The SOLARIS synchrotron is the most modern and largest multidisciplinary research tool in Poland. Moreover, its parameters and portfolio of beamlines place it firmly in the landscape of user facilities worldwide. It was created as a result of an unprecedented collaboration between the National Synchrotron Radiation Centre and the MAX IV Laboratory, a research facility hosted by Lund University in Sweden. SOLARIS synchrotron is a twin of the 1.5 GeV synchrotron at MAX IV. Its storage ring consists of 12 Double-Bend Achromat (DBA) cells. Each DBA cell consists of two bending magnets flanked with strong focusing quadrupoles and sextupoles. To reduce the number of magnets, a few magnet functions have been combined and integrated into one solid iron block within a cell. This innovative technology makes it possible to obtain a very low emittance of the electron beam circulating in the machine of only 96 meters  of circumference. SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Centre functions as a unit of the Jagiellonian University. 
\r\nOfficially opened on 21 September 2015, SOLARIS is the first synchrotron in Poland and the only one in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
\r\nThe Centre has welcomed Users since 2018. As of 2026, SOLARIS offers free of charge access to seven beamlines, operating across the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared to hard X-rays.
\r\nAt the PIRX beamline,  Users exploit soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and magnetic dichroism. The main technique at the URANOS beamline is angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), including spin-resolved ARPES (Spin-ARPES). The PHELIX beamline is a versatile soft X-ray spectroscopy beamline that combines ARPES, XAS and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The DEMETER beamline offers two end-stations: scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM). The ASTRA beamline is dedicated to X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in tender and hard X-ray range. The POLYX is a compact beamline for X-ray microimaging and X-ray microspectroscopy in the hard X-ray energy range of 4-15 keV. The recently opened CIRI beamline provides synchrotron infrared radiation for the investigation of surfaces and intramolecular interactions at the microscale and nanoscale.
\r\nThree additional beamlines are under construction. These will be located in the new SOLARIS experimental hall opened in 2023 with an area of 2000 m2. The ARYA beamline will offer macromolecular X-ray diffraction (MX) and the SMAUG beamline will offer small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), both crucial for the determination of protein structures. The MAVKA beamline will offer microbeam and nanobeam for chemical analysis in a wide energy range from soft, through tender to hard X-rays. Ultimately, SOLARIS synchrotron will be surrounded by 14 beamlines with more than twenty end-stations.
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