Contact

Simon Schmitt

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

Online Annual Review 2016: Calendar of Events

  • January: Extreme laboratory brings researchers from the Far East to Dresden

Interessensbekundung zwischen CAEP und HZDR zur zukünftigen Zusammenarbeit an der Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields (HIBEF) am 29.01.2016 unterzeichnet

Signing expression of interest between CAEP and HZDR

Source: Axel Heimken

With a visit to the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, representatives of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) emphasized their interest in practical collaboration with the Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields (HIBEF). In the Chinese General Consulate, HZDR Board of Directors, Prof. Roland Sauerbrey and Prof. Peter Joehnk, along with the Vice President of the Committee for Science and Technology at CAEP, Dr. Qiang Wu, signed a memorandum of understanding. From 2018, HIBEF will facilitate research into matter in extreme conditions, such as at high pressures, temperatures or in electromagnetic fields, at the European XFEL.


  • February: Energy-saving mini-computer

Nano-Welten erforschen

Exploring Nano-Worlds

Source: HZDR / Oliver Killig

In the new “Ions4Set” EU project, which started on 1 February 2016, HZDR researchers working with partners from five different European countries want to create a new type of transistor which can transmit information using a single electron. This would greatly reduce the power consumption of nanodevices which are required for the so-called Internet of Things. Previous conceptions of these single-electron transistors only work in very low temperatures. Furthermore, they are not suitable for current microelectronic manufacturing processes. The project, which will be funded with four million euros over a period of four years, aims to develop solutions for this.


  • March: European Magnetic Field Laboratory network receives landmark status

Hochfeld-Magnetlabor Dresden

High Magnetic Field Laboratory Dresden

The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) has recorded the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL) as being a landmark in its roadmap. Following the ESFRI’s evaluation, it is amongst the top 29 infrastructures in Europe which facilitate scientific research at a world-class level. The EMFL’s fundamental idea was to link the four leading European high magnetic field facilities. The EMFL’s founding members are the High Magnetic Field Laboratory Dresden, the French Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique, the Radboud University Nijmegen and the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM).


  • April: DeltaX breaks the five-figure visitor mark

10.000ster Besucher im Schülerlabor

10.000 guest at the school laboratory DeltaX

Five years after its foundation, the HZDR School Laboratory welcomed its 10,000th guest at the end of April. At DeltaX, pupils aged 10 and upwards can slip into the role of a researcher for a day. The laboratory offers special experimentation days on the topics of magnetism, light and color, radioactivity and radiation. But teachers can also study current research developments once a year at DeltaX. In 2016, around 3,000 pupils toured HZDR - not only from Dresden and the surrounding area but also from other parts of Saxony and Southern Brandenburg. Since it was founded five years ago, DeltaX has been able to more than double its visitor numbers.


  • May: Open House Day draws lots of visitors to Rossendorf

Tag des offenen Labors 2016 76

Open laboratory day

In blazing sunshine, around 3,400 guests took a look behind the scenes of modern research on Open House Day. At over 100 stations, the three hosts, HZDR, VKTA - Radiation Protection, Analytics & Disposal and ROTOP Pharmaka GmbH, displayed their scientific discoveries. In the HZDR laboratories a variety of topics were covered, from the development of radioactive pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer, through unique concepts for accelerators and lasers to astroparticle research. VKTA was focusing on questions regarding the dismantling of nuclear facilities and the disposal of radioactive waste. ROTOP Pharmaka GmbH explained about the manufacture of pharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine.


  • June: Future raw material-research

Hauptgebäude HIF

Source: BBF site office Freiberg GmbH

In mid-June the Saxon Minister of Science, Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, opened the site for the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology. Since Spring 2014, the listed building had been renovated using Federal funding provided by the Free State of Saxony and the City of Freiberg. Unique laboratories for research along the entire raw material chain are now available to the scientists. Their goal: Finding new means of surveying, processing and recycling high tech metals. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg jointly founded the institute in 2011.


