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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
European XFEL has begun construction of its new visitor and conference centre, "Lighthouse". Today, State Secretary Mario Brandenburg of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) symbolically started work on the building’s foundations at its construction site on the European XFEL campus.
The two-storey visitor centre will offer 350 square metres of space for a permanent exhibition with interactive exhibits providing information about the X-ray laser and the applications of European XFEL’s research. In addition, there will be 200 square metres of space reserved for special exhibitions, an area for virtual reality applications, two student laboratories, and rooms for conferences and events available to scientists and the public.
State Secretary Brandenburg said: "Excellent basic research provides fertile ground for innovation, which we need to solve the great challenges of our time. This is why I expressly welcome the construction of the European XFEL visitor centre: it will strengthen knowledge transfer to society and demonstrate to the public the enormous potential of basic research. Together with DESY and Hamburg University, European XFEL is a “lighthouse” of the Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld project. This concentration of scientific know-how consolidates Hamburg's position as a science hub and attracts talent and businesses to the north German region."
Dr Nicole Elleuche, Managing Director and Administrative Director at European XFEL: "In the new visitor centre, we want to show how our X-ray laser works and what insights it can contribute to solving major societal challenges - from basic research for the development of drugs and therapies, to energy research and new materials for data storage. The school lab will provide pupils with experiments linked to the curriculum as well as complementary experiments and insights into modern research. We are very excited about the new opportunities the centre will offer for dialogue with our visitors, guests and researchers."
Christiane Küchenhof, mayor of the city of Schenefeld says: "The visitor centre will shine the light of the European XFEL in the truest sense and ensure a high level of attention in the metropolitan region. I warmly congratulate it, and we in Schenefeld are happy about another milestone in the XFEL success story.”
The name "Lighthouse" was chosen from suggestions by European XFEL staff. It refers to the X-ray laser as a beacon of research and is a tribute to the "light of the future" it generates. The completion of the building and its opening are planned for 2024.
The exhibition will make it possible for the general public, school groups and guests to experience the X-ray laser. At the centre is a model of the facility, around which other interactive exhibits are grouped.
The two student laboratories for physics and biochemistry will enable students to conduct experiments on their own and thus gain an insight into research. By offering courses on various topics, the European XFEL will contribute to the promotion of young scientists in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects.
The largest part of the construction costs, amounting to almost 15 million euros, will be borne by the partner states of the European XFEL. The state of Schleswig-Holstein is supporting the project with an additional two million euros and is also providing a teaching position for the operation of the school laboratory.
With the Lighthouse, the European XFEL Campus continues to grow. After the warehouse and workshop building (completed in 2018), the company restaurant Beamstop (completed in 2019), the guest house (completed in 2021), an undulator hall (completed 2021) and a new office building with more than 180 additional workplaces (opening in spring 2023), this is the sixth major construction project on the research campus in Schenefeld since the completion and opening of the main building in 2016.
A total of 20.5 million euros has been spent since 2016 on the further development of the research campus in Schenefeld, which will be closely linked to the new Science City at the DESY research centre in Hamburg Bahrenfeld.
About European XFEL:
The European XFEL in the Hamburg area is an international research facility of superlatives: 27,000 X-ray flashes per second and a brilliance that is a billion times higher than that of the best conventional X-ray sources open up completely new opportunities for science. Research groups from around the world are able to map the atomic details of viruses, decipher the molecular composition of cells, take three-dimensional “photos” of the nanoworld, “film” chemical reactions, and study processes such as those occurring deep inside planets.
The operation of the facility is entrusted to European XFEL, a non-profit company that cooperates closely with its main shareholder, the research centre DESY, and other organisations worldwide. European XFEL has a workforce of 500 employees and started user operation September 2017. At present, 12 countries have signed the European XFEL convention: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. For more information on European XFEL go to www.xfel.eu.
All press enquiries contact press@xfel.eu
Dr. Bernd Ebeling
Tel: +49 040 8998-6921
press@xfel.eu
https://media.xfel.eu/XFELmediabank/?language=en#l=de&cid=27633&cname=Ba...=
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