Scattering between DOE and MEXT in 1992-2004.
His major research field is neutron and synchrotron x-ray
scattering studies of condensed matter, particularly under highpressure.

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Newsletter from AONSA

dialogue among the International Associations has
proved to be very efficient in exchange experiences
and ideals in good or in bad. It is also the VicePresident’s job to arrange this type of Meeting inproper occasions and it can be expanded to invite
Presidents of synchrotron associations as well.

Vice-President’s message
By Prof. Wen-Hsien Li
Director, Center for Neutron
Beam Applications, National
Central University, Jhongli
Taiwan[ Prof. Wen-Hsien Li ]Prof. Li is a Full Professor of the Physics Department, National
Central University, Taiwan. He has been the Director since theCenter for Neutron Beam Applications (CNBA) of National
Central University was found in 2006.
http://www.neutron.ncu.edu.tw

Recognition and Reaching Out

He graduated from Soochow University, Taiwan with a BSc in
physics in 1977 and from Northeastern University, Boston, USAwith a PhD in Physics in 1986. He has fostered neutron science in
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA. He
contributed very heavily to the birth of Taiwan Neutron Science
Society (TWNSS) and Center for Neutron Beam Applications of
National Central University.
http://www.neutron.ncu.edu.tw/TWNSS/In November 23, 2011 during AOCNS meeting wecelebrated the first AONSA prize award to Professor
Noboru Watanabe in recognition not only of his
pioneering contribution to the development ofaccelerator-based neutron facility but also of his great
contribution to the establishment of neutron science
community. Neutron scattering facility and science
have rapidly developed in our Region over the past 30
years. There is no doubt that there are very many great
contributors and pioneers who constantly devote theirsprit and time into neutron scattering science. As theVice-President, it is my responsibility and great honor
to identify once again the greater contributors andmark their names and sprit into the Hall. The second
AONSA prize will be awarded in July 2013 during theupcoming ICNS meeting in Edinburgh, UK. The

His current research is focused in quantum nanoparticle andmultiferroic, using neutron scattering, Raman scattering, and othertechniques to elucidate the interplay between the superconducting
and magnetic degrees-of-freedom of these systems.

Secretary’s message

search will be concluded in the second EC
meeting of 2012 for the ceremony in Edinburg.

By Professor Sung-Min Choi

In my view, AONSA is the stage for communicatedcooperation on neutron scattering science in our AsianOceania region. As has been pointed out by ourFormer President Professor John White in the AONSA
conference banquet that it is a stage of sharing. I do
believe that sharing hardware resources, sharing
contributions, sharing ideals, sharing sprit and sharing
impact are the ways to success AONSA, to strengthen
neutron scattering science in the region. AONSA has
grown into a well-organized and functional
intercontinental Association through the Presidencies
of Professor Mahn Won Kim and Professor John W.
White. Under the current Presidency of Professor
Yasuhiko Fujii, reaching out to other societies in our
region still needs to work harder and provides an easieraccess for the “outsider” to participate and to share. In
addition, the Three President Meeting that open theVolume 4, Number 1, 2012

Department of Nuclear andQuantum Engineering,
KAIST

More Beautiful Sounds from Neutrons
I love sound coming from neutron waves which allow
us to see the beauty of nature in all details. Over the
decades, there have been great advances in neutron
sources and instruments in the world, making thesounds more powerful. Over the recent years, these
activities have become much stronger, especially in the
Asia-Oceania region.
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Newsletter from AONSA

Since its formation in 2008, the AONSA has been afocus of forum to promote neutron science in the AsiaOceania region. It has been very successful helping to
make the sounds of neutron waves coming fromdifferent places more harmonious through a series of
AONSA Neutron School, AOCNS, EC and Board
meetings. The success of these activities is all due tothe hard work and participations of all AONSA
colleagues and their good spirit of collaboration. I amvery much pleased and honored to be a part of these
AONSA activities and look forward to continuing ourcollaborations among all AONSA colleagues to makethe sounds from neutron waves more beautiful andharmonious.

