Research facilities collaborate on data management and analysis

European XFEL, DESY, Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow will cooperate to develop IT solutions for large scientific facilities. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on collaboration to find new data management and data analysis solutions was signed on 22 May in Berlin during the closing event of the German–Russian Year of Education, Science, and Innovation 2011–2012. On 19 July 2011, the German and Russian ministries of research agreed on collaboration in the field of large-scale data management in high-performance computing.

New Helmholtz platform for detector technologies

The Helmholtz Association builds a new platform for the further development of detector technologies and detector systems. Nine Helmholtz institutes, together with DESY, are participating in this project, which also includes the bundling of competences of eleven universities and seven research institutes from Germany and abroad. As a portfolio theme, the Helmholtz Association funds the detector initiative with 13 million euros from 2012 to 2016.

20 000th visitor at the DESY school lab in Zeuthen

Today, the 20 000^th pupil was welcomed to an experiment day at the vacuum lab of the Zeuthen hands-on school lab physik.begreifen. To celebrate this, all classmates of the Friedrich Schiller Gymnasium who also came to DESY on this day received a small souvenir. As from the opening of the school lab in 2004, DESY closely cooperates with the schools in the region, and the Friedrich Schiller Gymnasium is one of the first DESY partner schools in Brandenburg.

DESY at the traditional Hamburg Port Anniversary! – Research down to earth

Out of the ivory tower and into the harbour mile: at this year’s 823th Hamburg Harbour Birthday, DESY presents itself and its research in a way that is easily understood by everybody.

First seeding at FLASH

There is a worldwide search of methods for initiating the process of producing laser light in free-electron lasers (FEL) with a well-defined radiation pulse, generated by an external laser source and superimposed to the electron bunch at the undulator entrance ("seeding"). Seeding promises an FEL pulse which is more stable and better reproducible in both pulse duration and frequency spectrum. Moreover, the obtained time resolution of pump-probe experiments is improved when the seeding laser simultaneously initiates a dynamic process in the investigated sample.

Helmholtz Association funds PIER Graduate School

The Helmholtz Association will fund the PIER Graduate School with a total of 2.4 million euros in the coming six years. This was announced today by the Helmholtz Association in Berlin. The PIER Graduate School offers an excellent training for doctoral students in a unique environment, thus attracting young talents from all over the world to come to Hamburg. It is part of PIER (Partnership for Innovation, Education and Research), the new cooperation of University of Hamburg and DESY, acting in four groundbreaking research fields: particle and astroparticle physics, nanosciences, photon science, and infection and structural biology.

Opening of German-South African Year of Science

Last week, Germany’s Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan and South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor opened the German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013 in Cape Town, South Africa. The topic of the month and one of the seven central themes is astronomy. The official opening in South Africa was also attended by DESY scientist Christian Spiering, chairman of the Committee for Astroparticle Physics (KAT) in Germany. In an exhibition and a talk, he presented the German-South African cooperation in astroparticle physics and the future project CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array), for which the South African region also bids to host this project.

DESY cooperates with CAN

The research centre DESY became a member of the nanotechnology sponsors’ association which is the holder of theCenter for Applied Nanotechnology (CAN). CAN is a Hamburg based nanotechnology enterprise providing nanotechnology products applicable for example in medicine and food industry, and tailor-made nanotechnology research.

European particle physics bundles detector development

Hamburg and Dresden accelerator physicists cooperate

DESY and KEK intensify cooperation

DESY and the Japanese accelerator centre KEK want to intensify their long-standing cooperation. The directors of both centres see an enormous potential in the field of materials science and other applications of synchrotron radiation as well as in particle physics and accelerator technology.  This was made evident at the first joint workshop of both institutes, which covered the complete range of DESY and KEK research fields.

Snapshots of Firework in Nanoparticles: Beyond Conventional Ultrafast Spectroscopy

A Holy Grail of ultrafast science and technology is to image the changing structure of matter at the nanoscale during the interaction with light. An international collaboration including DESY photon scientists led by Thomas Möller of the Technical University Berlin and Christoph Bostedt of SLAC at Stanford (formerly Technical University Berlin) used intense laser pulses delivered by the FLASH free-electron laser for X-ray scattering from nanoparticles. The goal was to look into ultrafast electronic processes during the nanoplasma formation where conventional spectroscopy techniques are inherently blind. These experiments open up new routes for the investigation of transient electronic configurations of highly excited states of matter such as the interior of stars which can now be created in the laboratory. The scientists reported on their results in this week's issue of Physical Review Letters, 03 March 2012, and the key figure of the work was also considered as the journal cover image.

