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
- 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.