Treasurer’s message

By Prof. Samrath Chaplot
BARC, Mumbai, India

AONSA has made tremendous strides in its formative
last four years. The first AOCNS in 2011 was an
extraordinary success that demonstrated the breadthand depth of AONSA’s reach within the Asia-Oceania
neutron community. The quality and intensity of the
instruments scientists’ workshops and its follow up
activities resulted in highly fruitful and informalinteractions among the community. Significant
progress was also made to achieve cooperation withother partner organizations within the region as well as
in other regions. I join others in complementing theorganizers and the AONSA Board and Executive forthis immensely satisfying outcome. Today AONSA isa robust organization and we will together endeavor tofurther promote the AONSA activities and scale newer
heights.

[ Prof. Sung-Min Choi ]Prof. Choi studied at Seoul National University for his BS and MS,
and received his PhD at MIT in 1998. He was a SANS instrument
scientist at the NIST Center for Neutron Research from 1998 to
2001. Since 2001, he has been a faculty member of Department of
Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST. After serving as
Director of the Basic Atomic Energy Research Institute (20052011), he is currently Director of Advanced Center for Nuclear
Excellence (supported by MEST, Korea) of which main goal is toinvestigate new nano- and bio- materials using neutron scattering
techniques (http://neutron.kaist.ac.kr).
Over the last years, he has served in various positions to promote
neutron science, which include Secretary of AONSA (2010- ),Secretary of the Korean Nuclear Society (2010- ), Member of the
HANARO Steering Committee (2006 - ), Secretary of the Korean
Neutron Beam Users Association (2003 - 2009), PI of the 40M
SANS instrument development at HANARO (2003-2010) and
Organizer/Co-organizer of neutron science workshops and schools
including the 1st AONSA Neutron Summer School (2008) held at
KAIST.

My colleagues in Neutron Scattering Society of India(NSSI) and I send warm greetings to readers of thisNewsletter.

His recent research activities have been focused on the use of
SANS, Neutron Spin-Echo, SAXS and GISAXS techniques tounderstand the structure and dynamics of self-assembled soft nanoand bio- materials.

Volume 4, Number 1, 2012

[ Prof. Samrath Chaplot ]Prof. Chaplot is a Senior Professor and Head of the Solid State
Physics Division at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai,
India. He was a Research Associate at University of Edinburgh, U.
K. (1979-1981), and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany (1992-1993). He is areceipient of the Homi Bhabha Award for Science and Technology,
presented by DAE, India (1994); an elected Fellow of the National
Academy of Sciences, India; and an ‘Outstanding Referee’ ofPhysical Review Letters and Physical Review, as selected byAmerican Physical Society. His research is focused on neutron
scattering experiments, lattice dynamics and molecular dynamics
computer simulations to investigate the structures and dynamics ofcondensed matter. He is presently the President of the Neutron
Scattering Society of India.

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Newsletter from AONSA

applied questions that neutrons can answer; andprovide examples of important work that could only
have been carried out using neutrons. Over the coming
months I will be contacting some of you with requests
for brief articles of the latter type, describing the roleof neutron scattering in your high-impact work. It is
important that we have a strong presence in suchinternational projects, in order to demonstrate to ourown national governments and communities that theirinvestments are being returned through specifically
local economic, environmental and cultural benefits aswell as status in the international scientific community.

Public Relations Officer’s message

By A/Prof. Chris LING
The University of Sydney

I look forward to working with you over the next two
years in this capacity.

Neutrons in the Asia-Oceania Region
My role on the AONSA Board is a newly created one,which I hope will turn out to be genuinely useful to theAsia-Oceania neutron community. While I will
obviously be specifically charged with overseeing the
AONSA newsletter and website, in more general terms
I will be acting as the interface between you – thescientists who use neutron beam facilities – and thebroader regional community. This means explaining togovernments and the general public why neutron
scattering is an important activity of great value to theregion, which should be supported in the face ofperceived economic and environmental concerns.
CERN, for example, engages very effectively in thissort of public relations.

