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

x射线与物质的相互作用可以从原子的细节上探测物质的底层结构。x射线衍射（XRD）自一个世纪前被发现以来，一直是结构分析不可或缺的工具，它被广泛应用于科学、工程和医学的各个领域，这些领域的进步需要对结构和性质之间的关系有深刻的理解。因此，XRD在许多方面改善了人类的福祉，例如通过创造改进的材料，更好的药物，更环保的化学过程，以及更全面地了解生物起源的复杂结构的作用和行为。由于这些原因，蒙特卡罗大学将XRD的卓越表现作为头等大事，并在该领域保持了40多年的国际领先地位。在此期间的持续努力取得了以下显著成果：(1)创建了蒙特利尔x射线衍射结构分析中心，该中心提供了一套世界级的7台现代衍射仪，可以用于几乎任何不需要同步辐射的x射线衍射实验；(2)安装世界上第一台商用金属喷射仪；(3)吸引并留住由三名XRD专家组成的优秀员工，他们在设备维护、结构分析和培训新研究人员方面拥有超过70年的经验；(4)向数百名学生教授XRD，培养该领域的新一代专家，这些专家担任大学教授、同步加速器束线科学家和全球主要XRD设施的管理人员；(5)提供一个开放的设施，使其设备和专业知识随时可供加拿大国内外的学术和工业研究人员使用；(6)在过去五年中，为来自多所大学和工业研究中心的70多名有才华的科学家提供服务，他们需要使用最先进的XRD设备，以保持在各自领域的国际领先地位。该中心目前的衍射仪的购置主要由加拿大创新基金会提供资金，另外还有来自quamebe政府和工业界的补充捐款，该中心运作的部分财政支助由UdeM、用户和其他来源均衡地提供，例如nanoquamebe和quamebe自然与技术研究基金会。XRD中心的工作人员、仪器和用户共同构成了具有国际重要性的独特的加拿大资源。NSERC的支持是迫切需要的，以弥补其他来源的资金短缺，并确保该中心能够保留其员工，维护其设备，并继续向加拿大各地的学术和工业研究人员开放。

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.