Seminars Archive

Reimagining user-driven science: high-quality holistic scattering experiments as a practical example

Abstract
The materials scientists we work with do not want (or need) to learn the ways of the scatterer; they are primarily interested in obtaining trustworthy, authoritative answers. In particular, they need structural understanding in light of the wider framework of their experiment(s). Our interest, therefore, lies in helping them attain this this interconnected understanding, while using such investigations to further hone our methodology to approximate perfection. While perfection is by definition an unattainable goal, we have spent the last 15+ years exploring and expanding on many of its constituent aspects (often together with likeminded people) [1]. These aspects include:developing various visualization and simulation tools, ------ deconstructing estimation, data corrections advancing analysis methods, and uncertainty quantifying questions on traceability, documentation, reproducible automation of synthesis-, measurement- and data pipelines, data visualization, exploration and education, and many more... As we explored these individual aspects, it has become clear that high quality output demands involving ourselves in the entire experimental workflow, with all associated aspects. This allows you to establish trustworthy links between parameters, structure, and performance. Through multiple cross-checks and validations, we can furthermore assign a degree of confidence to our findings. This is what we call the holistic approach. This talk will briefly define perfection in scattering experiments, expand on the holistic approach, and show examples to demonstrate its benefits.

References

[1] Pauw, B.R., Looking At Nothing - A SAXS weblog, https://lookingatnothing.com/