  • July: BioMetals draw experts from around the world to Dresden

Der Chemiker Dr. Gerhard Geipel ist Experte für spektroskopische Methoden. Er richtet in Dresden die BioMetals-Konferenz 2016 aus. Foto: HZDR/O.Killig

Dr. Gerhard Geipel organized the Biometals in Dresden Source: HZDR / O.Killig

Together with the International BioMetals Society, HZDR organized a conference on the interdependency of metals in biological systems from 10th to 15th July. At the gathering, which takes place every two years, around 120 researchers discussed a wide spectrum of topics. Starting with the regulation and absorption of metals in organisms, moving on to the interdependency of metals with plants and micro-organisms and finishing with questions about toxicity and protective mechanisms. Furthermore, there was a particular focus on radionuclide behavior - one of HZDR’s main research topics.


  • August: Starting shot for new trainees

Neue Auszubildende 2016
Trainee-community at HZDR

For eight young people, their professional lives started at the beginning of August at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. This increased the total number of trainees to 42. At the traditional start of the academic year, the graduates also all took their leave. The prize for the “Best Trainee” - which has been awarded by HZDR since 1999 - was received by physics laboratory assistant, Stefanie Sonntag. The center trains people in a total of nine occupations. It also offers dual degree programs in business informatics, radiation technology and information technology. For 16 years in a row, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Dresden has marked HZDR as a model training organization.


  • September: Technical Academy receives Innovation Award for Further Education

Kollegen lernen von Kollegen. Das Konzept der HZDR-Technikerakademie wurde mit dem Innovationspreis Weiterbildung des Freistaates Sachsen ausgezeichnet.

Source: HZDR / Matthias Rietschel

“Colleagues learn from colleagues” - this is the motto under which HZDR’s Technician Academy operates. This further education program is specially geared towards the research center’s technical employees. This works by operators, technicians and laboratory assistants passing their knowledge on to colleagues in order to, on the one hand, keep the subject knowledge acquired from the initial training up-to-date, whilst on the other hand enriching it with field references and benefits in kind. This concept, which was developed by HZDR together with the Dresden Society of Environmental Protection Studies and Chemistry, was awarded the Innovation Award for Further Education by the Saxon Ministry of State for Education and Culture at the end of September.


  • October: Sciene under the clear blue sky

Logo Tag der Deutschen Einheit 2016

Source: SMWK

At the public celebration for German Unity Day, HZDR presented aspects of its research on the “Science Mile” around the Dresden Frauenkirche from 1 to 3 October. Researchers from the center, alongside with colleagues from the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus and the TU Dresden’s Faculty of Medicine, drew attention to the potential proton therapy has for cancer treatment. Additionally, scientists from Rossendorf explained how particles can be accelerated using laser power or be made visible with the help of a fog chamber. A total of over 450,000 people visited the public celebration.


  • November: EU funds a leap in the gigabit society

Prototyp-Anlage TELBE mit zwei parallel betriebenen Terahertz-Quellen: ein Diffraktionsstrahler (rechts) und eine Undulator-Quelle (mit orangefarbenen Kühlschläuchen).

TELBE-facility at HZDR

Source: HZDR / Frank Bierstedt

The European Union is supporting the development project TRANSPIRE (Terahertz RAdio communication using high aNistropy SPIn torque Resonators) in the “Future and Emerging Technologies – Open” (FET Open) program to the sum of 4.4 million Euro. Within this project, HZDR researchers, together with colleagues from Dublin, Trondheim and Lausanne, want to develop new kinds of transmitters which can transmit data hundreds, or even thousands, of times faster than today’s WIFI networks using radio data transmission. The project as a whole is being led by Trinity College Dublin and the Irish scientific foundation, AMBER. A total of two groups from the Dresden Center are involved in the project, which is funded for four years.


  • December: Routes to CO2-free power supply

Wissenschaftlerin montiert eine Temperaturmesslanze am Kühlwasserrohr der TOPFLOW-Anlage (Foto: HZDR/Rainer Weisflog)

Topic at HZDR: Energy-efficient industrial processes

Source: HZDR / Rainer Weisflog

In order to better combine the various expertises in the field of energy research found within the Helmholtz community, experts from seven Helmholtz centers, including scientists from HZDR, met at the start of December in Berlin. The discussion questioned what contribution the Helmholtz researchers can make to the energy revolution and the decarbonization of the power supply. The experts agreed that this can only succeed with innovative and flexible system solutions which suit the complex requirements of the energy landscape.