Adolfo Velez Saiz is a professor of accelerator physics at TU Dortmund
© HZB
Technische Universität Dortmund and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have jointly appointed Prof. Adolfo Velez Saiz as a professor of accelerator physics. He heads the Cavity Development workgroup at the HZB institute SRF – Science and Technology. With this appointment, HZB is expanding its expertise in the development of new accelerator technologies.
Adolfo Velez Saiz is developing novel superconducting cavities made of niobium for the upgrade project BESSY VSR (Variable-pulse-length storage ring). Cavities are important components in accelerators. As electron bunches fly through these hollow resonators, they recover the energy that they had previously radiated off as X-ray light.
Superconducting cavities like those used for BESSY VSR must satisfy extreme requirements. Among other things, they must be able to withstand high currents and very high voltages. To make the cavities superconducting, they have to be cooled to minus 271 degrees Celsius. Velez Saiz and his team are working on the technical design of the cavities as well as the necessary cryo-modules hosting the cold-string inside. The first prototypes of four-celled cavities – as are planned to be used in BESSY VSR – are expected by the end of 2020.
With this joint professorship, HZB is reinforcing its cooperation with TU Dortmund, which has longstanding experience in accelerator physics and the development of new accelerator components. TU Dortmund operates the synchrotron radiation facility DELTA (Dortmund Electron Accelerator), which is available for user operation. Adolfo Velez Saiz will be offering lectures at the University during the coming winter semester.
Short biography
Adolfo Velez Saiz has worked at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin since 2013 in the institute SRF – Science and Technology under the direction of Prof. Jens Knobloch. Before that, the professor worked in the accelerator team at the Spanish neutron source ESS Bilbao. He studied and earned his doctorate in physics at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where he also worked as a postdoctoral researcher.
- Bernd Rech elected to the BR50 Board of DirectorsThe Scientific Director at Helmholt-Zentrum Berlin is the new face behind the "Natural Sciences" unit at Berlin Research 50 (BR50). Following the election in December 2025, the constituent meeting of the new BR50 Board of Directors took place on 22 January 2026.
Its members are Michael Hintermüller (Weierstrass Institute, WIAS), Noa K. Ha (German Centre for Integration and Migration Research, DeZIM), Volker Haucke (Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, FMP), Uta Bielfeldt (German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin, DRFZ) and Bernd Rech (HZB).
- HZB expert appointed chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Barcelona Research CentreProf. Dr. Susan Schorr has been appointed to the newly established Scientific Advisory Board of the Barcelona Research Centre in Multiscale Science and Engineering and elected as its chair.
- Compact electron accelerator for treating PFAS-contaminated waterSo-called forever chemicals or PFAS compounds are a growing environmental problem. An innovative approach to treating PFAS-contaminated water and soil now comes from accelerator physics: high-energy electrons can break down PFAS molecules into harmless components through a process called radiolysis. A recent study published in PLOS One shows that an accelerator developed at HZB, based on a SRF photoinjector, can provide the necessary electron beam.