New joint leadership for BESSY II
Andreas Jankowiak and Antje Vollmer have been working together on a trusting basis for many years. As the new dual leadership, they are driving forward the technical and scientific development of BESSY II. © HZB/M.Setzpfandt
Andreas Jankowiak as new Technical Director and Facility Spokesperson Antje Vollmer share management responsibilities.
Prof. Andreas Jankowiak has been appointed Technical Director of BESSY II with a term of office of three years as of 1 June 2024 by resolution of the HZB board of directors. Antje Vollmer will start her second term as BESSY II Facility Spokesperson on 1 July 2024. Together, they form the new management duo to coordinate the scientific and technical development of the BESSY II X-ray source on behalf of the HZB management.
They will coordinate with internal stakeholders and external partners, prioritise their requirements, make recommendations to the HZB board of directors and prepare management decisions.
With the establishment of the new management duo, Prof. Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of HZB, wants to streamline the organisational processes around BESSY II and delegate related management tasks. "Our BESSY II+ application and the conceptual preliminary report for the BESSY III (pre-CDR) project have been evaluated extremely positively by scientific review committees," says Bernd Rech. "We must now create the conditions to successfully implement the strategy that has been positively assessed and supported by the supervisory bodies. The new division of labour should help to clearly identify and initiate the necessary steps."
The management duo will work on an equal basis and in mutual coordination. The Facility Spokesperson will focus on all priorities, project planning, investment plans and processes relating to user operation and the strategic and scientific development of the BESSY II user facility and the complementary lab infrastructure. The Technical Director is responsible for the operation of BESSY II and prioritises operational priorities, project planning, investment projects and processes as well as the strategic-technical development of the BESSY II facility and the central infrastructure required for this, including the IT infrastructure.
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- 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).