Dear colleagues,

Seventeen paragraphs on nine pages: DESY has a new foundation statute. Hands up: who´s read it...? Don´t worry, we´ve had a look at the preamble for you – because it sets the tone, a tone that sounds like the future! Find out what such a commitment looks like in everyday campus life and what you get out of it in our “Preamble Practice Test.”

More newsletter highlights: we have the most important information about two new DESY prizes for you, application and nomination phases for them are currently running. You can still get involed. Moreover, we look forward to seeing you down the pub again soon – at “Wissen vom Fass” (Science on Tap)! And at the end, we have a few dream jobs to give away.

Enjoy reading!

Your DESY inform team

DESY´s new Foundation Preamble: Commitment in practice

Innovation and technology transfer, sustainability, equal opportunities and diversity – these are important topics for DESY, which have now been added to the preamble of the new foundation statutes.

It says: “In addition to fundamental and excellent research, DESY also aims to promote the transfer of research results to society and the economy, thus enabling innovation. DESY is committed to sustainability, equal opportunities, and diversity.”

We show you examples across the divisions of how DESY implements these commitments in practice: from spaces for new ideas to the first DESY equality plan. And this is only the beginning – the list of further ideas, plans, and projects is long.

New DESY awards

Special achievements deserve special recognition – which is why DESY will award two new prizes among its employees for the first time this year: the DESY Award for Exceptional Achievements and the DESY Innovation Award. Both awards will be presented during DESY Science Day on 23 November 2022. All employees can propose candidates for the awards.

A little more detail: for the Award for Exceptional Achievements, the focus this year lies on the field of engineering and technology. It honours colleagues who have made extraordinary contributions to DESY´s research facilities, research projects, or infrastructure.

From fundamental research to innovation: the Innovation Award is all about the enthusiasm for applications and spin-offs. It is given for special ideas, technologies and new approaches – i.e. outstanding innovation activities by DESY employees. All employees from the different departments, especially scientists and engineers, can apply for this award.

• Please send all nominations and applications to: award.office@desy.de.
• The nomination deadline for the Award for Exceptional Achievements is already on 1 June, 2022. For the Innovation Award, please submit your application no later than 31 July, 2022.
• Further info on both awards and the nomination criteria can be found here with your DESY login. The Directorate looks forward to your contributions!

Help for Ukraine

The willingness to help Ukrainians who have fled their country is still great. Many DESY staff are getting involved by driving refugees to registration, taking care of the shopping for the International Office, organising trips to the surrounding clothing stores or mobile phone shops, providing laptops for school lessons, or doing translation jobs. The DESY community has also helped financially by contributing money to GoFundMe, which is used to fund many needed items as well as activities.

At the end of April, the welcome website was launched, where refugees can now find important information about their stay at DESY, including various activities such as joint coffee and cake meetings or offers for children as well as campus tours.

Anyone who would also like to get involved can subscribe to the Support newsletter and come to the Coffeebar on Mondays at 10:00 a.m. for the helpers' meeting.

Tree felling - why it is necessary...and how DESY acts sustainably

It´s obvious when you enter the Hamburg campus: construction work on DESYUM has begun. The first action that had to be taken was to cut down a large number of the oak trees on the future site. Denise Völker, Head of the Sustainability Office at DESY, repeatedly gets one specific question in this context: is it really necessary to cut down so many trees and bushes? In DESY inform, her short “yes” is accompanied by a longer “but.” Here is her detailed answer:

Pixi book about X-ray light sources

Making complicated things easy to understand: in cooperation with the Carlsen publishing house, DESY has developed a Pixi knowledge book called “Discovering the invisible with X-ray light” about research at Europe´s X-ray sources. The technical concept and advice on content came from a team led by Wiebke Laasch and Elke Plönjes. Examples from DESY´s research that are explained in a fun and simple way include the investigation of spider leg hairs at PETRA III, the analysis of the painted-over Van Gogh artwork, or images of the inside of an ant's head measured at DORIS III and PETRA III. The Pixi project was fully funded by the European Union as part of the CALIPSOplus project. The Pixi books are available in five languages – German, English, French, Spanish and Italian. You can pick up a Pixi book free of charge from FS (building 25f, 2nd floor) or from the display case in front of the PR department (building 1, ground floor). It is intended for curious children – and, of course, curious adults as well.

