The National Center for Nuclear Research is strengthening its cooperation with the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL). The visit of EuXFEL Management Board representatives to Świerk was an opportunity to discuss joint research plans and the development of strategic projects.

On September 11, a meeting was held at NCBJ with representatives of the EuXFEL Management Board – the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser. Thanks to this visit, it was possible to begin discussions on deepening institutional cooperation and cooperation in research areas.

The visit of the EuXFEL Board delegation, consisting of Prof. Thomas Feurer, Director General, Dr. Nicole Elleuche, Administrative Director, and Prof. Seruei Molodtsov, Scientific Director, to the National Center for Nuclear Research consisted of several stages.

At the beginning of the meeting, Prof. Agnieszka Pollo, Deputy Director for Science at NCBJ, presented the mission and areas of research at NCBJ to the guests. Then, Dr. Paweł Krawczyk presented the details of the PolFEL project.

The EuXFEL delegation visited the MARIA research reactor and the POLATOM Radioisotope Center.

The visit to NCBJ was preceded by a meeting between EuXFEL representatives and representatives of the XFEL project – Supervision II, as well as Izabela Najda-Jędrzejewska, Deputy Director of the Strategic Research Infrastructure Division of the Department of Innovation and Development at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Michał Rybiński – Head of the Strategic Research Infrastructure Division of the Department of Innovation and Development of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The meeting was attended by representatives of XFEL: Dagmara Milewska – administrative manager of the project on behalf of NCBJ and delegate to EuXFEL AFC, Prof. Ryszard Sobierajski – Project Manager, CD-XFEL Leader at the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Vice-Chair of the EuXFEL Council, Prof. Katarzyna Jarzembska – CD-XFEL Leader at the University of Warsaw, and Prof. Marcin Sikora (Jagiellonian University, Solaris) – Delegate to the EuXFEL Council.

Two presentations were given during the meeting. In the first, EuXFEL Director General Thomas Feurer discussed the cooperation with Poland to date and presented the prospects and expectations for the future. He emphasized the significant increase in the participation of Polish scientists in research conducted at the EuXFEL infrastructure in recent years.

Next, Dagmara Milewska presented the current status of the project supporting Polish XFEL users. Both sides emphasized the need to continue joint activities for the benefit of Polish users. Prof. Ryszard Sobierajski pointed out the need to expand the group of researchers using the XFEL infrastructure, especially those acting as principal investigators.

At the end of the meeting, Izabela Najda-Jędrzejewska, Deputy Director of the Strategic Research Infrastructure Department at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, expressed her satisfaction with inter-institutional cooperation at both European and national level.

About the XFEL project

The XFEL Centers of Excellence Network (CD XFEL) was established to provide substantive and organizational support to the Polish scientific community in the use of the European Free Electron Laser (EuXFEL) as one of the priority research instruments necessary for conducting innovative scientific research.

The network consists of unique research laboratories operating in four scientific units: the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, the University of Warsaw, the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and the National Center for Nuclear Research. The centers bring together scientists with extensive experience in XFEL research, whose knowledge and commitment provide support for new Polish users of this infrastructure. For the purposes of the CD XFEL project, they also make their research infrastructure available, including equipment purchased with funds from a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

The visit to the NCBJ was preceded by a meeting between representatives of EuXFEL and representatives of XFELA, as well as Izabela Najda-Jędrzejewska, Deputy Director of the Strategic Research Infrastructure Division of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education's Department of Innovation and Development, Michał Rybiński, Head of the Strategic Research Infrastructure Division of the Innovation and Development Department of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

More information about the XFEL project:
https://cd-xfel.ifpan.edu.pl/cdxfel/