Contact

Simon Schmitt

Head Communication & Media Relations
Science Editor
Communication & Media Relations
s.schmittAthzdr.de
Phone: +49 351 260 3400

Online Annual Report 2011

Words of Welcome from the Board of Directors

Der Vorstand des HZDR: Prof. Roland Sauerbrey (Wissenschaftlicher Direktor) und Prof. Peter Joehnk (Kaufmännischer Direktor).Dear Reader,

Since the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf became a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres on January 1, 2011, we’ve “settled in” quite well: We are expanding strategic cooperations with other Helmholtz centers and have applied successfully for projects which are financed, for example, through the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund. This includes a Helmholtz Energy Alliance, the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, two Helmholtz Virtual Institutes, a Helmholtz Young Investigators’ Group, and a German-Russian Young Investigators’ Group.

We’re quite proud of these achievements, but these also involved a considerable amount of work. Because in addition to structural changes which require long-term planning, our transition from the Leibniz Association to the Helmholtz Association is primarily associated with strategic decisions revolving around the scientific orientation of our research center. The result is: We will address the urgent questions posed to our society in the sectors energy, health, and matter. On the one hand, we’ll continue to pursue the same scientific paths we’ve followed since our research center was newly established 20 years ago. On the other hand, we’ll concentrate and focus our strengths and resources even more on these three sectors in the future.

Future-Oriented Projects Make Progress

In so doing, we’re paving the way with our future-oriented projects which made great progress last year: The expansion of the radiation source ELBE, a prerequisite for the scheduled Center for High Performance Radiation Sources, will soon be completed. The cornerstone for the expansion of the High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which will turn it into an international user center, was also laid in 2011. Both research facilities are designed to investigate matter under extreme conditions. And the starting signals for future investments in the sectors energy and health are to follow soon: On the one hand, the construction of a research platform for experiments with liquid metals which are intended, for example, to conduct research on new energy storage technologies. And on the other hand, the establishment of the Center for Radiopharmaceutical Tumor Research which will broaden the scientific basis for improving the diagnosis and therapy of cancer through the use of radiation. We’re working closely together with partners in Dresden and Heidelberg within the National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology OncoRay so that patients can benefit directly from these new developments.

Our intense cooperation with regional institutions, for example, within the Research Alliance DRESDEN-concept, is an important pillar of our scientific network. Thanks to two new cooperation agreements which were signed last year, we’re now maintaining contractual relationships with all Saxon universities. What was also relevant to us in 2011, in addition to the expansion of our research infrastructures in Dresden, Leipzig, and Grenoble, will be briefly introduced on the following pages of our Online Annual Report.

May 2012

Prof. Roland Sauerbrey (Scientific Director) & Prof. Peter Joehnk (Administrative Director)