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It is with shock and great sadness that we learned about the death of our collegue Wilfried Wurth. The current and former members of the German committee Research with Synchrotron Radiation (KFS) mourn their former chair, who died unexpectedly at the age of 62.
"It is very sad that our colleague and previous chair of KFS Prof. Dr. Wilfried Wurth has died. A great scientist, leader, colleague and friend has left us." says Bridget Murphy, KFS chair. "Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time."
Wilfried Wurth was member of the KFS for nine years. In 2005 he was coopted by the committee as an expert for free electron lasers. As professor of experimental physics at the University of Hamburg he investigated ultrafast processes such as the dynamics of atoms on surfaces in real time and played an important role in the construction of the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL and for the free electron lasers FLASH and FLASH II. From 2008 to 2011 he was vice chair, and in the following term (2011-2014), Wilfried Wurth was chair of the KFS. In 2009, the KFS worked out the brochure "Research with Synchrotron radiation in Germany" which represented the opinion of the German users and paved the way for pioneering projects such as PETRA III. Wilfried Wurth's friendly and conciliatory way and his effective way of working will be remembered well.
Not only in the KFS but also at DESY, where he became leading scientist in 2014 and took care of the FLASH project, Wilfried Wurth anticipated the future of synchrotron radiation. Most recently, he led the creation of the Conceptual Design Report for its further development to FLASH2020+.
Wilfried Wurth was not only an excellent scientist and a highly esteemed colleague, but also a good friend.
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