Giving Day is March 12, 2026!
Your support helps train the next generation of scientists and power the research community that makes discovery possible.
The Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) is a place where discovery happens every day.
Researchers from around the world use CHESS’s powerful X-rays to explore materials, biology, energy technologies, and more. But the strength of CHESS comes from more than its instruments — it comes from the community of students, scientists, and visitors who make this place special.
This Giving Day, you can help support the people and programs that keep CHESS thriving.
Support CHESS this Giving Day!
If You’ve Visited CHESS
Many people remember the moment they first stepped into Wilson Lab and saw the synchrotron ring.
Your support helps us continue to welcome students, educators, and visitors who come to CHESS to see science in action and imagine their own future in research.
If You’ve Used CHESS for Research
CHESS is built on collaboration between researchers, students, and staff working together to solve complex scientific problems.
Your gift helps sustain the training programs and workshops that prepare the next generation of CHESS users and synchrotron scientists.
If You Were a CHESS Student or Workshop Attendee
For many scientists, CHESS is where they first gained hands-on research experience and learned how to work with synchrotron X-rays.
Supporting CHESS helps create those same opportunities for the students who will follow in your footsteps.
What Your Gift Can Support
Every contribution to CHESS — whether $25, $50, or more — helps support the programs and people that make this research community possible.
Our overall goals are lofty. At the very least, we want to keep our researchers supplied with what they need during CHESS's 24-hour operations.
$100: Fuels the science - support the small things that keep CHESS running during long experimental shifts.
$1,000: Supports student research and training.
$5,000: Helps host hands-on workshops for new CHESS users.
$12,000: Funds a summer research student at CHESS.
$40,000: Sponsors a CHESS training workshop and brings 30+ students to Cornell to learn synchrotron science.
Your gift helps train the next generation of scientists and keeps the CHESS community strong.