[ A/Prof. Chris Ling ]A/Prof. Ling has been an academic staff member of the School ofChemistry at The University of Sydney since 2004. Prior to this he
was an instrument scientist in the Diffraction Group at the Institut
Laue-Langevin, France (2001–2004) and a Postdoctoral Fellow in
the Materials Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory,
USA (1999–2001). He carried out his PhD studues at theAustralian National University (1996–1999) and his undergraduate
studies at the University of Melbourne (1992–1994).
In addition to his role on the AONSA Board and Executive he iscurrently President of the Australian Neutron Beam Users’ Group(ANBUG), Chair of the Materials Division of the Royal Australian
Chemical Institute (RACI) and Chair of the NSW Synchrotron
Consortium (AUSyn14).

One way in which we are doing this is throughparticipation in the new Wiki-Neutrons.org project.
This will be a central repository of articles about
neutron scattering aimed at industry, government andmedia organisations, rather than scientists, with thecore aim of explaining, essentially, why neutrons areimportant. The articles will address the differences
between the design and purpose of neutron scatteringand nuclear power facilities; the sorts of scientific andVolume 4, Number 1, 2012

His research interests are primarily solid-state oxide chemistry /condensed matter physics, emphasising complex magnetism, ionic
conduction and modulated structures. All of these materials andphenomena are ideally suited to study by neutron scattering
techniques (primarily diffraction, but also inelastic and sometimes
small-angle scattering), hence his intensive use of neutrons andclose involvement with the neutron user community.

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Newsletter from AONSASociety Report

Report from ANBUGANBUG is moving towards financial sustainability
with the decision at the last AGM (held on 22/11/11 in
Tsukuba, Japan, during AOCNS) to institute a small
surcharge at our local meeting, the ANBUG-AINSE
Neutron Science Symposium, which will support ourparticipation in AONSA and provide seed funding forlarger meetings such as AOCNS and ICNS when they
are held under our auspices. We will, however, retain
our existing model of free membership.

The Australian and New Zealand neutron scatteringcommunities have been benefiting over the last 6months from what is almost certainly the mostsustained period of reliability of our local neutron
source, OPAL. This includes the previously
problematic cold source (although users should notethat this will be shut down for at least 6 weeks while a
new cold neutron guide is installed in November 2012).
Moreover, ANSTO is now actively pursuing the
project to build a second guide hall, which (if funded)
would be accompanied by an extensive suite of new
instruments that will cover the full range of techniques.
A workshop to discuss the first round of instruments
for the second guide hall will be held in mid-April. We
are wholeheartedly behind the project and lookforward to the outcome.

ANBUG and ANSTO hosted the 4th AONSA School
was held at ANSTO, due to the impossibility ofholding this in Japan following the 2011 earthquake.
The School was a great success, as reported elsewherein this newsletter.
Finally, ANBUG is proud to have won the right to hostthe second Asia-Oceania Conference on Neutron
Scattering (AOCNS) in 2015. We have already started
preparations, knowing that we have a very highstandard to match following first AOCNS organised by
JSNS. We hope to see you all there.

At the same time, ANBUG is concerned by theAustralian Government’s termination of the Access to
Major Research Facilities Program, which Australian
neutron users relied upon heavily for access tointernational sources, particularly spallation sources
with their important complementarity to reactor
sources such as OPAL. Lobbying to restore or replace
the fund is continuing through all available channels.
In the meantime, a bid for travel support tointernational neutron spallation sources (ISIS, JSNS,
SNS, LANL etc) is being pursued through theAustralian Research Council (under the LIEF scheme).

Volume 4, Number 1, 2012

Chris Ling
President, ANBUG

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Newsletter from AONSASociety Report

Report from TWNSS
Mou is a National Chair Professor. He is also the
University Chair Professor of the Department ofChemistry of the National Taiwan University. His
lectures highlighted the fundamental concepts of theneutron applications. He also pointed out the future
directions of the neutron research for the young
generations to challenge themselves. During theworkshop, Dr. Yong Nam Choi of the Korea Atomic
Energy Research Institute (KAERI) introduced thestatus of the High-Flux Advanced Neutron
Application Reactor (HANARO) and the ongoingusers’ activities in KAERI.