Accelerator tunnel for the European XFEL completed

Construction of the more than 2 kilometre long accelerator tunnel of the European XFEL facility has been completed. At the end of February, the construction company ARGE Tunnel XFEL officially handed over the tunnel to Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY). Currently ARGE Tunnel XFEL is carrying out final work and removing construction equipment.

Scientists Target Major Bottleneck in Structural Biology

In terms of potential drug development, membrane proteins are of immense pharmaceutical interest. Studying their structures is an imperative step for successful drug design. Unfortunately, membrane protein structure determination remains a major obstacle in structural biology. An international research team, including DESY scientists, took a large leap forward in this field by analyzing microcrystals of a membrane protein embedded in lipids with an X-ray free-electron laser (X-FEL). This emerging method has the potential of rapidly increasing the number of available membrane protein structures, thereby assisting future drug design. The study has recently been published in the journal “Nature Methods” (DOI: 10.1038/NMETH.1867).

Olaf Scholz visits DESY

On Wednesday, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Olaf Scholz visited the research centre DESY. Olaf Scholz, who knows DESY well, informed himself about current plans and projects of Hamburg’s largest research centre.

Cooperation in theoretical particle physics

Since 2007,  DESY in Zeuthen and the RISC-Institute at Johannes-Kepler-University Linz (JKU) are working closely together in a cooperation for the development and use of computer algorithms. Until 2017, this cooperation will be prolonged and intensified. A corresponding agreement has been signed at JKU recently.

OLYMPUS starts research programme

In the past decades, the image of the proton has become ever more precise. Especially DESY's accelerator HERA has helped physicists to clearly understand the complexity of the particles they are currently smashing in the Large Hadron Collider LHC.

Promising New Material for Lithium Batteries

Reinhard Brinkmann confirmed in office for five more years

In the session on 14 December, the DESY Administrative Council appointed Dr. Reinhard Brinkmann for another five years as Director of the Accelerator Division. His second term begins on 1 July 2012.

DESY cooperates with Indian research centre

Today, in the Hamburg City Hall, an agreement was signed in the presence of Hamburg’s Science Senator and Second Mayor Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt that defines Indian participation at the X-ray sources PETRA III and FLASH. With this, the contracting partners DESY and Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP, India) concretise a general cooperation agreement which was concluded in May this year during the visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel to India. For five years, more than 3500 hours of measuring time at DESY research facilities will be made available to Indian scientists for joint research projects with DESY. India contributes with a total of 14 million euros to the construction of the PETRA III extension at DESY, the world’s most brilliant synchrotron radiation source.

Frank Tackmann establishes Emmy Noether research group at DESY

DESY theorist Frank Tackmann has been accepted to the Emmy Noether Programme of Germany’s research funding organization DFG. This programme allows outstanding young scientists to qualify for scientific leadership roles by managing their own junior research group. Frank Tackmann’s group is working on the topic of “Precision theory predictions for Higgs and new-physics measurements at the LHC”. The research will be funded for five years with a total of 940 000 Euros.

The search for the Higgs makes a significant step forward

Physicists at the world’s largest particle accelerator LHC made a significant step forward on the hunt for the sought-after Higgs particle. The teams of both large detectors – ATLAS and CMS – narrowed down further the last possible hideout of the hypothetical elementary particle. This is the result of a first evaluation of all observational data obtained in 2011, which both groups presented on Tuesday at a seminar at the European particle research centre CERN near Geneva, home of the LHC. To date, the scientists analysed about 400 billion particle collisions – over a hundred times more data than in the year before.

Humboldt Research Award for Vladimir Fateev

The Russian physicist Professor Vladimir Fateev (born in 1948) was honoured with a Humboldt Research Award, granted by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Professor Fateev is an internationally renowned mathematical physicist, with non-perturbative quantum field theory as his main research field. For years, there are good contacts with the DESY theory group, based on numerous joint research interests. The Humboldt Research Award is valued at 60 000 Euros and offers Professor Fateev the possibility to stay at DESY for a period of up to one year.

