SESAME is a synchrotron facility located in Amman, Jordan. The facility, inaugurated in 2017, is a rare partnership of Middle Eastern countries. While it took more than twenty years to achieve the vision of the scientists who pioneered this project, the initiative exemplifies how the scientific world can facilitate collaboration between states, even in the absence of diplomatic relations between them.
The Academy has been involved in the initiative since 1995, when Prof. Jacob Ziv served as president of the Academy. The Ministry of Science and Technology joined the initiative in 1997 and the project subsequently enjoyed significant support from the Council of Higher Education’s Planning and Budgeting Committee.
The other members of SESAME include Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Cyprus and the Palestinian Authority. A number of other non-member states and entities have also helped to plan and build the facility: the European Union, Italy, the U.S., Britain, Germany, Greece, Japan, Kuwait, France, Russia and CERN.
The Academy’s National Committee on Synchrotron Radiation has been involved in the project since 1999. The committee’s representatives are active in several areas: scientific planning and development of the project with scientists from other countries, scientific sponsorship that has helped to secure the support of decision makers in Israel for the project, and management of Israeli scientific involvement in the project.
Prof. Eliezer Rabinovich from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Roy Beck-Barkai from Tel Aviv University are currently Israel’s scientific representatives on the SESAME Council, and Prof. Rabinovich serves as the council’s vice president. Prof. Joel Sussman from the Weizmann Institute of Science is a member of SESAME’s Scientific Committee.
A source of light in the Middle East
The SESAME project was engendered by the Middle Eastern Science Committee (MESC) formed by Prof. Eliezer Rabinovich, the late Italian physicist Prof. Sergio Fubini and others in 1994. Their goal was to promote scientific collaboration in the Middle East against the backdrop of the peace process between Israel and Jordan. In 1997, the group decided to focus on building a regional synchrotron. The MESC adopted a proposal to receive the German synchrotron BESSY-1, which was slated to be dismantled, and to reconstruct it in the Middle East. The SESAME organization was formed in 1999 to pursue this objective. Later, the facility was completely redesigned and upgraded to the level of advanced national synchrotrons in the U.S. and Europe. This upgrade brought the facility to a level that enables research at the highest international level, but required additional sources of funding. In 2000, Jordan was chosen to host the facility. Scientific activity began upon completion of the facility in 2017. A variety of beamlines are still being built and added to expand the potential uses of the facility.
The idea to build the first multinational synchrotron in the Middle East captured the hearts of many, prompting organizations and individuals to help bring the idea to fruition. The UNESCO organization was a partner in the initial formation of the SESAME organization, and later the CERN organization assisted by contributing research equipment, professional training and personal involvement; three former directors-general of CERN served for years as directors of the SESAME facility. Other synchrotron laboratories in the world – including ESRF, DESY and ELETRA – also contributed equipment, training and various other types of assistance for building the facility.