Close cooperation agreed between European XFEL and Uppsala University

As from now, Uppsala University and the European XFEL GmbH will cooperate closely in the field of X-ray science with focus on structural biology. On 15 October 2010, a corresponding agreement was signed by representatives of Uppsala University and the European XFEL GmbH. It especially stipulates the secondment of Professor Janos Hajdu, an internationally renowned expert in this field, for half of his working time to the European XFEL GmbH. Janos Hajdu will act as a senior advisor to the Scientific Directors of the European XFEL GmbH and contribute his expertise to the construction of measuring stations and the realization of experiments. He will also strive to establish and promote connections to the Swedish scientific community and other structural biology institutions throughout the participating countries and beyond.

“We are happy that the collaboration agreement with Uppsala University has now been sealed,” declared Karl Witte, one of the two Managing Directors of the European XFEL GmbH. “With Professor Hajdu, we gain an international luminary of structural biology as advisor and ambassador of the European XFEL. The cooperation with him and Uppsala University will provide strong momentum to the opportunities for research on biological structures and processes at the European XFEL. By the same token, it will pave the way for further collaboration agreements with universities all over the world.”

Signing of the agreement between Uppsala University and the European XFEL GmbH; from left to right: Professor Massimo Altarelli, Managing Director of the European XFEL GmbH; Dr. Andreas Schwarz, Scientific Director of the European XFEL GmbH; Professor Anders Hallberg, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uppsala; Dr. Thomas Tschentscher, Scientific Director of the European XFEL GmbH; Professor Joseph Nordgren, Vice-Rector of the Disciplinary Domain for Science and Technology at the University of Uppsala; Karl Witte, Managing Director of the European XFEL GmbH.

Janos Hajdu is not new to the European XFEL. As the author of one of the research sections of its Technical Design Report, he has been involved in the European XFEL project for eight years. Together with a research engineer, he will join the team in Hamburg for part of his working time for a duration of initially three years, with an option of prolongation for another two years. Their secondment will be counted as an in-kind contribution of the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet, which is one of the shareholders of the European XFEL GmbH, to the realization of the project.