Full steam ahead for SHIPS

At the Hamburg Observatory, the SHIPS experiment initiates a new era of astronomical observations – the search for hidden photons. These are a category of so far hardly explored elementary particles of possibly fundamental physical and astrophysical significance. The SHIPS experiment goes on the hunt for these mysterious particles which might be responsible for so far incomprehensible phenomena in the universe, and perhaps are a component of the ominous dark matter. For this purpose, a telescope will be used in which light must not penetrate.

Perfect layer for the right spin

Ever faster and ever more efficient: the next generation of electronics is spintronics. It uses not only the electrical charge of electrons but also their spin. Now, at the world’s most brilliant X-ray source PETRA III at DESY, a group of scientists headed by Martina Müller from Forschungszentrum Jülich explored a promising material for spintronics: europium oxide, which is excellent to produce and readout electron currents with a defined spin in a silicon semiconductor. The scientists’ report appeared in the cover story of the journal "PSS Rapid Research Letters".

Japanese ILC-delegation explores European labs

Two Japanese regions are possible candidates for the home of the next big accellerator, the International Linear Collider (ILC). A delegation from one of the regions, the prefectures Fukuoka and Saga on the Japanese island Kyushu, now visited two European labs, DESY and CERN, to learn about existing research infrastructures and the labs' experiences with management, administration, local communication and a whole lot more.

Prestigious research grant for nanoscience at PETRA III

For his investigations on nanoparticle growth at DESY’s X-ray source PETRA III, Professor Stephan Förster from Bayreuth University is honoured with the highest science award of the European Research Council (ERC). The so-called ERC Advanced Grant is endowed with 2.4 million euros and is presented for particularly promising research projects.

DESY recalls its founding father

The foundation of DESY in 1959 was above all realised thanks to the vision, charisma, persistence and negotiating skills of this man: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Willibald Jentschke. Today, the physicist whose appointment to the University of Hamburg brought about the research centre DESY, would have turned 100 years.

BioStruct-X - A New Structural Biology Platform

High-profile structural biology research has just become more accessible. BioStruct-X, a new EU-funded project, will be holding its kick-off meeting at DESY’s worldwide unique free electron laser FLASH today and tomorrow. Managed by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Hamburg branch, and including partners such as DESY and the European X-ray Free Electron Laser European XFEL, BioStruct-X creates a multi-national research platform for established and emerging techniques in structural biology and provides researchers with access to eleven large-scale facilities across Europe.

DESY engages in Belle II

On 18 November, the laying of the foundation stone for the SuperKEKB accelerator took place at the Japanese accelerator laboratory KEK in Tsukuba. This accelerator with the corresponding particle detector Belle II will become a so-called Super-B-factory. Seven German universities, the Max Planck Institute in Munich and DESY will jointly build the pixel vertex detector for this ambitious experiment. The DEPFET technology, originally designed for the ILC, will be used for this purpose for the first time. On occasion of the foundation stone laying ceremony, there was an agreement with KEK on the participation of the German research institutes in the construction of Belle II, including future data taking and data evaluation.

First Electrons light up at REGAE

One of DESY’s smallest scientific accelerators reached an important milestone: last week, REGAE (Relativistic Electron Gun for Atomic Exploration) accelerated its first electrons, thus starting operation officially.

The Higgs particle is running out of places to hide

Scientists working at the world’s largest particle accelerator LHC near Geneva have presented the so far most extensive search for the Higgs particle, the last missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the first combined analysis of data from the large detectors ATLAS and CMS. The LHC is well underway to solve the Higgs enigma by the end of next year, the physicists told the Hadron Collider Physics Symposium in Paris on Friday. The new analysis of up to 160000 billion proton collisions rules out any Standard Model Higgs particle in the energy range between 145 and 470 Giga electron volts (GeV).

New Helmholtz-Russia research group on the hunt for cosmic radiation

With innovative technologies, a German-Russian research group is in Siberia on the hunt for high enery cosmic gamma rays as well as for so-called cosmic rays. The latter are forming a continuous shower of high-energy atomic nuclei from outer space, its origin still being mysterious to a large extent, even a hundred years after its discovery. This coming project is funded within the framework of the Helmholtz-Russia Joint Research Groups (HRJRG), with an annual sum of about 150 000 euros for a period of three years.

