20 Years Russian-German Joint Laboratory at BESSY II
To mark its 20th anniversary, the Russian-German Laboratory at the BESSY II storage ring for synchrotron radiation in Berlin is organising an online workshop on 18 and 19 November. Scientists will discuss the future perspectives of Russian-German cooperation as well as innovative projects and new goals of the laboratory.
Since its foundation two decades ago, numerous scientists from Russia and Germany have worked at the Russian-German Joint Laboratory and have since published around 770 publications. The research cooperation is now supported by eight partner organisations - Freie Universität Berlin, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Technische Universität Dresden and Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg. They are joined by St. Petersburg State University, the Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg and the Kurchatov Institute and Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography in Moscow.
The laboratory receives funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Messreisen supports the HZB and the German-Russian Centre of Excellence G-RISC, which is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Foreign Office.
The researchers will use the anniversary workshop to discuss current highlights from their research. Expert lectures will deal with the magnetism of two-dimensional crystals, i.e. novel materials that can make the computer hardware of the future more powerful and energy-efficient, as well as new battery materials and the question of why novel materials for solar cells show unexpectedly high efficiency. "What does the future hold for the Russian-German Laboratory?" asks Eckart Rühl, Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Free University of Berlin and coordinator of the research laboratory. New synchrotron radiation sources are already being planned in Germany and Russia, he says. "BESSY II will continue to provide excellent opportunities for the Russian-German Laboratory in the coming decade. And the planned successor source BESSY III will make previously unfeasible experiments possible!" emphasises Prof. Dr. Jan Lüning, scientific director of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.
Program of the Workshop on 18 and 19 November 2021
- Berlin Battery Lab: BAM, HZB and HU are conducting joint research on sodium batteriesThe Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) today officially inaugurated the Berlin Battery Lab (BBL). At this new research platform, BAM, HZB and HU jointly develop and test resource-efficient battery technologies with a focus on sodium-based systems. Together, they develop new materials, investigate innovative cell chemistries, and produce battery prototypes. The research infrastructure of the Berlin Battery Lab is also open to external partners from science and industry and is designed to accelerate the transfer from research to application.
- Humboldt-Fellow at HZB Institute for Solar Fuels: Kayode Adesina AdegokeKayode Adesina Adegoke is a renowned chemist, affiliated with LAUTECH SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities Research Group), Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. He is collaborating with Matthew Mayer to investigate the degradation of electrocatalysts during electrochemical CO₂ reduction. The Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship enables him to stay at Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin up to 24 months.
- Protein crystallography at BESSY II: faster, better and more and more automaticMany diseases are linked to malfunctions of proteins in the organism. The three-dimensional architecture of these molecules is often highly complex, but it can provide valuable insights into biological processes and the development of drugs. X-ray diffraction at the MX beamlines of BESSY II can be used to decipher the 3D structure of proteins. To date, more than 5000 structures have been solved at the three MX beamlines. Here, we present a review and an outlook with Manfred Weiss, head of the research group for macromolecular crystallography.