Large banner promoting the Canadian Institute for Neutron Scattering (CINS)

The Canadian Institute for Neutron Scattering (CINS) is a not-for-profit, voluntary organization that represents the Canadian scientific community of neutron beam users and promotes scientific research using neutron beams.

‘Neutron scattering’ is a scientific name for methods of using beams of neutrons to study materials.

Neutron scattering is a versatile and powerful technique for research on materials of all kinds. Pioneered in Canada in the 1950s, neutron scattering continues to play a valuable role in Canadian science, allowing scientists to explore the structure and dynamics of materials down to atomic length scales. We are proud to continue the tradition of neutron scattering in Canada.

Our members include individuals and institutions with interest in neutron scattering. Individual members include university faculty, professional scientists and engineers, research technicians, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students.  As of 2016, our membership totaled 370 individuals, including 240 individuals from over 40 Canadian institutions from 8 provinces, including over 60 university departments from 30 universities. The university departments include broad representation from physics, chemistry, life sciences, earth sciences, materials science, and engineering. Our membership also includes 130 individuals from over 70 foreign institutions from 22 countries.

Our members are engaged in research in engineering materials made of steel and other alloys, bio-mimetic membranes and lipid-based nano-structures, magnetic materials, superconductors, corrosion at interfaces, minerals, and more.