CAU and DESY sign cooperation agreement

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU) and DESY in Hamburg will cooperate more closely in the future. On Friday, 11 November, a cooperation agreement was signed in Hamburg on behalf of the University of Kiel (CAU) by President Professor Gerhard Fouquet and Professor Lutz Kipp, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and on behalf of DESY by Professor Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors, and Edgar Weckert, Director in charge of Photon Science. The agreement provides that biology, chemistry, electrical engineering, materials science, theory and physics working groups of Kiel University focussing on nanoscience and surface research will actively participate in the development and use of the excellent synchrotron radiation sources at DESY in Hamburg. The cooperation between the University of Kiel and the Helmholtz research centre includes the establishment of two working groups with jointly appointed professors. This strengthens the close cooperation, already existing since the 1970s, of both research locations.

Award for outstanding PhD theses

Two outstanding PhD theses were honoured with the PhD thesis award 2011 of the Association of the Friends and Sponsors of DESY on Wednesday. The prize was shared by Dr. Martin Beye and Dr. Roman Kogler. Martin Beye earned his doctoral degree at the free-electron laser FLASH, Roman Kogler in the H1 Collaboration at HERA.

Open Day and Science Night: more than 13 000 visitors satisfied their curiosity at DESY

Science Festival at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY: until midnight, thousands of curious people flocked to the DESY campus in Hamburg Bahrenfeld. The DESY Open Day and Science Night census counted a total of 13621 visitors. Thus, two out of three participants of the 4^th Hamburg Science Night also came to DESY. “I am glad that so many people took the opportunity to see and get informed about our research and even tried out for themselves some of the experiments,”  said Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors. “This is a great success for DESY.”

Colder than space – first helium transfer line modules from Poland arrive at DESY

Many modern particle accelerators run at temperatures close to absolute zero. The accelerator of the European XFEL X-ray laser for example needs to be cooled down to minus 271 centigrade for revving up electrons to the speeds and energies needed. But before assembly, the main accelerator elements have to be tested at operating temperature. For these tests tons of cold helium will flow between the new DESY Accelerator Module Test Facility (AMTF) and the cryogenic plant. Liquid helium will make the test vessels some of the coldest spots in the solar system – 2 degrees colder than outer space! The first modules of the helium transfer line have just arrived at DESY from Wroclaw in Poland. Along with the test vessels (cryostats) and the actual testing, due to start next year, they belong to the in-kind contribution of Poland to the European XFEL.

Start of European project CRISP – Joint venture for tomorrow’s research

The development of accelerators, experiments and IT becomes more and more expensive and complex. Within the framework of the European project CRISP, 16 European physics research centres interlink for the first time to collaborate on central technical issues for their future research infrastructures to profit from each other. DESY has taken over the leadership in the accelerator sector with its work for free-electron lasers. This week the Cluster for Research Infrastructure Synergies in Physics (CRISP) was launched at the Czech embassy in Paris.

Federal Cross of Merit for Ulrich Gensch

Yesterday, Dr. Ulrich Gensch was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany. Ulrich Gensch who went into retirement on 1 June, was Representative of the DESY Directorate in Zeuthen for 13 years and before this period he worked in Hamburg for three years as director of a DESY department. He now received the Federal Cross of Merit for his outstanding contributions for the science and industry location Germany.

Coherence matters

Free-electron lasers open a fascinating new insight into the structure, ultra fast dynamics and function of matter. With their ultra-short X-ray pulses of only a few femtoseconds and their unprecedented brightness, scientists will be able to make movies at the nano scale, thus getting a clue how friction, catalysis, photosynthesis or other processes of nature work at their fundamental level.

Two new Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups at DESY

Today, the Helmholtz Association announced its support for a new series of Young Investigators Groups. Again, DESY will take part in this programme with two young scientists.

Dieter Haidt wins Enrico Fermi Prize

The Italian Physical Society awarded DESY physicist Dieter Haidt with the Enrico Fermi Prize 2011. Haidt and Antonino Pullia from the University of Milano share the renowned research prize for their contributions to the discovery of weak neutral currents in the Gargamelle neutrino experiment at CERN.

On your mark, get the diggers set, go!

For years, the free-electron laser (FEL) FLASH has been generating X-ray laser light for an ever increasing user community. This week, construction started for the next expansion stage FLASH II, with the aim to serve more users and at the same time apply the most recent developments of FEL technology.

