The Council of the European Synchrotron (ESRF), the body representing the 22 partner nations of the ESRF international research instrument, has approved the construction and commissioning of four new beamlines from 2018 to 2022. Aerial view of the European Synchrotron, ESRF, Grenoble, France. Courtesy of ESRF/Jocelyn Chavy. The ESRF is a source of synchrotron x-rays operating 44 beamlines with state-of-the-art instrumentation for imaging and studying the structure of matter at the atomic and nanometric scale in all fields of research. The beamlines are designed to exploit the enhanced performance of the first of a new generation of synchrotron, the Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS), which is being built at the ESRF. The four new beamlines will underpin research addressing the major challenges facing our society including defining the next generation of biomaterials and new sustainable materials, developing new drugs, unravelling the complex mechanisms of living organisms and reconstructing historical artifacts and fossils in 3D, which will open new windows into the origins of humanity. The four ESRF-EBS flagship beamlines focus on serial macromolecular crystallography; hard x-ray diffraction microscopy; coherent x-ray dynamics and imaging applications; and high-throughput large field phase-contrast. This decision to build the four beamlines represents a decisive milestone for the ESRF-EBS project. While other fourth-generation upgrade projects around the world are still in the conceptual phase, the EBS is off the blocks and drawing new perspectives for x-ray science with an ambitious portfolio of beamlines. "The new storage ring, together with the most advanced portfolio of new beamlines, will enable scientists to bring X-ray science into research domains and applications that could not have been imagined a few years ago,” said Francesco Sette, director general of ESRF. “EBS will provide new tools for the investigation of materials and living matter from the macroscopic world down to the nanometer scale and even down to the single atom. Opening new possibilities for synchrotron science is at the heart of the ESRF's mission.” Founded in 1988, the ESRF is a source of synchrotron x-rays, operating 44 beamlines with state-of-the-art instrumentation for imaging and studying the structure of matter at the atomic and nanometric scale in all fields of research. It is a model of European and international cooperation with 22 partner countries.