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11 February 2009

Members of the Organising Committee, and the Synchrotron Science Community,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen

Since the dawn of time mankind has been fascinated by light. Obviously, the greatest source of light for early humans was the sun, and since it was clearly also a source of warmth and a driver of growth, it didn't take too long before people started worshipping it as the source of all good things.

Throughout history, light and our increasing understanding of light has always given us greater insight into the road ahead. In a strange, often contradictory way, light continues to shine upon the path of human progress.

In the 19th century, James Clerk Maxwell produced equations proving that electricity and magnetism were interrelated, which basically introduced the wave theory of light. At about the same time, the speed of light was established.

It was Albert Einstein, in the 20th century, who concluded that light was a particle and not a wave. He named this particle a photon, and it was largely for this work that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921.

Later, Prince Louis deBroglie was also awarded a Nobel Prize, after he showed that light could be viewed as a particle as well as a wave.

It is amazing that light and the properties of light continue to intrigue us, and that as we unlock more of its many secrets, it always seems to have still more to give us.

More recently, light in the form of synchrotron radiation has promised to illuminate a new route to our future.

It was in 1945 that the synchrotron was proposed as the latest accelerator for high-energy physics. Today, the world has about 50 of these remarkable "super microscopes," engaging the attention of a growing number of the world's most original scientific minds, a pleasing number of whom are with us here today.

Let us hope that light continues to shine on your efforts, which promise so much in the field of human progress.

For my part I am often amazed and increasingly proud of the scale of the endeavours with which South African science is engaged.

As many of you will know, we are currently locked in a contest with Australia to host the Square Kilometre Array telescope (SKA) with which the world's astronomers will be able to study the universe as it was just 500 million years after the Big Bang.

The huge scale of this effort will redefine our conception of infinity, undoubtedly shed new light on the origins of the universe, and present us with a clearer vision of the universal tapestry and the manner in which it is unfolding.

At the other end of the scale is our involvement in the biosciences, nano-science and technology, and the extraordinary developments made possible by synchrotrons and the insights they give us into the composition of matter.

I concede that South Africans have a lot of catching up to do in this area. We lag behind our southern hemisphere friends and colleagues in Brazil and Australia.
But this is not to say that we lack appreciation of the immense potential of the synchrotron research tool for boosting our international competitiveness and human capacity development in a growing number of scientific disciplines.

The synchrotron is a premier research tool, and if this was not clear before, it is now evident after the presentations made over the past few days.

My department recognises this, and will continue to provide backing and support to grow the user base in our country to the point where synchrotron research becomes an integral part of broad-based scientific research.

I understand there are currently between 20 and 30 synchrotron users in our country, including both researchers and students, who are occupied in areas covered by this workshop – namely materials science, the biosciences, and geological, environmental and heritage sciences.

Two years ago, in February 2007, a similar gathering took place in Cape Town. At that time it became clear that there were 25 to 30 South African embryonic projects on the go for which the use of synchrotron techniques was imperative.

Since then, I believe several of these have progressed through international collaborations and contacts at various synchrotrons.

In addition to this, a great deal of important work has been done in spreading the synchrotron gospel to the research and development divisions of the leading players in some of our country's major industries, including Sasol, the Anglo Research Lab, Eskom, Element Six and the management of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor.

Some of them are currently accessing the potential of this unique research tool for their project needs, while others are showing keen interest in using synchrotrons for future work.

South Africa is a developing country, and our priority is to promote initiatives that hold promise for improving the lives of the poor.

Synchrotron technology finds application in a number of areas, including molecule crystallography, drug discovery and research, 'burning' computer chip designs into metal wafers, geological material analysis, and proton therapy to treat some forms of cancer.

Through collaborative research programmes, we hope as scientists, you will be able to discover ways in which some of your findings can be applied to improve the lives of poorer societies such as ours.

With regard to synchrotron science and research, I can safely say that we have "seen the light;" that we appreciate the potential for good of this remarkable scientific discipline, and eagerly await the human benefits we are convinced will flow from these efforts.

In closing, allow me this opportunity to wish you well in your deliberations during this conference. So, go ahead and turn on the light!

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
11 February 2009
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za)