News regarding research policy

DESY and HZB offer workshops for exchange and preparation of ErUM-Pro proposals in September:

DESY: 'Match-Making' -Workshop (video conference) on Sept. 16 and 17, 2021. At this workshop, the operators of the radiation sources will present their development and expansion strategy for the coming years. Furthermore, applicants and user groups will be given the opportunity to present their ideas for instrumentation proposals and to coordinate these with the radiation source operators and, if necessary, also with each other. [more information] [registration until Sept. 10, 2021]

HZB: ErUm-Pro-Workshop at BESSY II (Verbundforschung) on Sept. 22, 2021. In order to give potential applicants some feedback on their plans, there will be an online workshop on Wednesday, 22nd September 2021, from 9:00-15:00 where project ideas should be presented and discussed. If you are planning to apply for Verbundforschung at one of the BESSY II-Instruments, please contact Esther Dudzik until the end of August. [more]

In order to prepare the application in the upcoming EruM-Pro round ("Verbundforschung"), it is helpful for the applicants to discuss with potential partners, the user community and the operators of the large-scale facilities before submission to ensure that the necessary prerequisites are in place and that productive continued operation of the instrumentation is guaranteed after the funding expires. To support this coordination process, DESY Photon Science, in coordination with the KFS for the two radiation sources PETRA III and FLASH, invites the interested research community to a 'match-making' workshop (video conference) on 16 and 17 September 2021. At this workshop, the operators of the radiation sources will present their development and expansion strategy for the coming years. Furthermore, applicants and user groups will be given the opportunity to present their ideas for instrumentation proposals and to coordinate these with the radiation source operators and, if necessary, also with each other. [more information] [registration until Sept. 10, 2021]

Three research centres in the Helmholtz Association have developed a joint future plan for the research conducted at the scientific light sources they operate in Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden. The upgrades proposed in the strategy for their world-class accelerator-based facilities will strengthen Germany as a research location and promote innovations in many different fields.

A summary of the national strategy for the further development of accelerator-based light sources is provided in the brochure „Forschung und Innovation stärken“. The long version is "Nationale Strategie zur Weiterentwicklung beschleunigerbasierter Nutzereinrichtungen für die Forschung mit Photonen und mit hohen elektromagnetischen Feldern". [more]

At its last meetings, the Committee for Research with Synchrotron Radiation dealt intensively with the situation of researchers during the pandemic and also conducted a survey.

For the users of synchrotron radiation, the pandemic results in restrictions that, depending on the research area and professional situation, ranges from moderate to existentially threatening. Young researchers with third-party funding are particularly hard hit, both before and after their doctorate. ...

Read the whole statement (in German) here: [more]

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 March 30, 2021, the deadline is on May 12, 2021 (May 04 ion the Swedish side) and funding is planned to start on April 1, 2022. 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, and tips can be found on the PT DESY website. [more]

The BMBF has published the action plan "ErUM-Data - from Big Data to Smart Data". The aim is to make greater use of the great potential of digital solutions from basic research in order to continue excellent research in the future and to meet social challenges at the same time. To this end, the action plan defines measures in the three overarching thematic fields of "Research Data Management", "Federated Digital Infrastructures" and "Software and Algorithms". It is important that researchers work together on an interdisciplinary basis, i.e. from different areas of ErUM (Research on Universe and Matter) and from different disciplines, such as physics, mathematics, computer science and data sciences.  [Action Plan] [BMBF Press Release]

BARI offers summer research internships with appropriate academic training across the Baltic Sea Region to students with interest in Life Sciences, Photon & Neutron Science and Welfare State. During their internship, students will assist in research and lab work for a proposed project. They will be hosted by research groups, laboratories, and doctoral students who wish to strengthen their ties within the Baltic Sea Region by hosting a motivated and well-qualified student. Successful applicants will receive a scholarship to help cover living expenses and travel costs. Funding is available for a period of up to three months. [more]

The aim of the national research data infrastructure (NFDI) is to systematically manage scientific and research data, provide long-term data storage, backup and accessibility, and network the data both nationally and internationally. The NFDI will bring multiple stakeholders together in a coordinated network of consortia tasked with providing science-driven data services to research communities. In mid-October, the neutron and synchrotron communities have subnitted a proposal for an NFDI consortium ("DAta from PHoton and Neutron Experiments") to DFG. Here, you can read the summary of the proposal. [more]

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. 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. [more]

The committees which represent the users in  ErUM (Exploration of the Universe and Matter) have published recommendataions on digital transformation in fundamental research on universe and matter. The paper is based on workshop involving the users and the intensive coordination of the committees research with neutrons (KFN), ions and nuclear probes (KFSI), synchrotron radiation (KFS), astroparticle Physics (KAT), particle physics (KET), accelerator physics (KfB), hadron and nuclear physics (KHuK) an the Council of German Observatories (RDS). It is part of the preparations for the new action plan ErUM data of the BMBF which aims at funding digital transformation in the research area. It is all about data management, standards, storage, accessibility of data and the use of artificial intelligience and other chances of digitalisation.[more]

The new "Data Science in Hamburg - Helmholtz Graduate Schoold for the Structure of Matter" brings the worlds of data science and natural science together. It aims to educate the future generation of data- and information- scientists that will tackle tomorrow’s scientific challenges that come along with large-scale experiments. PETRA III, FLASH, European XFEL and LHC are partners. Applications for PhD positions are possible until March 31, 2019. [more]