(LAAAMP) Jan-Dec 2027

CALL for APPLICATIONS for FAculty-STudent (FAST) Teams to Spend Two (2) Months During Calendar Year 2027 at Participating Advanced Light Sources

Note the new 2-step application process

Lightsources for Africa, the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Pacific (LAAAMP) will award FAST Team grants to enhance advanced light source (AdLS) and crystallography sciences in eight (8) targeted regions of the world: Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Pacific. The grants are sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB), and the American Physical Society (APS). The successful applicants will spend two (2) months during Calendar Year 2027 at LAAAMP’s AdLS Collaborative Partners to acquire expertise in accelerator technology or AdLS beamline techniques, including those involving crystallography.

Call timeline (2-step application process)

Step 1 – Pre-application submission deadline: 15 July 2026
Eligibility results notification: End of August 2026
Step 2 – Full application submission deadline: 31 October 2026
Final results (awarded applicants) announced: Mid-December 2026

Application categories

Continuing FAST Teams

Consists of applications from FAST Teams that are led by faculty who were previous New LAAAMP FAST Team Awardees, but not previous Continuing LAAAMP FAST Team Awardees.

New

Consists of all other applications.

Who is Eligible under the New Category?

Faculty

Employed as a full-time faculty member at an accredited Ph.D. granting university that is located in one of the targeted regions enumerated above.
Accompanied by one’s Ph.D. student research advisee.
Interested in using AdLSs to further one’s research and training endeavors.
Previous experience with using AdLSs is limited to a year or less.
Ability to spend two (2) months during Calendar Year 2027 as a full-time visitor in residence at an AdLS that is a LAAAMP Collaborative Partner.

Student

Registered as a full-time Ph.D. student at an accredited university that is located in one of the targeted regions enumerated above.
Accompanied by one’s faculty research advisor.
Interested in using AdLSs in one’s dissertation research.
Ability to spend two (2) months during Calendar Year 2027 as a full-time visitor in residence at an AdLS that is a LAAAMP Collaborative Partner.

Amount of Financial Support

LAAAMP will provide 2,000 Euros per person to cover transportation costs. Any excess will be applied to accommodation and subsistence. The remainder of accommodation and subsistence should be negotiated with the host AdLS, which may or may not be able to provide support for local costs, and other sources of support. Please make sure you have prior written agreement before travelling to cover all costs from the sources available to you.

Deliverables

Within one month after the conclusion of the visit to the host AdLS, the FAST team should provide the following:

Maximum 10-page description of the research conducted, including any publications that result.
All publications should acknowledge the support provided by IUPAP-IUCr-IUPAB-ICTP LAAAMP.
Maximum 3-page report that evaluates the non-scientific aspects of the visit, including positive experiences as well as ways that the visit could be enhanced in the future.

Application process

STEP 1: Pre-application - DEADLINE 15 July 2026

Please be aware that funding is dependent upon suitable arrangements being made with a LAAAMP AdLS Collaborative Partner. Preparing a visit to one of the LAAAMP AdSL Collaborative Partners is a lengthy procedure that takes several weeks and must therefore be initiated early on. We request that you submit a pre-application containing the following items to [email protected] with subject “FAST Team pre-application 2027”:

General information provided by using the pre-application form. It comprises a short summary of your project, including the objective of the project and a statement on why an AdLS is necessary to complete the project.
A letter or a note of acknowledgement from an AdLS staff member that she/he will serve in the role of mentor. The first contact at an AdLS should be made with the contact person found at https://laaamp.iucr.org/partners/adls. Applications submitted without official note of acknowledgment of an AdLS are not eligible for evaluation at STEP 2.

PRE-APPLICATION FORM

Notifications about eligibility to apply for step 2 will be sent before 31 August 2026.

STEP 2: Full application - DEADLINE 31 October 2026

If your pre-application has been approved, you may proceed to STEP 2. You are invited to submit your complete application, containing the 2 items listed below, to your regional contact found at https://laaamp.iucr.org/committees/uspc.

Pre-application files with email of approval received from LAAAMP
A document with detailed research information, using the full application form below

FULL APPLICATION FORM (Available in August 2026. To be submitted only after receiving notification of eligibility)

Notifications about results of the call will be sent latest before 15 December 2026.

Note: Final funding is dependent upon suitable arrangements being made with a LAAAMP AdLS Collaborative Partner.

Persons and Email Addresses of Regional contacts to whom full applications should be submitted

Residents of Africa

Professor Simon Connell
University of Johannesburg
Department of Mechanical Engineering Science
Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
Milpark, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa
Email: [email protected]

Residents of Central America and the Caribbean

Professor Keyla Soto Hidalgo
Center for Innovation, Research and Education
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus
San Juan, PR 00931-3346
Email: [email protected]

Residents of Mexico

Professor Abel Moreno

Institute of Chemistry

National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

Mexico City, Mexico

Email: [email protected]

Residents of the South America

Dr Helio Cesar Nogueira Tolentino
Head of the Heterogeneous and Hierarchical Matter Division
Sirius Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source (LNLS)
Email: [email protected]

Residents of Southeast Asia

Dr Wantana Klysubun
Assistant Director for Academic Affairs
Synchrotron Light Research Institute
Email: [email protected]

Residents of Central Asia

Professor Davron Matrasulov
Head of Laboratory for Advanced Studies
Turin Polytechnic University
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Email: [email protected]

Residents of the Middle East

Professor Kirsi Lorentz
Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center
The Cyprus Institute
Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: [email protected]

Residents of the Pacific Islands

Professor Christina Sizun
Director of LAAAMP Synchrotron training
Email: [email protected]