Concurrent Efforts with NSRRC
A new strategic neutron promotion program of theConcurrent Efforts between the National Synchrotron
Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) and the Taiwan
Neutron Science Society (TWNSS) has debuted. The
new promotion program is going to cover the coming
period when Taiwan neutron-related research society
is likely to experience major changes arising largely
from the rapid collaborations with the Asia-Oceania
partners as well as the development of the Taiwan
team in Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation (ANSTO).
Dr. Di-Jing Huang, the Deputy Director of the
NSRRC, and Dr. Chia-Hung Hsu outlined theexciting features of this new strategic plan during the2012 TWNSS annual meeting in February.

Prof. Chung-Yuan Mou’s plenary speech in the TWNSS annual
education workshop in the Sun Link Sea Forest Resort.

Active International Collaborations
Taiwan neutron research activities are vibrant, but
not limited in Taiwan locally. For example, in 2011,61 scientists and graduate students received the travel
support from the National Science Council (NSC)NSRRC Neutron Program to conduct the neutron
experiments and the neutron training, respectively.
NSRRC is also seeking candidates for group leader
and scientists for the development of the Taiwan
Neutron Program at ANSTO. Applicants could
contact Ms. I-Hui Kuo at (kuo.jennifer@nsrrc.org.tw).
Likewise, Dr. Wei-Ren Chen, who is one of the first
two Shull fellowship awardees in 2006, just wins the
Career Award from the Department of the Energy(DOE), United States for his neutron research. WeiRen graduated from the National Tsing Hua
University and he received his PhD from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He applies
small-angle neutron scattering to investigate thesynthetic molecules and their possible biomedical
applications.

Dr. Di-Jing Huang presenting the concurrent efforts andthe supports from the NSRRC for Taiwan neutron society.
Dr. Chia-Hung Hsu (in the middle) and Prof. Hsi-Mei Lai(President of TWNSS, on the right) are in the front seats.

The emphasis of the Strategic Plan on education andinternational neutron experiments is a considered
response to the aforementioned changes. The joint
efforts between the TWNSS and NSRRC seek toprovide Taiwan research society with the best
neutron access opportunities by outreaching andtraining for the expected international collaborations.
The scheduled concurrent Education and Travel
Support Plan demonstrates the commitment toexcellence in neutron research for both new andregular users.
One of the examples is our growing TWNSS annual
education workshop in the Sun Link Sea Forest
Resort (http://www.goto307.com.tw/index.php). Prof.
Chung-Yuan Mou’s gave the plenary speech. Prof.
Volume 4, Number 1, 2012

His-Mei Lai
President, TWNSS
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Newsletter from AONSAEvent Report

Neutron meets the 2nd ASEAN Workshop on Small Angle X-ray Scattering(AWSAXS 2011) in Thailand
The 2nd ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) Workshop on Small Angle X-ray Scattering(AWSAXS 2011) was organised remarkably on March
6 - 8, 2012 at the Synchrotron Laboratory ResearchInstitute (SLRI) in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. The
workshop was rescheduled to March 6 - 8, 2012 due toflood situation in Thailand last year. This workshop
aimed to give practical training on Small Angle
Scattering (SAS) data analyses to users and potential
users of the Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)
beamline at SLRI as well as to initiate collaboration
among SAS user communities in ASEAN countries.

From the AWSAXS, we have a similar perspective toraise the number of users in neutron or X-ray
synchrotron by holding regular activities in the region.
A neutron and X-ray scattering workshop orconference should be arranged frequently in the region
to attract more users among the ASEAN countries.
International organizations such as IUCr (International
Union on Crystallography), ICTP (International Center
for Theoretical Physics) and IAEA (International
Atomic Energy Agency) would be able to facilitate andto support the users and students from ASEAN
countries to utilize the neutron and synchrotron
facilities in Indonesia and Thailand.

Seeing as neutrons are a complementary scattering
probe to X-rays, an introduction to Small Angle
Neutron Scattering (SANS) theory, application andfacilities was delivered by Dr. Joachim Kohlbrecher ofthe Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, Paul Scherrer
Institute, Switzerland and Dr. Edy Giri Rachman Putraof the Neutron Scattering Laboratory, National Nuclear
Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN), Indonesia.
SAS data analysis training using SASfit program
developed by Dr. Kohlbrecher was the main activity of
the workshop for introducing the users to extract the
SAS data.

