Alvra Research Group

SHL 13062023
•Energy and Climate
•9 min

Tender X-rays show how one of nature’s strongest bonds breaks

Short flashes of an unusual kind of X-ray light at SwissFEL and SLS bring scientists closer to developing better catalysts to transform the greenhouse gas methane into a less harmful chemical.

How to get chloride ions into the cell
•Fundamentals of Nature
•7 min

How to get chloride ions into the cell

A molecular movie shot at PSI reveals the mechanism of a light-driven chloride pump

Camila Bacellar wins EU XFEL Young Scientist Award
•Large research facilities
•4 min

EU XFEL Young Scientist Award for Camila Bacellar

Camila Bacellar, beamline scientist and group leader of the Alvra endstation at SwissFEL, has received the European XFEL Young Scientist Award. The award recognises the contribution of young scientists to research at the European XFEL.

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Alvra Experimental Station

The Alvra group operates, maintains, and further develops the Alvra Experimental Station at SwissFEL. Alongside their own research, they support and collaborate with researchers who have been granted beamtime through the SwissFEL peer-review process. 


The combined skill set of the group enables a diverse range of experiments to be supported at the Alvra Experimental Station. Here, scientists can examine the ultrafast dynamics of photochemical and photobiological systems using a variety of X-ray scattering and spectroscopic techniques.

Check out the Alvra Experimental Station
  • Knurr J, Hemberger P, Ascher P, Augustin S, Hoffman DJ, Knopp G, et al.
    Ultrathin liquid sheets: water gets in shape for VUV absorption
    Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 2025; 27(13): 6457-6464. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4cp04619f
    DORA PSI
  • Kondo Y, Hatton C, Cheng R, Trabuco M, Glover H, Bertrand Q, et al.
    Apo-state structure of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 transmembrane domain obtained using a photoswitchable ligand
    Protein Science. 2025; 34(7): e70104 (8 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.70104
    DORA PSI
  • Lim H, Yang X, Larsen CB, Ledbetter K, Zoric MR, Raj SL, et al.
    Excited state covalency, dynamics, and photochemistry of square planar ni-thiolate complexes revealed by ultrafast X-ray absorption
    Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2025; 147(9): 7496-7506. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c16212
    DORA PSI
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