How can Germany turn scientific excellence into technological innovation while at the same time safeguarding its position as a leading national research location? This was the question addressed by Members of the German Bundestag Stephan Albani and Florian Oest during their visit to DESY on 2 October.

As a member and spokesperson of the Committee on Research, Technology, Space and Technology Assessment as well as a member of the Senate of the Helmholtz Association, Stephan Albani brings many years of experience in research, technology transfer and research policy. Florian Oest is also a member of the Research Committee and, among other things, focuses on the importance of international cooperation for research, innovation and technological sovereignty.

At DESY, the two members of parliament were able to connect research policy directly with research infrastructure and research operations. Discussions with members of the DESY Directorate covered, among other things, the PETRA IV future project, innovation and technology transfer, the German High-Tech Agenda, including the fusion hubs, as well as international cooperation.

“Large-scale research infrastructures such as DESY above all need reliability over decades, both in terms of funding and political framework conditions. At the same time, we need to shorten the path from discovery to application. With the planned Innovation Freedom Act, we therefore want to remove barriers in research funding and strengthen technology transfer. I myself have worked for many years at the interface between research and application and know that innovation emerges where excellent infrastructure, bright minds and companies work closely together,” said Stephan Albani.
How research findings can be transferred into technological applications was demonstrated by Falko Brinkmann, Chief Technology Officer at DESY. He presented the innovation ecosystem and explained how DESY connects research, innovation and technology transfer.

The international dimension of research was also a topic of discussion: DESY is part of numerous international collaborations and provides research infrastructures used by scientists from around the world.

“Germany will only be able to maintain its leading position in cutting-edge technology if we now stay the course set by the High-Tech Agenda and accelerate the measures that follow from it. The High-Tech Agenda also explicitly provides for strategic research collaborations with international partners. This will not only make Germany a valuable and reliable partner, but will also help set the course for strengthening international cooperation and, with it, our own capacity for innovation in the long term. This is particularly relevant in light of the geopolitical challenges we face,” said Florian Oest.

The visit then continued with a look at research operations at PETRA III. Britta Redlich, Director of Photon Science, provided an insight into the facility and the research carried out there. During a visit to beamline P11 and the experimental station, the members of parliament were able to experience research at first hand on site.
The visit concluded with a tour of the PETRA III accelerator tunnel.

“Research policy decisions become particularly tangible when we experience research and its infrastructures at first hand. The visit by Stephan Albani and Florian Oest gave us the opportunity to show which technologies are behind PETRA IV and what opportunities the project offers – while also discussing the framework conditions we need to make research findings useful to society more quickly,” said Beate Heinemann, Chair of the DESY Directorate.

The visit demonstrated how closely research policy, high-performance research infrastructures, technological development and technology transfer are interconnected. For the members of parliament, it also provided an opportunity not only to discuss current research policy issues, but to experience research and infrastructure at first hand.