Operations and Maintenance Support: Montréal Centre for Structural Analysis by X-Ray Diffraction

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The interaction of X-rays with matter allows its underlying structure to be probed in atomic detail. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has been an indispensable tool for structural analysis since its discovery a century ago, and it is used intensively in all areas of science, engineering, and medicine where progress requires a deep understanding of the relationship between structure and properties. XRD thereby improves human welfare in many ways, such as by leading to the creation of improved materials, better drugs, greener chemical processes, and a fuller understanding of the role and behavior of complex structures of biological origin. For these reasons, the Université de Montréal has made excellence in XRD a top priority and has maintained a position of international leadership in the field for over 40 years. Sustained effort during this period has yielded the following notable results: (1) Creating the Montreal Centre for Structural Analysis by X-Ray Diffraction, which provides a world-class set of seven modern diffractometers that can be used to perform virtually any XRD experiment not requiring synchrotron radiation; (2) installing the world's first commercial metal-jet instrument; (3) attracting and retaining a talented staff of three XRD experts with a combined experience of over 70 years in maintaining equipment, analyzing structures, and training new researchers; (4) teaching XRD to hundreds of students and producing new generations of experts in the field, who hold positions as university professors, synchrotron beamline scientists, and managers of major XRD facilities throughout the world; (5) providing an open-access facility that makes its equipment and expertise readily available to academic and industrial researchers throughout Canada and abroad; and (6) serving over 70 talented scientists from multiple universities and industrial research centres in the last five years, who need access to state-of-the-art XRD facilities to maintain international leadership in their fields. Acquisition of the Centre's current diffractometers has been funded largely by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, with supplementary contributions from the Government of Québec and industry, and partial financial support for operating the Centre has been provided by in a balanced way by the UdeM, users, and other sources such as NanoQuébec and the Fonds de recherche du Québec-Nature et technologies. Collectively, the staff, instrumentation, and users of the XRD Centre constitute a unique Canadian resource of international importance. Support from NSERC is urgently needed to compensate for shortfalls in funding from other sources and to ensure that the Centre can retain its staff, maintain its equipment properly, and continue to provide open access to academic and industrial researchers throughout Canada.