Light flashes keep electrons in check

An international team of scientists in cooperation with CFEL has taken a major step closer towards the possibility to control electron movements in atoms. For the first time, they generated white laser pulses that are shorter than a complete light oscillation and precisely synthesised their electromagnetic fields. These new tools hold promise for an extensive control of the motion of electrons in the microcosm. Possible future applications might be nanoscopic electronic circuits which by far exceed the switching speed of modern electronics. The scientists reported on their results in the scientific magazine Science (Science Express, 08 September 2011).

Christian Stegmann new head of DESY in Zeuthen

Today, Professor Dr. Christian Stegmann was introduced as new head of DESY in Zeuthen. He will assume office as of 1 October and represent the Zeuthen institute in the DESY Directorate. Stegmann follows the nomination of both, the University of Potsdam and DESY.

Molecular Tricks of the Motile Malaria Pathogen

It infects men and mosquitoes, changes its form multiple times, and moves very elegantly and rapidly through the body of its host: Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria, shows an astonishing versatility and motility. An international team of researchers has now investigated the molecular basis behind this behaviour. They discovered that the pathogen is able to regulate its cytoskeleton very flexibly in an unusual way – with biochemical tools that, to this extent, are not known in unicellular organisms. The results have now been published in the current issue of the scientific magazine "Journal of Biological Chemistry". The work was done in a German-Finnish-Swedish collaboration, led by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, HZI), at the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) at DESY in Hamburg.

Boring of European XFEL accelerator tunnel completed

The tunnel boring machine TULA reached its goal in the last week of July. A few days later, the tunnel builders installed the last concrete ring of the tunnel tube for the accelerator. What will happen next?

The first continuous wave and long-pulse operation of the XFEL-type cryomodule

Continuous wave (CW) and long-pulse (LP) operation modes of the XFEL superconducting linac are an attractive future option to enhance the experimental potential of this European facility, being currently under construction. On Wednesday 7 July 2011, a two-week test was finished in which the XFEL-type cryomodule, a building block of the XFEL linac, for the first time was operated successfully in both, CW and LP mode with accelerating gradients up to 5.5 MV/m and 11.5 MV/m, respectively.

Royal visit to DESY

On her two-day stay in Hamburg, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn from Thailand took the opportunity to visit the Helmholtz research centre DESY. Her Royal Highness was welcomed by Professor Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors. Following the discussions with the DESY directorate, research director Professor Edgar Weckert took Her Royal Highness to the large PETRA III experimental hall where she was informed about the new experimental stations.

Insight into the dynamics of the nano world

On 1 July, the Helmholtz Association starts funding new Virtual Institutes. DESY is represented in two of these institutions that promote the cooperation of university and non-university scientists in a common theme project.

Kick-off meeting of the Helmholtz Accelerator Initiative

Modern accelerator facilities represent a decisive technology for the future and are vital for the successful approach of the major challenges of our time, particularly in the fields of energy, medicine and information. Today and in the future, the development of cutting-edge accelerators is a driving force for the development of new high-technology fields.

Cooperation agreement signed in Delhi with the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

Earlier this week, Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to India, accompanied by a German delegation. Part of the delegation were DESY directors Helmut Dosch and Christian Scherf. On Tuesday, in India’s capital Delhi, they signed a cooperation agreement between DESY and the Saha Instutite of Nuclear Physics (SINP, Kolkata), represented by its director Milan Sanyal. The agreement manifests the intention of the German and Indian partners to extend future cooperation between both countries in the field of large-scale research infrastructures.

Starting shot for “Ioffe Röntgen Institute”

On the evening of 23 May in Moscow, DESY directors Helmut Dosch and Edgar Weckert and the director of the Kurchatov Institute Mihail Kovalchuk signed a letter of intent for the foundation of the Ioffe Röntgen Institute. The planned institution will in the long run intensify the cooperation between German and Russian scientists.

DESY cooperates with SESAME

Today, the directors of the synchrotron radiation source SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) in Jordan and of DESY signed a scientific cooperation agreement. The agreement was concluded on occasion of the “Solar Energy for Science” conference, a two-day event giving scientists and industrial representatives the opportunity to discuss the possibilities of a science and energy partnership between Europe and the Southern Mediterranean countries. In the long run, a considerable amount of energy for Europe could be produced in solar thermal power plants of the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa).

Cooperation agreement concluded in Brasília

In the presence of Germany’s Federal President Christian Wulff and Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, the three directors of DESY, the European XFEL and the Brazilian synchrotron laboratory LNLS signed an agreement on future cooperation on 5 May in Brasília.

Humboldt Research Award for Richard Milner

Professor Richard Gerard Milner from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was honoured with a Humboldt Research Award, granted by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

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.

German Physical Society awarded dissertation prize

The German Physical Society (DPG) awarded this year’s dissertation prize of the divisions gravitation and theory of relativity, hadronic and nuclear physics, and particle physics, to Dr. Sebastian Klein.

First accelerator module from Saclay arrived at AMTF

Last Thursday, the first European XFEL accelerator module, assembled at Saclay, was delivered at DESY and unloaded in the AMTF hall. In the “Accelerator Module Test Facility“, all cavities and accelerator modules of the later serial production will be tested under operating conditions before being installed into the European XFEL tunnel.

Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize for Volker Schomerus

Professor Volker Schomerus, head of the DESY theory department was awarded the Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize. 

Helmut Dosch receives Honorary Doctorate from the Kurchatov Institute

The chairman of the Board of Directors of DESY, Professor Helmut Dosch, received an honorary doctorate from the Kurchatov Institute on 25 November.

PhD thesis award of the Association of the Friends and Sponsors of DESY

The PhD thesis award 2010 of the Association of the Friends and Sponsors of DESY is distributed equally to Dr. Ulrike Frühling...

Henry Chapman is awarded the Bjørn H. Wiik Prize

On 15 November, Henry Chapman received the Bjørn H. Wiik Prize 2010. The 43-year-old physicist and Professor at the Centre for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) at DESY...

PETRA III runs at full speed

Last week, PETRA III was running with a beam current of 100 milliamperes (mA) during user operation for the first time. With this, the brilliant synchrotron radiation source has reached the final stage of its design values. “The PETRA III positron beam now simultaneously reaches all of our sophisticated beam parameters of emittance, beam current and beam position stability,” explains Klaus Balewski from the DESY accelerator division.

DESY triumphant in international particle physics photo competition

An international jury and a public vote confirm: the best photographers of particle physics come from around Hamburg.

FLASH opens the view through the water window

The free-electron laser FLASH (Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg) has set a new record: this weekend, the FLASH accelerator team operated the FEL ...

European XFEL accelerator components go into production

An important milestone was reached on the way to the European XFEL superconducting linear accelerator: ...

TULA reaches first milestone

After less than two months, the tunnel boring machine TULA broke through the wall of its reception shaft.

Topping-out ceremony for CFEL

Vis-à-vis the PETRA III experimental hall, a very special new building celebrated its topping-out ceremony: the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) ...

Dr. Hans Weise appointed to be leading scientist at DESY

DESY's Administrative Council agreed in its July session to give Hans Weise the status of 'Leading Scientist' in the accelerator division at DESY.

Faraday Cup 2010

Kirsten Hacker (DESY) and Florian Löhl (formerly DESY, now working at Cornell University) were awarded the Faraday Cup 2010 at the Beam Instrumentation Workshop BIW10. 

Record wavelength at FLASH – First lasing below 4.5 nanometres at DESY´s free-electron laser

For the first time, FLASH produced laser light with a wavelength of 4.45 nanometres; thus, DESY’s free-electron laser for soft X-ray light considerably beat its previous record of 6.5 nanometres.

Flat FLASH – The 3.9 GHz system acting on beam

One of the key components of the recent FLASH upgrade, the newly integrated 3.9 GHz rf system demonstrated for the first time its ability to flatten the energy distribution of the electrons in a bunch, the so called phase space linearization.

Strong partners for future research

At DESY, on the day of the research centre's official 50th-anniversay ceremony, the course was also set for the future:

Röntgen Medal for Helmut Dosch

The Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors, Professor Helmut Dosch, has been awarded the Röntgen Medal 2010 of the city of Remscheid.

Brandenburg Research Minister Martina Münch visits DESY

On Friday, 9 April, Dr. Martina Münch, Research Minister of Brandenburg, visited DESY in Zeuthen.

Watch the kestrels at DESY

A kestrels’ couple is breeding on the DESY campus. 

LHC lets the particles collide!

The physics programme of the Large Hadron Collider LHC, the world’s largest particle accelerator at CERN in Geneva, has started.

All birds use the same navigation system

How do birds find their way when they fly?

Tate Medal for Gustav-Adolf Voss

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) awarded the Tate Medal for International Leadership in Physics to Prof. Gustav-Adolf Voss.