SCIENCE ON TAP

How dangerous are black holes? Will the deep sea save our climate? Can sponges generate electricity? At the event “Wissen vom Fass” (Science on Tap), scientists from Universität Hamburg and the research centre DESY explain their research in an entertaining way. This year they finally will be back on site in numerous pubs in the city. Anyone who wants to quench their thirst for knowledge (and beer and wine) should make a mental note of 23 June. The event starts at 8:00 p.m. Further information on lectures and pubs can be found soon on the website www.wissenvomfass.de

Anniversary: Science Café turns 15

It was in September 2007 when Rolf Heuer – then DESY director for particle physics, later CERN Director General – opened the first Science Café. His lecture was called “In search of the blueprint of the universe.” This year, the Science Café is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The guest of honour on 24 August is Rolf Heuer. Britta Liebaug, one of the first organisers, remembers: “Rolf Heuer came to the bistro with a poster under his arm and gave a great lecture right from off the top of his head, without beamer or whiteboard.” It has yet to be decided whether the anniversary event will take place with an audience or virtually. The organiser is hoping for a hybrid solution: “It's tempting that we have a reach as far as Munich.” Before the big anniversary, there will be another even on 22 June. Henning Moritz will talk about “Ice Age - what happens in really cold temperatures.” More information on the Science Café.

Reinforcement for DESY's future project PETRA IV

The PETRA IV project team at DESY has a new member. Harald Reichert joined the project in mid-January 2022 (pictured: Edgar Weckert, Ricardo Bartolini, Harald Reichert, Christian Schroer, Wim Leemans). Reichert, an expert in photon science, was research director at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ESRF in Grenoble, France, from 2009 until the end of 2021. Now he is coming to Hamburg in exciting times: the PETRA IV project currently is in the technical planning phase, which will be completed with the publication of the Technical Design Report (TDR) by mid-2023. Under an agreement between DESY and ESRF, Reichert will support the PETRA IV team in the preparation of the TDR. “I am looking forward to working with my new colleagues at DESY to create the conditions for PETRA IV to take off as DESY´s most important project for the future,” he says. In the medium term, Reichert will move from ESRF to DESY to take on the role of PETRA IV project manager.

New lead scientists

DESY has two new lead scientists: Ingrid Gregor heads the ATLAS group at DESY and is a professor at the University of Bonn. She is a specialist in detector development, especially silicon detectors. Andreas Maier is one of the world´s leading experts in the field of laser plasma accelerators. He will further advance their development at DESY and make them fit for application.

Conspiracy theories

Urban myths, fake news, and rumours: truth is a widely stretched and badly abused term in the context of the COVID pandemic. Professor Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw, a specialist in communication studies and digital communication from Universität Hamburg, recently spoke at the DESY Coffeebar. We spoke with her about conspiracy theories:

NEW FEMTO: it´s quantum, baby

Lasers, transistors, LED lamps – the discovery of quantum physics has not only revolutionised our view of the world, but also our everyday lives. We are currently experiencing the start of a second quantum revolution. Researchers have now not only understood quantum phenomena, but can also control them precisely. The current issue of DESY´s research magazine femto reports which applications of quantum technologies 2.0 are already being explored, where challenges lie and what potential the second quantum revolution has. The German edition will be delivered in mid-May, the English one will follow shortly.

WANTED: PR guides

Our tour team of DESY guides needs reinforcement: we are looking for dedicated students and doctoral candidates to guide visitors around the Hamburg campus so that we can continue to inspire many people with our fascinating research. If you would like to share your knowledge and are enthusiastic about about DESY's research diversity and can talk about it, come to the info meeting on 13 May 2022 at 11.30 a.m. in the DESY Coffeebar. These are the dial-in details and link to the meeting:

Meeting-ID: 889 1403 0124
Password: DESY-Guide

Feel free to send an email to: desypr@desy.de or find more info on www.desy.de/desyguides.

DESY inform team:

Project management: Kerstin Straub
Editorial management: Kristin Hüttmann
Editorial team: Christina Mänz, Barbara Warmbein, Thomas Zoufal, Joseph Piergrossi
Production and design: Stefanie Fahlfeder, Britta Liebaug
Picture credits: DESY: Gesine Born, Marta Mayer, Diana von Ilsemann, Britta Liebaug, Christoph Welling, Christian Mrotzek, Cesar Cabello Martinez, R. Dimitrov, NSF/ Freija Descamps, iStock, ScienceCommunication Lab, University of Chicago/ Cosmin Deaconu
Contact: inform@desy.de