SESAME stands for Synchrotron light for Experimental Science and its Applications in the Middle East. It is a synchrotron facility which is being built in Jordan under the auspices of UNESCO. Currently, the  full members of the project are Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey. Moreover, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, UK and US will act as observers. Japan which has been involved in every stage of the project is soon to confirm its status.

Starting in the year 2000, scientists from the region began meeting in a series of scientific workshops (see reports at www.sesame.org.jo). Annual SESAME Users' meetings began in Jordan in 2002 followed by Iran in 2003, Turkey in 2004, Jordan in 2005, Egypt in 2006, and back to Jordan in 2007.

SESAME, the first synchrotron in the Middle East, will focus on five main scientific programs: physical science, biological and medical sciences, environmental sciences, industrial applications and archeology. Phase I beam lines are expected to be operational in 2011. 

The main objectives of SESAME-Egypt:

• To expose the scientific community (especially students) in Egypt to the SESAME project and its potentials.

• To establish a central SESAME lab in Egypt for sample handling and computational analysis.  The center is expected to be a state-of-the-art facility which serves all SESAME countries. 

 It is noteworthy to mention that Egypt was among the first few countries to establish a national committee for synchrotron radiation with a main focus on the SESAME project. Prof. Tarek Hussein chairs the committee and looks forward to strong collaborations with all SESAME members.