SwissSIMS

Prof. Johanna Marin Carbonne, University of Lausanne, FGSE, ISTE

Prof. Daniela Rubatto, University of Bern, Institute of Geology & University of Lausanne, FGSE, ISTE

Dr Anne-Sophie Bouvier, University of Lausanne, FGSE, ISTE

Dr Thomas Bovay, University of Lausanne, FGSE, ISTE

Local speakers : 

Prof. Anders Meibom, Polytechnique Federal School of Lausanne, Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry

Dr Tingting Fu, University of Geneva, Laboratory of Advanced Technology

Invited speakers :

Dr Laurette Piani, Centre de recherches pétrographiques et géochimiques Nancy

Prof. Matt Killburn, International Atomic Energy Agency

This school is designed for PhD and Master students having interests in discovering and understanding SIMS technique and application. The course will be a free choice course of the ELSTE Master program (Uni Lausanne and Uni Geneva). Potential students from Master program from Uni Bern and ETHZ, but also foreign universities are welcome to join. PhD students from various doctoral programs from European Universities will be also interested. The participating students must have a project involving SIMS data acquisition. They need to have a background in mineralogy, geochemistry, and isotopic geochemistry.

This SwissSIMS winter school aims to provide advanced knowledge on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) instrumentation and applications in geosciences. During the school, students will attend lessons on SIMS theory, isotope mass spectrometry, standard calibration, data reduction and error propagation as well as practical sessions. Various application examples will be given by SwissSIMS researchers. One invited SIMS expert will give a short course on a research topic approached from a SIMS perspective, like geochronology, volcanology, cosmochemistry or geobiology. During the week, students in small groups will have the opportunity of to follow a basic training on tuning the instrument as well as the possibility of preparing one SIMS mount with a specific material and and analyzing it/them for isotope analyses. Particular sessions on sample preparation protocols and characterization of the surface will be included and students will use the laboratory equipment. A lab tour will be also a part if the course and will include other laboratories in the Centre of Advance Surface Analyses (CASA, NanoSIMS, cryo SEM and Electronic Microprobe). Exercises on standard calibration, data reduction and error propagation as well as sample preparation will be part of the course.

After the introduction, students will be invited to design potential applications of SIMS in their research project and will write a short proposal for isotope analyses. The week will be organized around a combination of lectures, group exercises, and practical sessions in the laboratories. Student will be able to bring their own samples to prepare for analysis. Video and online documentation will be provided. The final grades will consist on a grade on the exercises and on the quality of the sample prepared.

A preliminary programme will be published soon. 

The SwissSIMS Winter School is organized by the University of Lausanne, in partnership with the Centre for Advanced Surface Analysis, Swiss National Science Foundation, University of Bern, ETH Zürich and University of Geneva.