Synchrotron light sources are an essential part of modern research infrastructure. Discuss their applications in structural biology and materials science, and India's strategy for access to them.

A synchrotron accelerates electrons to produce extremely bright X-rays. Researchers use them at dedicated experimental stations called beamlines. Because they show matter at the atomic scale, synchrotrons support frontier research in biology and materials. India gets access through a mix of domestic sources and co-owned beamlines abroad. Its most recent step is Elettra 2.0 in Trieste, Italy [1].

Applications in Structural Biology

• Macromolecular crystallography maps the 3-D shape of proteins and other biomolecules. Elettra's new μXRD microfocus beamline is dedicated to it [1].
• It enables structure-based drug design by showing how drug molecules bind to target proteins. This matters for India's pharmaceutical sector.
• It helps decode pathogen proteins, which supports vaccine and diagnostic development.

Applications in Materials Science

• High-pressure diffraction studies materials under extreme conditions. The new Xpress-SB (Superbend) beamline serves this purpose [1].
• It informs work on advanced materials and on earth and planetary science.
• India's beamline BL18B at Japan's KEK Photon Factory supports materials research. Its third phase focuses on industrial applications [2].

India's Strategy for Access

• Domestic sources: Indus-1 and Indus-2 at RRCAT, Indore.
• Co-partner model abroad:
• Indian scientists have used Elettra since 1998.
• DST co-built the XRD2 and XPRESS beamlines in 2016 for about Rs 22 crore.

• India has now committed over €7 million over five years from 2026-27 for μXRD and Xpress-SB [1].

• Access funding: the Indo-Italian Executive Programme of Cooperation (EPOC) funded visits by 50 researchers a year (Rs 2 crore over 2022-24) [1].

• Umbrella scheme: DST's Mega Facilities for Basic Research funds facilities "in and out of the country" [3].
• Result: India is Elettra's second-largest user after Italy, with over 1,100 proposals [1].

Gaps

• India must pay again each time a foreign facility upgrades, and access depends on the host's priorities.
• Demand outstrips supply: only about half of Indian applicants get beamtime at KEK [2].
• There is an access gap while the old beamlines are decommissioned [1].

Synchrotrons thus turn India's scientific ambition into atomic-level insight across medicine and materials. Three steps would make the strategy sustainable:

• tie EPOC funding to the five-year life of the beamlines;
• reserve some paid beamtime for industry;
• train Indian engineers abroad to build an upgraded domestic source.

This "access now, build capacity alongside" approach advances self-reliant science and SDG 9's goal of stronger research infrastructure.