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<channel rdf:about="http://www.mcstas.org">
  <title>McStas News</title>
  <link>http://www.mcstas.org</link>
  <description>Frontpage headlines</description>
</channel>

<item>
  <title>  New download area for contributions and minor fixes</title>
  <link>http://www.mcstas.org</link>
  <date> McNews.1</date>
  <description><![CDATA[

   The website has been enriched with a shared files area, meant for
   useful files not part of the current distribution.

   We foresee to use the area for allowing updates of individual files
   between releases, as well as making user scripts and tools not part of
   the distribution available.]]></description>
</item>


<item>
  <title>  Ph.D. students and/or post docs for instrument simulation for the ESS</title>
  <link>http://www.mcstas.org</link>
  <date>0 McNews.2</date>
  <description><![CDATA[

   In connection with the design update of the planned neutron facility:
   the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, we seek two talented
   young scientists to perform simulations and optimisations of possible
   instruments to be built at ESS.

    Employer and location:

   The two persons will be employed at the Technical University of Denmark
   and at the University of Copenhagen, respectively. However, both will
   be associated with the ESS project.

    The group:

   Both persons will work together in the ESS simulation group, counting
   around 10 persons. This group will be a part of / collaborate with the
   60-person ESS Data Management Center, which is presently under
   construction in Copenhagen.

    Job description:

   You will design neutron scattering instruments for ESS using the tools
   developed in the McStas simulation package. This work will be carried
   out in collaboration with instrument experts located both in Lund and
   around the world. For the judgement of the instrument performance, you
   will perform virtual experiments on samples typical for the particular
   instrument. In this connection, you will take part in the development
   of the tools and algorithms to correctly describe neutron scattering
   samples.

    Qualifications:

   You must have a suitable university degree (M.Sc. or Ph.D.,
   respectively) within Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, or equivalent.
   You should have good computing skills, have a good sense of data
   quality, and be able to work within a team. Furthermore, you should
   have a good understanding of modeling of physical properties. Specific
   experience within X-ray and neutron scattering is considered an
   advantage, but is not required.

    Terms of employment:

   The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules
   for PhD degree students or post docs. The Ph.D. position(s) is a
   fixed-term 3 year employment. The post doc position(s) will be a 2-year
   contract with a possibility for extension, given sufficient funds. Both
   University of Copenhagen and DTU wish to reflect the diversity of
   society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates
   regardless of personal background. Applications should be submitted by
   email to lefmann@fys.ku.dk or pkwi@risoe.dtu.dk by August 27th 2010 and
   should include:
     * A statement of research interests and motivation
     * Transcript of examinations undertaken at your home university (for
       Ph.D. candidates).
     * Master degree / Ph.D. degree certificate (if not available, then
       include proof of expected date for obtaining such degree in the
       CV).
     * CV (max. 3 pages)
     * Please mention 2 contact references in the CV.

    Contact:

     * Prof. Kim Lefmann, Niels Bohr Institute, Univ. Copenhagen,
       lefmann@fys.ku.dk phone +45 29250476
     * Senior Development Engineer Peter Willendrup, Risų DTU,
       pkwi@risoe.dtu.dk phone +45 21254612]]></description>
</item>


<item>
  <title>  July 15th, 2010: McStas 1.12b released!</title>
  <link>http://www.mcstas.org</link>
  <date>0 McNews.3</date>
  <description><![CDATA[

   The McStas developer team is happy to report that the 1.12b release of
   our software is finally out.

   You can get the installer packages from our download page

   McStas 1.12b is mostly a bugfix release, but some new components and
   example instruments have been included. McStas 1.12b will be the VERY
   last release in the 1.x series.

   Part of the reason for McStas 1.12b and its late arrival is our delay
   in releasing the next major version, McStas 2.0.

   McStas 2.0 will be released late 2010 / early 2011 and will introduce
   new features that could break ceartain backward compatibility, hence we
   move from the 1.x series. We are also considering a replacement of the
   GUI and plotting tools for McStas 2.0.

   For a complete list of changes in McStas 1.12b, see our CHANGES
   document.

   The new relase was tested on these platforms:
     * Mac OS 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard (but should work on 10.4
       and 10.3 also). Both 32 and 64 bit, Intel and PPC systems are
       supported.
     * Ubuntu Linux 9.10 Karmic Koala and 10.04 Lucid Lynx, 32 and 64 bit
       .deb's are provided. Note: Do not expect these debs to work on
       earlier releases or other distributions, e.g. Debian
     * Windows XP, Vista and 7, 32 and 64 bit. We only provide 32bit
       executables, but they are tested to run OK on 64 bit
     * On other systems, feel free to try our source distributions]]></description>
</item>


<item>
  <title>  May 26th, 2010: McStas / VITESS user training workshop 2010 has ended</title>
  <link>http://www.mcstas.org</link>
  <date> McNews.4</date>
  <description><![CDATA[

   Last week, several McStas and VITESS team members teamed up organising
   a joint McStas/VITESS user training.

   The event was generously sponsored by
     * ESS Scandinavia
     * NMI3 / FP7
     * Risų DTU

   The used teaching material has been made publicly available at
   http://ven2010.essworkshop.org/storage

   A pre-release of McStas 1.12b was used by the participants, and this
   burn-in-test indicates that we can release a new stable McStas within a
   few weeks.

   The organising committee would like to thank all participants, also for
   their very positive feedback about the event.]]></description>
</item>


<item>
  <title>  March 8th, 2010: McStas / VITESS user training workshop 2010</title>
  <link>http://www.mcstas.org</link>
  <date>0 McNews.5</date>
  <description><![CDATA[

   The McStas and VITESS teams are happy to announce the joint

   McStas / VITESS user training workshop 2010

   To take place at Backafallsbyn in the Swedish island of Ven, May
   17th-21st.

   The workshop is a school in order to train technical staff and
   instrument scientists in using Monte-Carlo code to design better
   neutron devices and instruments. The programme is split into sessions
   dedicated to different parts (optics, sample environment, detectors,
   ...). If you work in one of these areas, and feel like simulating it,
   then this school is for you, especially if you've never done so before.

   Sponsorship / Participation / Cost
   Generous support from our sponsors
     * ESS Scandinavia
     * NMI3 / FP7
     * Risų DTU

   has made it possible to offer sponsored lodging and participation for
   up to 25 people. If more than 25 people show an interest, a fee will be
   announced for further participation, that is the first 25 registrations
   will be free, the up-to-5 following will require accommodation charge
   (about 600 euros for the entire school).

   We would like all participants to attend, as far as possible, the
   entire school.

   All participants must arrange and pay their own transport to Copenhagen
   Airport. We will arrange joint transportation from CPH to the Island of
   Ven.

   Further information

   Please refer to http://www.essworkshop.org for further information
   and registration.]]></description>
</item>

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