ESTEEM-2, Enabling Science and Technology through European Electron Microscopy, FP7

The partners involved in ESTEEM2 are determined to take their distributed research infrastructure to new heights as Europe's primary resource for access to advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) equipment, tools and methodological support. They are making outstanding instrumentation available to visiting researchers, disseminating knowledge, conducting ambitious research to advance the state of the art and thereby further boosting the potential of TEM as an enabling technology for European research in the physical sciences. Their work builds on the outcomes of the precursor project ESTEEM ('Distributed European infrastructure of advanced electron microscopy for nanoscience'), which ended in June 2011.

The current project's networking activities support cooperation in the field as a means of sharing and refining TEM expertise and promoting closer integration. They are designed to intensify the interaction with the various stakeholders, but also to further enhance the services jointly provided by the project partners. As part of this strand of activity, the partners will, for example, organise training programmes and workshops, optimise sample preparation techniques and develop theoretical models and computational tools that will support a number of their activities. They also intend to maintain close ties with related initiatives, notably in Australia, Japan and the United States.

The project's transnational access programme is one of the partner's key priorities. It involves 13 TEM facilities in 9 countries and provides opportunities to use cutting-edge equipment that is rare or even unequalled throughout Europe. An independent selection panel evaluates the project proposals submitted by prospective users and directs successful applicants to the centre that offers the best fit for their needs. In total, some 3 300 days of access are to be provided free of charge to approximately 2 300 researchers throughout the four-year duration of the project.