By bringing our spirit as well as friendships andnetworking in the ASEAN region it will revive andenhance neutron and X-ray users in the Asia-Oceania
region. Now, we all motivated to build up strong
neutron and X-ray user groups through the AsiaOceania Neutron Scattering Association (AONSA) and
Asia-Oceania Forum for Synchrotron Radiation
Research (AOFSRR).

There were in total 7 students from Indonesia andMalaysia supported by SLRI to attend the workshop.
Most of them are potential SAS users, either X-ray orneutron. This is a good sign as there is presently aneutron facility at BATAN in Serpong, Indonesia
which consists of 7 neutron beam instruments andutilizes the powerful 30 MW G.A. Siwabessy research
reactor (RSG-GAS). This facility is also open to users,
especially from ASEAN countries. Nevertheless, thenumber of neutron users and the activity in the region
are small and limited. The regional seminar andworkshop were designed to accommodate not only
neutron scattering, but also X-ray users have been
initiated several years ago. We believe that manypotential users in the region who can be attracted toutilise respectively the neutron and X-ray synchrotron
facilities in Serpong, Indonesia and Nakhon
Ratchasima, Thailand.

Dr. Supagorn Rumai (SLRI) and Dr. Edy Giri Rachman Putra(BATAN) are among the Indonesian and Malaysian students
at the AWSAXS2011

Edy Giri Rachman Putra
National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) Indonesia

Volume 4, Number 1, 20128

Newsletter from AONSACalendar

Calendar of AONSA Activities(as of 2012/4/20)

Year 2011
Date (M/D)
2/20
2/23
2/28
4/27
5/19-20
6/27-7/1
7/17-7/22
8/23-8/31
10/24-10/28
11/12-11/17
11/20
11/20-11/24
11/22-11/25
11/28-12/1
12/16

EventsAONSA Board Meeting (Narita, Japan)
The ENSA-NSSA-AONSA Chairman-Presidents’ Meeting (Tokai, Japan)
Deadline for nomination for the AONSA Prize 2011
AONSA Newsletter Vol.3 No.1 (Apr. 2011)
The 6th AONSA EC Meeting (Bandung, Indonesia)
ICNX 2011 (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
European Conference on Neutron Scattering (Prague, Czech)
XXII Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography(Madrid, Spain)
The 6th AOFSRR Workshop (Bangkok, Thailand)
The 4th AONSA Neutron School (ANSTO, Australia)
The 7th AONSA EC Meeting (Tsukuba, Japan)
The 1st AOCNS (Tsukuba, Japan)
IAEA Technical Meeting (Tsukuba, Japan)
Polymer Conference (Bali, Indonesia)
AONSA Newsletter Vol.3 No.2 (Dec. 2011)

Year 2012
4/20
5/22
7/29-8/2
Fall
10/22-10/26
11/7-11/9
11/16
11/18-11/23
12/2-12/6

AONSA Newsletter Vol.4 No.1 (April 2012)
The 8th AONSA EC Meeting (Kajang, Malaysia)
M2S-X (Washington DC, USA)The 9th AONSA EC Meeting (TBA)
The 5th AONSA Neutron School (Beijing, China)
The 10th AINSE-ANBUG Neutron Science Symposium (Lucas Heights, Australia)
AONSA Newsletter Vol.4 No.2 (Nov. 2012)
The 15th International Small-Angle Scattering Conference (Sydney, Australia)
The 12th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association (Adelaide, Australia)

Year 2013
1/14-1/17
7/7-7/11

2nd International Symposium on Neutron Scattering (ISNS) (Mumbai, India)
The 10th International Conference on Neutron Scattering (Edinburgh, UK)

Location of AONSA Office (Secretary: Junko Akutsu)
Neutron Science Section, Materials & Life Science Division,
J-PARC Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
2-4 Shirakata-Shirane, Tokai, Ibaraki, JAPAN 319-1195
Phone: +81-29-284-3752
Fax: +81-29-284-3889
Email address: akutsu.junko@jaea.go.jp
For more information: http://www.aonsa.org
Volume 4, Number 1, 20129

Newsletter from AONSA