Parallel Session 5: Wednesday 10 April 10:15 - 12:00
SESAME, a third-generation synchrotron light source, was officially opened in Allan, Jordan on 16 May 2017 and is the Middle East's first major international research infrastructure. It will foster scientific and technological excellence in the Middle East and neighbouring countries, stemming and reversing the brain drain by enabling world-class research in subjects ranging from biology, archaeology and medicine to materials science, physics, chemistry and life sciences. SESAME will build scientific and cultural bridges between diverse societies, contributing to a culture of peace through international cooperation in science.
As an intergovernmental scientific and technological centre of excellence open to scientists from the Middle East and beyond, SESAME will serve as a driver for the scientific, technical, and economic development of the region and will strengthen collaboration in science. As a user facility, SESAME will welcome scientists, including graduate students, from universities and research institutes who will typically visit for short periods to carry out their experiments, frequently in collaboration with scientists from other countries, before returning home to analyse their data. In this way SESAME will stimulate scientific creativity in the universities and research institutes of the region as the scientists who visit share expertise and knowledge gained at SESAME with their colleagues and students. SESAME is creating a highly motivating scientific environment that is already encouraging the region's best scientists and technologists to stay in the region or to return if they have moved elsewhere.
It is vital for SESAME to develop and maintain awareness and trust among public stakeholders in its members and beyond. PARI 2019 comes at an ideal time for SESAME’s evolving communications. This talk will cover the development of the centre’s strategic communications plan as the experimental programme gets underway.
