  We discuss the description of the proton structure function within the dipole
factorisation framework. We parametrise the forward dipole amplitude to account
for saturation as predicted by the small-x QCD evolution equations. Contrarily
to previous models, the saturation scale does not decrease when taking heavy
quarks into account. We show that the same dipole amplitude also allows to
reproduce diffractive data and exclusive vector meson production.

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology