New joint leadership for BESSY II
Andreas Jankowiak and Antje Vollmer have been working together on a trusting basis for many years. As the new dual leadership, they are driving forward the technical and scientific development of BESSY II. © HZB/M.Setzpfandt
Andreas Jankowiak as new Technical Director and Facility Spokesperson Antje Vollmer share management responsibilities.
Prof. Andreas Jankowiak has been appointed Technical Director of BESSY II with a term of office of three years as of 1 June 2024 by resolution of the HZB board of directors. Antje Vollmer will start her second term as BESSY II Facility Spokesperson on 1 July 2024. Together, they form the new management duo to coordinate the scientific and technical development of the BESSY II X-ray source on behalf of the HZB management.
They will coordinate with internal stakeholders and external partners, prioritise their requirements, make recommendations to the HZB board of directors and prepare management decisions.
With the establishment of the new management duo, Prof. Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of HZB, wants to streamline the organisational processes around BESSY II and delegate related management tasks. "Our BESSY II+ application and the conceptual preliminary report for the BESSY III (pre-CDR) project have been evaluated extremely positively by scientific review committees," says Bernd Rech. "We must now create the conditions to successfully implement the strategy that has been positively assessed and supported by the supervisory bodies. The new division of labour should help to clearly identify and initiate the necessary steps."
The management duo will work on an equal basis and in mutual coordination. The Facility Spokesperson will focus on all priorities, project planning, investment plans and processes relating to user operation and the strategic and scientific development of the BESSY II user facility and the complementary lab infrastructure. The Technical Director is responsible for the operation of BESSY II and prioritises operational priorities, project planning, investment projects and processes as well as the strategic-technical development of the BESSY II facility and the central infrastructure required for this, including the IT infrastructure.
- A new way to control the magnetic properties of rare earth elementsThe special properties of rare earth magnetic materials are due to the electrons in the 4f shell. Until now, the magnetic properties of 4f electrons were considered almost impossible to control. Now, a team from HZB, Freie Universität Berlin and other institutions has shown for the first time that laser pulses can influence 4f electrons- and thus change their magnetic properties. The discovery, which was made through experiments at EuXFEL and FLASH, opens up a new way to data storage with rare earth elements.
- HZB magazine lichtblick - the new issue is out!In his search for the perfect catalyst, HZB researcher Robert Seidel is now getting a tailwind – thanks to a ERC Consolidator Grant. In the cover story, we explain why the X-ray source BESSY II plays an important role for his research.
- BESSY II shows how solid-state batteries degradeSolid-state batteries have several advantages: they can store more energy and are safer than batteries with liquid electrolytes. However, they do not last as long and their capacity decreases with each charge cycle. But it doesn't have to stay that way: Researchers are already on the trail of the causes. In the journal ACS Energy Letters, a team from HZB and Justus-Liebig-Universität, Giessen, presents a new method for precisely monitoring electrochemical reactions during the operation of a solid-state battery using photoelectron spectroscopy at BESSY II. The results help to improve battery materials and design.