The ESRF is a multinational research institute, situated in Grenoble, France and financed by 21 countries mostly European. It operates a powerful synchrotron X-ray source with some 30 beamlines (instruments) covering a wide range of scientific research in fields such as biology and medicine, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, materials and surface science, and physics. The ESRF employs about 600 staff and is organized as a French société civile.