The ESRF EPN-Campus in Grenoble, France, hosted the ESRF-ENRICH Oasys School (EOS26) from 20 to 22 May 2026. Organised under the COST Action CA24131-ENRICH framework, the three-day school brought together 41 participants from 19 countries — including 8 expert instructors from leading laboratories worldwide — all focused on mastering the OASYS2 ecosystem for the design, modelling, ray-tracing simulation and optimisation of X-ray optical systems. Registration was free, with 17 travel grants funded by COST-ENRICH covering full participation costs for selected attendees.
A rich curriculum from fundamentals to cutting-edge methods. The programme offered a tightly integrated blend of lectures and hands-on sessions covering the full spectrum of X-ray optics topics. Participants explored the fundamentals of optical system design and hierarchical ray-tracing theory, optical modelling of synchrotron sources, mirrors and gratings, crystal optics (monochromators and analysers), lenses and refractors, wave optics and coherence, heat load and finite element analysis, mosaic crystals and von Hamos analysers, beam diagnostics, and the emerging applications of artificial intelligence and digital twins in beamline science. The school targeted PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, early-career and confirmed scientists, and industrial professionals — from complete newcomers to experienced practitioners seeking deeper expertise.
From theory to practice: SHADOW4, XOPPY, WOFRY and SRW. A distinctive feature of EOS26 was its strong emphasis on hands-on training directly within the OASYS2 platform. Guided by experienced instructors, participants worked interactively with SHADOW4 for raytracing simulations of sources, mirrors, gratings, crystal systems, lenses and complete beamlines; with XOPPY for spectral and reflectivity calculations; with WOFRY and SRW for wave-optics and coherent mode decomposition; and with the hybrid model for coherence propagation in ray-tracing. Closing sessions introduced scripting and programming within the OASYS2 add-on framework, equipping participants to extend the platform for their own research needs.
Expert instructors from top synchrotron facilities worldwide. Eight instructors led the programme, bringing expertise from institutions spanning three continents: Juan Reyes Herrera (Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Italy), Luca Rebuffi (Argonne National Laboratory, USA), Manuel Sanchez Del Rio (ESRF, France), Nazanin Samadi (DESY, Germany), Philipp Brumund (ESRF, France), Rafael Celestre (ESRF, France), Simone Manti (INFN-LNF, Italy), and Xianbo Shi (Argonne National Laboratory, USA). Luca Rebuffi and Xianbo Shi delivered their sessions remotely, underscoring the global and distributed nature of the OASYS2 developer community.
International reach and COST-ENRICH support. The 35 student participants represented 19 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia, reflecting the broad international interest in open-source tools for X-ray optics simulation. The COST-ENRICH Action funded 17 travel grants that covered full participation costs, making the school accessible to early-career researchers and participants from Inclusiveness Target Countries. The school thus served not only as a technical training forum but also as a networking platform that strengthened ties across the synchrotron and free-electron laser communities.
Open resources and looking forward. EOS26 reinforced the role of the OASYS2 platform as a central open-source resource for the X-ray optics community. All course materials are publicly available at github.com/oasys-kit/oasys_school_eos26. The ESRF-ENRICH school series continues to serve as a key training forum, combining rigorous theoretical foundations with practical simulation experience, and the organisers look forward to welcoming the community again in future editions.
Event website: https://indico.esrf.fr/event/241/
Course material: https://github.com/oasys-kit/oasys_school_eos26
The EOS26 Organising Committee
ESRF, France
