The Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory as a user facility

The Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory (GHMFL), run jointly by the Cen tre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France) and the Max-Planck Gesellschaft (MPG, Germany) is a leading laboratory pursuing research in t he highest static magnetic fields technically feasible. The laboratory main tains strong in-house research activities and partly operates as a user fac ility for qualified external researchers. It has developed highly sophistic ated instrumentation for specific use under high magnetic fields, including transport, magnetization, visible and infrared optical measurements at low temperatures and/or high pressures, EPR and NMR investigations in high mag netic fields. The laboratory delivers around 5000 h of magnet time per year . Access for users to the high magnetic field facility is supported by the European Union, in the framework of the Human Potential Program : "Transnat ional Access to Major Research Infrastructures". We give an overview of the technical aspects of the facility and of the laboratory activities as a fa cility over the last few years. The general organization of the user commun ity and repartition between countries will also be reviewed. (C) 2001 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.