Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf Explained

51.0636°N 13.9497°W

established: 1992
Scientific director: Sebastian M. Schmidt
Administrative director: Diana Stiller
staff: 1.400 (2020)[1]
budget: ca. 136 Mio. Euro (2020)
location: Dresden, Germany
official website: www.hzdr.de
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is a Dresden-based research laboratory. It conducts research in three of the Helmholtz Association's areas: materials, health, and energy. HZDR is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.

History

HZDR is located at the site of the former Central Institute for Nuclear Physics (later: Central Institute for Nuclear Research) in Dresden-Rossendorf, which was founded in 1956 and became the largest nuclear research institute in the GDR. The former research center in Rossendorf was part of the German Academy of Sciences. The German-born British physicist Klaus Fuchs, who took part in the Manhattan Project and acted as a spy for the Soviet Union, was deputy director until 1974.

In 1992, Forschungszentrum Rossendorf was founded at the research site. In 2006 the name changed to "Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf", to emphasize the connection to the research infrastructure in the city of Dresden. In 2011 the center became a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.[2]

Research programs

HZDR conducts research in the materials, health and energy sectors in Dresden and at four other locations in Germany and one in France. In Grenoble, it operates a beamline for radiochemistry research at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). Three of HZDR's five large-scale facilities are available to international scientists.

Materials

HZDR scientists are investigating the structure and function of new materials in order to better understand, optimize, and use them for specific applications. This includes research on novel superconducting and semiconducting materials using high magnetic fields or ion beams. They are developing detectors for applications in medicine and technology, and are advancing technologies for particle acceleration.

Health

HZDR aims at making progress in early diagnosis and therapy of cancer. It collaborates with partners from university medicine (National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, OncoRay, in Dresden). HZDR cancer research concentrates on three major fields: new radioactive pharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and therapy, innovative medical imaging methods used in oncology as well as particle acceleration using new laser technologies for radiation oncology.

Energy

HZDR researchers are looking for economically and ecologically feasible energy solutions. The Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, a joint initiative of HZDR and TU Bergakademie Freiberg, is targeting new technologies for the exploration, mining, and use of strategically important metals and minerals, e.g. biotechnological methods for metal recycling. Scientists also study energy-intensive processes in industry, like steel casting or in the chemical industry. They are examining nuclear repositories and reactors. And they are contributing to new storage technologies, e.g., developing a liquid metal battery.

Research facilities

HZDR operates multiple research facilities:

Departments

The HZDR comprises eight institutes:[13]

In addition, there are research departments that cover specific research foci as independent units: CASUS (Center for Advanced Systems Understanding) as an institute in formation and the Department of Theoretical Physics.

Scientific-technical support is provided to all institutes and research departments by two central departments:

Collaborations

The HZDR is nationally and internationally connected to other institutions and organised in various research alliances.

International collaborations

National collaborations

Staff and research sites

The HZDR employs about 1,400 staff, working at six research sites.[23] The headquarters is in Dresden.

Technology transfer

The HZDR Innovation GmbH[24] corporation offers industrial services using HZDR's know-how and infrastructures in ion implantation. This technology is applied for doping material surfaces with foreign atoms or to produce defects in semiconductors. It is also used to create materials with targeted features such as oxidation resistance, which is important for aviation or automotive lightweight construction, or biocompatibility for medical implants. Products of HZDR Innovation that have already been commercialized include a grid sensor and measuring instruments for analyzing multiphase flows.

Students and young scientists

Roughly 170 doctoral students work there. The HZDR installed junior research groups to promote excellent young scientists, the topics of which as of 2021 are:[25]

Another junior research group receives special funding from the Helmholtz Association:[26]

In addition, there is a DFG-funded junior research group in the Emmy Noether Program:

Another group receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC):

HZDR operates an International Helmholtz Research School for Nanoelectronic Networks (NANONET)[27] as well as a Summer Student Program.[28]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=1121 Facts and Data about the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
  2. Web site: Pressemitteilung vom 22. Juni 2009: Per Unterschrift besiegelt – das FZD wechselt zur Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (german). 2009-05-22. HZDR. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110718062110/http://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=473&pOid=28830. 2011-07-18. 2009-05-22.
  3. Web site: Radiation Source ELBE. HZDR.
  4. Web site: DRACO. HZDR.
  5. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pOid=30472&pNid=2098 PEnELOPE
  6. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=694 Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields (HIBEF)
  7. https://www.hzdr.de/FZD/epaper/entdeckt_1_2021_EN/#20/ discovered – The HZDR Research Magazine 1/2021: Extreme states underground
  8. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=3537 IBC Overview - Methods & Instrumentation
  9. Web site: Rossendorf Beamline at ESRF. HZDR.
  10. Web site: PET Center. HZDR.
  11. Web site: TOPFLOW - Transient Two Phase Flow Test Facility. HZDR.
  12. 1201.5737 . DRESDYN - A new facility for MHD experiments with liquid sodium . Magnetohydrodynamics . 48 . 103–113 . 2012 . 2012arXiv1201.5737S. Stefani . F. . Eckert . S. . Gerbeth . G. . Giesecke . A. . Gundrum . Th. . Steglich . C. . Weier . T. . Wustmann . B. . 10.22364/mhd.48.1.12 .
  13. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=129 The Institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
  14. https://leaps-initiative.eu/ LEAPS
  15. https://erf-aisbl.eu/ ERF AISBL
  16. https://www.infactproject.eu/ INFACT
  17. https://www.ariel-h2020.eu/index.php/en/ Accelerator and Research reactor Infrastructures for Education and Learning
  18. https://lightsources.org lightsources.org
  19. https://www.ionbeamcenters.eu/radiate/ RADIATE
  20. https://finefuture-h2020.eu/ FineFuture
  21. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pOid=58977&pNid=0 HESEB - Helmholtz-SESAME Beamline in the soft X-ray regime
  22. https://dresden-concept.de/?lang=en/ DRESDEN-concept
  23. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=1121 Facts and Data about the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
  24. Web site: HZDR Innovation GmbH. HZDR Innovation GmbH.
  25. https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=2853 Junior Research Groups at the HZDR
  26. https://www.helmholtz.de/en/career/careers-at-helmholtz/helmholtz-young-investigator-groups/ Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft: Helmholtz Young Investigator Groups
  27. Web site: NANONET. HZDR.
  28. Web site: Summer Student Program. HZDR.