DESY News: New role for DESY particle physicist

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2021/04/07
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New role for DESY particle physicist

German Physical Society elects Kerstin Borras as chair of the Particle Physics Association

DESY particle physicist Kerstin Borras has been elected new chairwoman of the German Physical Society’s (DPG) Particle Physics Association at its spring meeting. She will take office on 1 June this year. As chair, she represents the interests of particle physicists within the DPG. She is automatically a member of the Council and an ex-officio member of KET, the Committee for Elementary Particle Physics, which represents the community of particle physicists in Germany. "This gives me the opportunity to actively shape the activities of the community and its vision for the future," Kerstin Borras says. 

Kerstin Borras. Image: DESY
With around 55 000 members, the German Physical Society is the largest and most renowned physics society in the world alongside the American APS. It celebrated its 175th birthday last year. It unites all areas of physics - from universities and research institutions to industry - to promote cooperation in teaching, research and application and is strongly committed to supporting young scientists.

The particle physics association has some 3500 members and also includes astroparticle physics. That is why the deputy is traditionally elected from the field of astroparticle physics; the choice fell on Ralf Engel from KIT.

Kerstin Borras has been at DESY since 1999, but knows the research centre from earlier stays for the construction of the H1 experiment. She has been doing research at the CMS detector at CERN for around 15 years and has been a senior scientist at DESY and professor at RWTH Aachen University since 2015. In addition to her passion for particle physics and currently for quantum computing, she has always been a strong advocate for the advancement of women in science. Here she sees room for improvement in the DPG: Kerstin Borras is one of the few female professional association chairs. In the 175 years of the DPG's history, the list of presidents includes only one woman.