8th Steering Committee meeting of the Collaboration of European FEL and SPS Facilities, 14 – 15 March 2013 in Frascati, Italy

The Steering Committee of the Collaboration of European FEL and SPS Facilities and FELnet/CALIPSO members met from the 14 – 15th March 2013 at INFN, Frascati, Italy. During this meeting aimed at discussing the status of the Collaboration and planning future activities, it was unanimously agreed to admit the IR-FELs (CLIO, FELBE and FELIX) from FELnet/CALIPSO, as full members of the Collaboration, bound by the MoU signed on 31st May 2012.

The meeting began with members giving highlights on recent and on-going developments at their facilities – from progress in planning, construction, upgrade of existing facilities to experimental designs and user activities. It was observed that there is a strong momentum in the development of FEL science in Europe. However, there is a greater need to jointly coordinate such efforts in order to provide efficient and cost effective services to the user communities.