A Message from Petra Reinke, NSLS-II UEC Vice-Chair
January 26, 2026
Petra Reinke
As vice-chair of NSLS-II’s User Executive Committee (UEC), I am excited to help plan and co-chair this year’s NSLS-II & CFN Users' Meeting. The meeting will be held from April 21–23, 2026 at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and will serve as an important venue for communication and collaboration in our community. It’s wonderful when we have the opportunity to bring scientists together to share what we are all so passionate about. These interactions with colleagues help us transcend disciplinary boundaries and inspire new ideas in our work.
During the meeting, we encourage you to meet some of the members of the UEC. We’re always eager to speak with users and welcome conversations that go beyond just the “hardware” and focus on promoting well-being and long-term success. Don’t forget — this is a meeting by and for users — there are many ways to get engaged!
Nobody is an island, and workshops and conferences are a great way to remind ourselves of that. Ideas often pop up during conversations that might lead in an unexpected direction. I have worked in quite a few different areas of science — albeit most of it was about surfaces as the grounding topic — but interactions with colleagues were essential to hone ideas and gain inspiration.
The Users’ Meeting connects researchers focused on a wide range of topics: from those who build new beamlines and instruments to those who are looking at new ways to crunch avalanches of data. This year’s meeting features a variety of workshops: an AI showcase; exhibitors from industry; poster sessions; keynote speakers; news from Brookhaven Lab, NSLS-II, CFN, and the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science; and plenty of coffee and tea breaks to meet new people and catch up with familiar faces. There are several topics I am personally looking forward to exploring, including artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration into workflows as well as future experimental capabilities at NSLS-II and CFN.
If you’d like to learn more about future capabilities at NSLS-II before the Users’ Meeting, there is a webinar this Thursday, Jan. 29, at 1 p.m. ET introducing some of the newly proposed NEXT-III beamline concepts. The UEC is excited to be involved, and we encourage you all to attend.
The Users’ Meeting is a great opportunity to visit Brookhaven Lab and see these amazing facilities and instruments in person. We will be scheduling tours of both NSLS-II and CFN. You also might want to consider spending a little time to see the local area. When I travel to Long Island, I’m usually very busy with my work, but occasionally, there is a little bit of time to see the beaches. I love the ocean, especially in the winter, when things are a little wild.
We hope you will be able join us in April for a productive and enjoyable time at an exciting place! Registration will open soon. Bookmark the meeting website to stay informed.
