MAX IV and BESSY II initiate new collaboration to advance materials science
Great joy among the partners of MAX IV and HZB after signing the Cooperation agreement. From left Olof Karis, Director at MAX IV, Antje Hasselberg, authorized signatory at HZB and Bernd Rech, Scientific Director at HZB. © HZB /Ronja Grünke
The Cooperation agreement was signed during a meeting between researchers from MAX IV and BESSY II in Berlin. © HZB
Swedish national synchrotron laboratory MAX IV and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) with BESSY II light source jointly announce the signing of a 5-year Cooperation Agreement. The new agreement establishes a framework to strengthen cooperation for operational and technological development in the highlighted fields of accelerator research and development, beamlines and optics, endstations and sample environments as well as digitalisation and data science.
The new agreement increases accessibility and overall opportunities for users to conduct advanced materials science investigations at MAX IV and BESSY II in a smooth, integrated manner. Facility collaboration through project-based initiatives may include, among others, reciprocal exchange of knowledge, instrumentation development and usage, data handling, scientific and technical staff, research initiatives, and PhD programme activities.
“Decades of collaboration between Sweden and HZB—rooted in, for example, shared work on energy-relevant materials and enabling methods and technologies—have continually advanced our field. The Cooperation Agreement we sign today gives MAX IV and HZB a solid platform to keep advancing synchrotron science into the 2030s and beyond”, says Olof Karis, Director of MAX IV.
Bernd Rech, Scientific Director at HZB highlights: “The development of new materials is key for a climate-neutral future, we are striving to achieve through science and innovation. I am delighted about the close relationship we have built up between MAX IV and HZB over the years. Thanks to this agreement, we will ensure that bright minds continue to work together, for example to investigate new types of materials and accelerator technologies.”
About the facilities
MAX IV Laboratory is a national large-scale research facility in Lund, Sweden providing scientists with the most brilliant X-rays for research in the materials and life sciences. The synchrotron is hosted by Lund University and is primarily funded by Swedish and international research funders, consortia, and Swedish research universities.
> MAX IV
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB) is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres in Germany and focuses on energy materials research and the further development of accelerator facilities.
HZB operates BESSY II light source as well as modern laboratories and instruments for the investigation of structures and processes in materials.
> Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
- Element cobalt exhibits surprising propertiesThe element cobalt is considered a typical ferromagnet with no further secrets. However, an international team led by HZB researcher Dr. Jaime Sánchez-Barriga has now uncovered complex topological features in its electronic structure. Spin-resolved measurements of the band structure (spin-ARPES) at BESSY II revealed entangled energy bands that cross each other along extended paths in specific crystallographic directions, even at room temperature. As a result, cobalt can be considered as a highly tunable and unexpectedly rich topological platform, opening new perspectives for exploiting magnetic topological states in future information technologies.
- MXene for energy storage: More versatile than expectedMXene materials are promising candidates for a new energy storage technology. However, the processes by which the charge storage takes place were not yet fully understood. A team at HZB has examined, for the first time, individual MXene flakes to explore these processes in detail. Using the in situ Scanning transmission X-ray microscope 'MYSTIIC' at BESSY II, the scientists mapped the chemical states of Titanium atoms on the MXene flake surfaces. The results revealed two distinct redox reactions, depending on the electrolyte. This lays the groundwork for understanding charge transfer processes at the nanoscale and provides a basis for future research aimed at optimising pseudocapacitive energy storage devices.
- 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).