[kfn-info] Open letter on FRM II, RAC call, obituaries, news from instruments, beamtime proposals

Dear neutron users,

>>>Open letter of the KFN

Research with neutrons at FRM II in Garching is of great importance - not only for the scientists, but also for whole society. The KFN has now reacted to the recent coverage of FRM II in local media and published an open letter. It describes the importance of neutron research at FRM II and asks for a quick solution of the present transport problem that currently prevents the use of FRM II.

https://www.sni-portal.de/de/Dateien/offener-brief-des-kfn-betreffend-die-nutzung-des-frm-ii

>>>Call in Röntgen-Ångström-Cluster

We would like to draw your attention to the call of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) on materials research and structural biology with neutrons and synchrotron radiation in the German-Swedish cooperation (Röntgen-Ångström-Cluster) of the framework programme "Research on the Universe and Matter - ErUM". It was published on July 16, 2019, and funding is planned to start on April 1, 2020. Proposal deadline is Sept. 04, 2019. The projects should be planned for a period of two to four years. Concrete milestones are supposed to structure the proposals. The project agency PT-DESY will give advice in case of questions.

https://pt.desy.de/bekanntmachungen/01072019___materie___rac/index_ger.html

>>>The KFN mourns pioneers

In the last weeks, three grand experimental physicists and neutron researchers died: Prof. Dr. Erich Steichele, Prof. Dr. Johann Peisl and Prof. Dr. Otto Schärpf, SJ. We want to commemorate them and their merits. Erich Steichele built the first neutron guides on the basis of float gas and directed the construction of the first tim-of-flight diffractometer with a 150 m long neutron guide at the Atom-Egg in Garching. His contribution to the first instrumentation of FRM II was substantial. Optimization of the beam tube tips, the "Tanzboden" and the flipped neutron guides of REFSANS are based on his ideas and work. As did Erich Steichele, also Otto Schärpf dedicated his career to neutron research. At ILL he advanced the development of polarized neutrons from 1979 on. There, he realized a completely new type of instrument for the analysis of cold neutrons. As member of the Jesuit order, he also gave spiritual assistance to his colleagues and their families. Johann Peisl held the chair of experimental physics at the LMU München from 1974 to 2000 and conducted research in a broad spectrum of structure analysis on solid phases, defects and interfaces with X-ray and neutron scattering. Many of his students are today in important positions using scattering with neutrons and synchrotron radiation. Johann Peisl was founding member of the first KFN (1987-1990).

https://www.sni-portal.de/en/user-committees/committee-research-with-neutrons/news/obituaries

>>>News on instruments

There is another new section on the KFN website: News on instruments! So far, new possibilities at existing instruments (IN13, DNS, RESEDA) are in the focus: More flux at the backscattering spectrometer IN13, which is particularly useful for the microscopic study of single particle motions, possibilities to combine polarized neutrons with time-of-flight spectroscopy for the studies of exotic magnetic order and excitations in quantum materials at DNS and longitudinal NRSE (LNRSE) spectroscopy as well as longitudinal MIEZE (Modulation of Intensity with zero effort) operation with sub-μeV energy resolution and an unprecedented dynamic range at RESEDA.

https://www.sni-portal.de/en/user-committees/committee-research-with-neutrons/news/news-on-instruments?set_language=en

More input on instrument news is welcome!

>>>Apply for beamtime

If you plan experiments, it's soon time for proposals again: the final round at the high field magnet in Berlin (until August 19), at CERIC-ERIC (Sept. 2 or 30), at MLZ (Sept. 13) and ILL (Sept. 16, 2019). The links can be found in the list of deadlines below.

With kind regards,

Astrid Schneidewind, KFN chair
Karin Griewatsch, KFN PR