International Conference in Neutron Scattering: HZB-contributions awarded
Dr. Anup Kumar Bera from the department of Quantum Phenomena in Novel Materials convinced the committee with his poster about ‘Haldane chains’.
More than 800 participants had gathered for the International Conference in Neutron Scattering, held during 8-12 July 2013 in Edinburgh, to discuss advances in neutron research and the advancement of the neutron scattering instruments and techniques. A committee selected sixteen outstanding posters from the 650 poster presentations, two of these from HZB scientists.
Dr. Anup Kumar Bera from the department of Quantum Phenomena in Novel Materials convinced the committee with his poster about quantum magnetic properties in a one dimensional spin-1 chain magnet known as ‘Haldane chain’. When cooled down to low temperature, this material hosts a fascinating state of matter called a “quantum spin-liquid”.
Matthew Barrett received a poster prize for the best student poster contribution. He is a PhD-student at F-ISFM and works as well in the department fpr sample environment, where he optimizes humid environment cells for biological samples.
Dr. Elisa Wheeler received the Young Scientist Award from the International Union of Cristallography. The jury awarded her research work, which she completed as a postdoctoral student with Prof. Bella Lake and Dr. Nazmul Islam at the HZB. Elisa Wheeler is now a scientist at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, Frankreich.
- Did marine life in the palaeocene use a compass?Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and navigate across the ocean. The method offers a powerful tool for magnetically testing whether putative biological iron oxide particles in Mars samples have a biogenic origin.
- What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biologyInfrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. To test the method, the team grew fibroblasts on a highly transparent SiC membrane and examined them in vivo. This method will provide new insights into cell biology.
- Prashanth Menezes awarded prestigious VAIBHAV Fellowship by Government of IndiaThe Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, has announced the recipients of the Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Fellowship, a flagship initiative aimed at fostering collaboration between the Indian STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) diaspora and leading research institutions in India. Among the 2025 awardees is Dr. Prashanth W. Menezes, Head of the Department of Materials Chemistry for Catalysis at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB).