06.04.2011

Brazil’s Minister of Science visits DESY and European XFEL

Today, Brazil’s Minister of Science and Technology Aloízio Mercadante visited DESY and the European XFEL GmbH. He came on occasion of the conclusion of the “German-Brazilian Year of Science, Technology and Innovation” and was accompanied by the director of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS),José Roque da Silva.

Helmut Dosch (left) and Massimo Altarelli (right) offer minister Aloízio Mercadante a present: the model of a superconducting accelerator cavity.

The representatives from Brazil, from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and directors of DESY and the European XFEL GmbH summarised the collaboration that resulted from the Year of Science and discussed the possibilities to intensify cooperation in science and technology.

The Helmholtz research centre DESY, among other things, operates the brilliant third generation synchrotron radiation source PETRA III and the free-electron laser for soft X-rays FLASH. During a tour of the experimental halls of these large scale facilities and during a visit to the European XFEL construction site in Schenefeld, the Brazilian delegation took the opportunity to get informed about the research potential and innovative capacity of these research facilities. The free-electron laser European XFEL, currently under construction, will take up research operation in 2015.

“I welcome Brazil’s great interest in our research facilities. Jointly with the European XFEL GmbH, we will quickly draft an agreement with Brazilian key institutes, providing a closer collaboration in the field of up-to-date radiation sources, with the aim to open up the large scientific potential of these facilities.”

Brazil is Germany’s most important scientific partner in South America. With LNLS in Campinas, this country operates the only synchrotron radiation source on the continent and plans the construction of a synchrotron radiation source of the third generation. Moreover, the country is interested in the development of accelerator-based free-electron lasers. With these FELs, it will be possible to “film” chemical reactions on the atomic level. This opens up fascinating possibilities, for example the investigation of enzyme reaction progress as in photosynthesis, or of ethanol production from cane sugar – with Brazilian scientists playing a leading role in this field. With the investigation of these processes at FLASH and the European XFEL, the scientists would be able to make a substantial contribution to renewable energy research.

Visit of a PETRA III experiment.