Argonne National Laboratory

Candidate for Member-at-Large

Dr. Alp received his BSc and MSc degrees from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, and his PhD from Southern Illinois University. He is a staff member with Argonne National Laboratory since 1984. He was a post-doctoral researcher with Dr. G. Shenoy, and worked with the first group of scientists who prepared the scientific case for the Advanced Photon Source. He is known for his work in nuclear resonant x-ray spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation since 1980, when he has spent a year in Hamburg as an IAEA fellow with Prof. E. Gerdau. Dr. Alp, has formed the high-resolution x-ray scattering group at the APS, and he was responsible for the design and construction of the 3-ID beamline, dedicated to nuclear resonant and momentum-resolved inelastic x-ray scattering. Together with Drs. W. Sturhahn, T. Toellner, H. Sinn, they have developed Sector 3 beamline to attract users around the world. The discovery of the nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, which allows measurement of phonon density of states, is among the highlights of this period.

Dr. Alp, together with Dr. J. Hill of Brookhaven National Laboratory organized the first workshop on inelastic x-ray scattering that led to successful proposals to DOE and NSF. He served as the Managing Director of IXS-CDT project until its completion in 2007.

Dr. Alp was a member of Canadian Light Source Science Advisory Committee between 1999-2009. Together with Dr. H. Winick (SLAC), he chaired the first Scientific Committee for the SESAME project, and helped write the scientific case for a synchrotron source in the Middle East, organized workshops to identify and develop a scientific user community. He continues to serve as a member of the Technical Committee. Dr. Alp is the chair of the International Science Advisory Committee for the Turkish Accelerator Center. He participates in national and international panels, including isotopes sub-committee of the DOE Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, many DOE and NIH panels, Beamline Advisory Committees for NSLS-II at Brookhaven and PETRA-III at DESY. He regularly hosts international scientists and directs PhD theses for graduate students.

Dr. Alp is an elected US representative to the International Board of Applications of Mössbauer Effect (IBAME). Dr. Alp received University of Chicago Distinguished Scientific Performance Award in 1999, and he is a senior scientist since 2003.  He has published over 200 papers, book chapters, and organized and chaired many international conferences and workshops.

Candidate Statement

I have received my education in three different countries with very distinct cultures and history: Turkey, Germany and the USA. This diversity provides me with some perspective in life that allows me to deal with complex issues with a degree of moderation, respecting the unique conditions at different places. I have worked at many different synchrotron radiation facilities in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States, with scientists from different parts of the world. I have directed 12 PhD students also coming from all over the world. Working at Argonne National Laboratory allowed me to understand the true nature of cross-discipline work, and I was able to apply some aspects of my experiences in many international projects, like SESAME, the Light Source for the Middle East, which is currently under construction in Amman, Jordan, and the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. More recently I am involved in advising the Turkish Accelerator Center project as the first chairman of their International Science Advisory Committee. In addition, I am also involved in advising the P01 Beamline at the newly built PETRA-III facility in Germany. Working with scientists from different parts of the world made me appreciate the universal nature of the science as a human endeavor. The concerns we have for our scientific projects, the ambitions, the dreams, the sacrifices we are ready make points out this commonality, and hence brings us ever closer. If I am elected, I believe, the APS FIP will provide me a new venue where I can use some of my energy on behalf of the international scientific community.