Online Annual Report 2013
Calendar of Events
- January: Geophysical Project Successfully Launched in the Erzgebirge Mountains
Together with the TU Freiberg(1) and the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)(2), the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at the HZDR explores metallic raw material deposits in the Geyer region. The researchers want to collect geophysical data with a helicopter probe that permits the ground to be investigated at a depth of 300 meters. Additional measurements at the surface expand the exploration up to a depth of 500 meters. The scientists want to create a three-dimensional model of the subsurface with these methods.
February: ELBE Officially Inaugurated
Saxony’s largest research facility(3) has been up and running in Rossendorf since late February 2013. Together with the Directors of the HZDR, Prof. Roland Sauerbrey and Prof. Peter Joehnk, the Saxon Prime Minister Stanislaw Tillich officially inaugurated the ELBE Center for High Power Radiation Sources. The heart of the state-of-the-art research machine is a superconducting accelerator which accelerates electrons almost to the speed of light. About 55 million euros were spent on the expansion of the ELBE Center; the Free State of Saxony contributed 34 million euros to the project.
- March: Controlled Influence on Superconductivity
At the HZDR, an international team of researchers headed by Prof. Andrea Cavalleri from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPG-MPSD)(4) succeeded in systematically controlling the resistance‑free conduction of electric current (superconductivity) with a powerful terahertz laser. For their experiments, the researchers used one of the HZDR’s two free-electron lasers to generate laser pulses of a specific, freely adjustable wavelength between the infrared spectrum and the microwaves. The objective: Improving the utilization of superconducting materials for new technologies.
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April: New Methods for Raw Materials Extraction
About 200 international raw materials experts convened in the Saxon city of Freiberg on April 17. At the “Freiberg Resource Technology Symposium,” which had been organized by the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF), the experts discussed the latest developments in the raw materials technology sector. After the symposium, the projects which are funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the scope of the “r3 – Innovative Technologies for Resource Efficiency” support program were introduced to the audience of experts.
- May: The German Parliament’s Soccer Club Visits the HZDR
About 70 members of the Deutscher Bundestag, the German federal parliament, as well as representatives from the national parliaments of Austria, Finland, and Switzerland visited the HZDR’s research facilities on May 9. The visit marked the start of the 41st International Parliamentary Soccer Tournament which was held in Dresden’s athletic center “Sportforum Jägerpark” between May 10 and 12. At the HZDR, the parliamentarians inspected the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the Ion Beam Center, and the LIMMCAST steel casting facility.
- June: First Prize in the futureSAX Competition
At the end of June 2013, the HZDR’s “BioBase” team succeeded in winning first place in the futureSAX competition(5) of ideas. This prize is endowed with 15,000 euros. The project, which is organized by the Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour, and Transport (SMWA), honors and spotlights innovative business ideas from Saxony. The Rossendorf researchers had developed a coating procedure which permits the application of nanomaterials onto any kind of surface. The procedure harnesses the characteristic properties of proteins, i.e. protein molecules, for self-organization.
July: Great Interest in Rossendorf’s “Projects for the Future”
The HZDR presented itself(6) in the TU Dresden’s Auditorium Center and in the University Hospital’s Medical Theoretical Center (MTZ) on the occasion of the Dresden Long Night of Science which was held on July 5. Under the motto “Research for the World of Tomorrow – The HZDR’s Projects for the Future,” Rossendorf scientists demonstrated, for example with the help of billiard balls, what happens in a material surface if it is bombarded with ions. Thanks to such thrilling experiments, the scientists were able to welcome 3,000 visitors at their booth just in the Auditorium Center alone.
- September: HZDR Summer Festival Attracts Many Visitors
Approximately 1,000 staff members and their families flocked to the Summer Festival which was held on the premises of the research and technology center Dresden-Rossendorf on September 6. In bright sunshine, the visitors were able to enjoy a multifaceted stage program, indulge in unusual sports, and conduct scientific experiments at different stops. One such example was the human soccer field – which is a kind of human football table game – where a total of 16 teams competed for the HZDR-Cup.
September: Festive Inauguration of the OncoRay Building
By switching on the cyclotron, the Federal Minister of Research, Prof. Johanna Wanka, officially inaugurated the new domicile of the “National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology – OncoRay”(7) on September 17. Its supporting institutions – the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, the Faculty of Medicine at the TU Dresden as well as the HZDR – have joined forces to explore and develop a new dimension of gentle radiation therapy. Over the next few years, the use of protons in cancer therapy is to be continuously developed within the context of controlled clinical trials.
- October: HZDR Apprentices and Vocational Training Retain Their Lead
In mid-October, the Dresden Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK)(8) honored the HZDR apprentice Ingo Kößling as the best “electronics technician for devices and systems.” He passed his exam as a skilled worker by achieving 92 out of a possible 100 points and the grade of “very good.” Since Kößling’s performance exceeded that of all other apprentices who graduated with an “A,” he was also one of the best junior skilled workers in Saxony. The Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Chemnitz, Dresden, and Leipzig presented this title to a total of 65 apprentices in early November.
- November: Start of Interior Renovations at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg
In mid-November, the mayor of the City of Freiberg, Bernd‑Erwin Schramm, passed the baton on to the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF)(9) for the renovation of the building located at Chemnitzer Straße 40 in the presence of numerous representatives from science, business, and public authorities. The building’s exterior renovation was, thus, completed. The HZDR is now responsible for the completion of the building’s interior. After the renovation, the HIF will have its new headquarters in the building which had been the former home of the FIA – the Research Institute for Mineral Processing.
December: Dresden’s Record Lab Expanded
In mid-December, the Saxon State Minister of Science, Prof. Sabine von Schorlemer, officially inaugurated the expansion of the HZDR’s Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory (HLD)(10). The lab is a user center that attracts numerous international guests and generates the highest possible pulsed magnetic fields in all of Europe. The investment volume amounting to 20 million euros was financed primarily by the Free State of Saxony. The annex is adjacent to the existing HLD building. It houses a second capacitor bank and six additional pulsed cells. The lab, thus, doubled its size.
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