Mina Akhyani’s Interview

Starting date: 10.02.25

Nationality : Iranian

Implementing Partner : Forshungszentrum Juelich

Few words about you and your research project

I am Mina Akhyani, originally from Iran, and my research focuses on a central challenge in modern neutron science: how to optimize a neutron source that must serve multiple instruments with different, and often competing requirements, while suffering as little as possible from trade-off scenarios.

Within the GNeuS project, I work on developing new moderator concepts and optimization strategies that move beyond single-metric optimization. Instead of maximizing brightness or intensity for one specific instrument, my approach explores how a neutron source can be designed to balance the needs of several instruments simultaneously.

To tackle this, I combine Monte Carlo simulations, optimization algorithms, and machine-learning techniques, together with Brightify, a software tool I developed during my PhD to accurately calculate neutron brightness.

These tools will be actively used during my secondment at Mirrotron in Hungary, one of the first compact neutron sources of its kind. This is an exciting opportunity to connect advanced computational methods directly with a real, emerging neutron source.

What is your background? How have you heard about GNeuS?

My journey in physics began in 2009, when I started my bachelor’s degree in physics. During my final year, I became fascinated by laser technology and its applications, which led me to pursue a master’s degree in photonics. There, I focused on electron acceleration using ultrashort laser pulses, working on laser-based accelerators. While this work was exciting, it also made me aware of a broader reality in accelerator science: I realized that laser accelerators, although promising, still face challenges before they can fully replace conventional technologies.

Wanting to understand these challenges more deeply, I joined a synchrotron project in my home country. There, I was exposed to accelerator applications at the facility level and, later, to accelerator-based neutron sources, where one source is typically required to serve many instruments simultaneously. This experience marked my transition into neutron science and strongly shaped how I think about optimization, not as a single-objective problem, but as a balance between competing user needs.

I later completed my PhD at EPFL, where I designed a neutron source for experiments under very high pulsed magnetic fields. This was a highly multidisciplinary project that required close collaboration with users, instrument scientists, and neutron source designers. Working at this interface made it clear that the “optimal” neutron source is rarely optimal for everyone, and that minimizing trade-offs between instruments is often more important than maximizing performance for a single experiment.

Through conferences and discussions with colleagues in the neutron community, I was introduced to the GNeuS fellowship program. I immediately saw it as a natural continuation of my work: an opportunity to further develop the design tools and software I had built during my PhD and to apply them in a broader context, where neutron sources must be optimized to serve multiple instruments with different requirements

Why did you apply specifically on GNeuS?

I applied to GNeuS because it offered a unique opportunity to stay closely connected to the neutron community, while also expanding my impact within it.

One of my main motivations was to further develop and disseminate Brightify, a tool I believe can significantly improve how neutron sources and beamlines are designed and optimized.

At the same time, GNeuS allows me to keep my scientific scope open, exploring other fields, learning from different facilities, and benefiting from secondments that strengthen both my expertise and professional network.

The program’s balance between focused research and community integration strongly aligns with my long-term career goals in neutron science.

What impacts do you expect from the GNeuS fellowship?

Through the GNeuS fellowship, I hope to contribute to the neutron community by developing approaches that make source design and optimization more accessible, flexible, and ultimately applicable in real neutron source and beamline designs, including designs that better serve multiple instruments with diverse needs.