SOLARIS is a Polish national research centre providing scientists with synchrotron radiation and Cryo-EM.

Synchrotron radiation (also called synchrotron light) is emitted by electrons traveling in a synchrotron, and then directed to beamlines with experimental end-stations. Beamlines modify the synchrotron light in such a way that it best serves scientists and their measurements. The Centre has been open to Users since 2018. As of 2026 SOLARIS operates seven beamlines, covering the spectral range  from infrared and ultraviolet  to soft and hard X-rays and providing various experimental techniques. At the PIRX beamline, Users can exploit X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in the soft X-ray range as well as magnetic dichroism. The main technique at the URANOS beamline is angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), including spin-resolved measurements (Spin-ARPES). The PHELIX beamline offers X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) including ARPES, as well as soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The DEMETER beamline comprises two end-stations dedicated to scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM). The ASTRA beamline offers X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in the tender and hard X-ray energy range. POLYX beamline is a compact beamline for X-ray microimaging and X-ray microspectroscopy with hard X-rays. The recently opened CIRI beamline is dedicated to infrared spectroscopy and chemical imaging at micrometre and nanometre spatial scales. Three additional beamlines – ARYA, SMAUG and MAVKA – are currently under construction and they will be operational in the next years. SOLARIS Centre also houses two advanced cryo-electron microscopes,  the Titan Krios G3i and Glacios.

Synchrotrons allow us to look into the depths of matter itself, and carry out precise chemical and physical analyses. Thanks to synchrotrons, scientists study not only the composition of a given substance, but also its atomic structure – the light of the synchrotron can be tuned to study the surface or to penetrate into the volume of the material without damaging it. It can unveil hidden layers or fragments with a high level of detail. Synchrotron radiation also stimulates processes taking place in the material, and can bring about changes in the studied material.

Synchrotrons open up completely new research possibilities. Thanks to them, we can carry out analyses which were previously impossible and provide more detailed results than state-of-the-art laboratory methods. The synchrotron beamlines are currently the most versatile research tools used in the field of natural and technical sciences, such as biology, chemistry, physics, materials engineering, nanotechnology, medicine, pharmacology, geology, or crystallography.

The SOLARIS Centre is open for all interested scientists, both from Poland and abroad. Calls for proposals are announced twice  a year (in spring and autumn). Applications must be submitted online, via the Solaris User Network website. The international commission decides on the allocation of beamtime. Access to the infrastructure is free of charge.

The National Synchrotron Radiation Centre functions under the auspices of the Jagiellonian University. It is located on the Campus of the 600th Anniversary of the Jagiellonian University Revival in the southern part of Kraków. It neighbours the Kraków Technology Park special economic zone. The construction of the Centre was carried out between 2010 and 2015. The investment was co-financed by the European Union with funds from the European Regional Development Fund, as part of the Innovative Economy Operational Programme for 2007-2013.

The excellent parameters of the SOLARIS synchrotron put it in the forefront of this type of facilities worldwide.

The synchrotron’s name was drawn from the work of Stanisław Lem—specifically his iconic novel Solaris, which explores humanity’s encounter with an alien, unfathomable form of intelligence. This choice is symbolic: it reflects the human drive to push beyond the boundaries of knowledge and to explore the unknown. As in Lem’s literary original, researchers in the synchrotron world also face phenomena that until now we could neither perceive nor understand. SOLARIS is not only a cutting-edge machine for experiments—it is also a symbol of curiosity and of bringing science together with imagination and questions about how reality works.