LEAPS – Europe’s light sources join together to coordinate cutting-edge research
Prof. Bernd Rech represented the HZB and its lightsource BESSY II.
Directors of European lightsources. Credit. Diamond Light Source
A new strategic group comprising the organisations operating European accelerator-based light sources has been founded in Brussels. The goal of the LEAPS consortium (League of European Accelerator-Based Photon Sources) is to elevate European collaboration on these “super microscopes” to a new level for the purpose of helping solve global challenges through concerted scientific excellence, as well as boost European competitiveness and integration. Representatives from 16 institutions issued a common declaration in the presence of the European Union’s Director General for Research and Innovation, Robert-Jan Smits.
“Light from particle accelerators plays a decisive role for studies in nearly every field of the natural sciences today – from physics, chemistry, and biology to energy, medicine, and transportation through to cultural history”, remarks Prof. Helmut Dosch, Director of the Helmholtz DESY centre and Chair of the consortium. “Until now, the light sources situated in the various countries have been largely developed and operated independently from one another. Yet they have an enormous amount in common, because they are extremely similar in their scientific objectives.”
Prof. Bernd Rech, acting head of the Helmholtz-Zentrum in Berlin (HZB) explains: “At HZB we operate BESSY II, a synchrotron light source that specialises in producing soft X-rays for scientific research. We intentionally complement other synchrotron sources in Germany and Europe, the majority of which generate hard X-ray emissions.”
Processes involving delicate chemical bonding and those taking place at surfaces and boundary layers in thin-film materials are often disrupted by higher energies, but can be successfully studied using soft X-rays. Minute magnetic features within thin layers can be delineated as well. The research priorities at BESSY II revolve about energy materials and involve a wide range of potential applications – from next-generation solar cells, to catalytic systems, through to magnetic materials for employment in new energy-efficient information technologies.
“The HZB is completely committed to the LEAPS objectives. By working together, including on developing advanced accelerator-based light sources, we will be able to create here in Europe the most productive research environment possible for using light as a probe”, says Rech. In addition, the future projects coming up at HZB for the advanced development of BESSY II, i.e. BESSY-VSR and bERLinPro, are being coordinated within the European research landscape.
The new form of cooperation between the participating institutions is intended to ensure that the large European research infrastructures are used even more efficiently in the future and that large scientific and technological challenges can be addressed jointly.
16 institutions from 10 European countries have joined together in LEAPS to serve a community of more than 24,000 researchers working on a broad spectrum of research topics. Industrial research conducted at accelerator-based light sources will benefit from LEAPS as well, not just the fields of pure and applied research.
- Key technology for a future without fossil fuelsIn June and July 2025, catalyst researcher Nico Fischer spent some time at HZB. It was his sabbatical, he was relieved of his duties as Director of the Catalysis Institute in Cape Town for several months and was able to focus on research only. His institute is collaborating with HZB on two projects that aim to develop environmentally friendly alternatives using innovative catalyst technologies. The questions were asked by Antonia Rötger, HZB.
- 5000th patient treated with protons for eye tumoursFor more than 25 years, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have been jointly offering proton radiation therapy for eye tumours. The HZB operates a proton accelerator in Berlin-Wannsee for this purpose, while Charité provides medical care for the patients. The 5000th patient was treated at the beginning of August.
- Iridium-free catalysts for acid water electrolysis investigatedHydrogen will play an important role, both as a fuel and as a raw material for industry. However, in order to produce relevant quantities of hydrogen, water electrolysis must become feasible on a multi-gigawatt scale. One bottleneck is the catalysts required, with iridium in particular being an extremely rare element. An international collaboration has therefore investigated iridium-free catalysts for acidic water electrolysis based on the element cobalt. Through investigations with various methods, among them experiments at the LiXEdrom at the BESSY II X-ray source in Berlin, they were able to elucidate processes that take place during water electrolysis in a cobalt-iron-lead oxide material as the anode. The study is published in Nature Energy.