Open Day an Enormous Success

Today, more than 15 000 visitors seized the opportunity to look behind the scenes at the Helmholtz research center DESY. Around 600 DESY employees were in action to present “their” research center, answer questions and care for the welfare of their guests.

Tag der offenen Tür

“We wanted to show people how exciting our research is,” says Professor Albrecht Wagner, Chairman of the DESY Directorate. “The dialogue with the public is of especial importance to us. DESY welcomes visitor groups nearly every day – the attendance on this Open Day however exceeded all our expectations!”
On this Open Day, DESY offered the public “hands-on” science with lots of fun and entertainment. On three different tours around the site, the visitors were able to experience “DESY live” – including the underground tunnel of the 6.3-kilometer-long HERA ring accelerator with the HERMES and ZEUS particle physics experiments and the HASYLAB experimental hall in which research with a special kind of light (“synchrotron radiation”) is carried out. Specific exhibitions provided information on the planned European X-ray laser XFEL which could take up operation in 2011, and the project for the future TESLA. The DESY employees – from trainee to senior scientist – showed their workshops, technical labs and much more. An entertaining quiz rally, a children’s program and various food stalls rounded the program off.