XFEL: Maria Faury appointed new chair of the European XFEL Council
Maria Faury appointed new chair of the European XFEL Council
Maria Faury, new chair of the European XFEL Council
As of the 1 July 2018, Maria Faury is the new chair of the European XFEL council, the highest governing body of the company. Maria Faury has an engineering background and is Director of International Affairs and Large Research Infrastructures of the Fundamental Research Division at the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) in France. She has represented CEA, one of the two European XFEL partners in France, on the council since 2014. She will succeed Prof. Martin Meedom Nielsen from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), who, having served two terms as chair, will continue to support the work of European XFEL as vice chair. The current vice chair, Prof. Lars Börjesson from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, will again become a member of the Swedish delegation on the council.
Maria Faury said: “It will be an honor, and a real pleasure for me to chair the European XFEL Council. Since 2014, I have had the chance to witness the progress in the construction of the facility and have been impressed by the unwavering involvement of the staff, the management and the stakeholders. European XFEL is now operating and attracting scientists from all over the world, starting to deliver excellent science. The coming years will be very exciting and all together we will ensure that European XFEL remains a world-leading facility. I fully trust Robert Feidenhans’l and his team and I am very happy to work more closely with them in the future. I would like to thank Martin Meedom Nielson who has chaired the council in such a nice, open and positive way. He has been very inspiring to us and I am happy he will continue as vice chair.”
Martin Meedom Nielsen said: "It has been a very exciting time with the European XFEL transitioning from construction into operation, and I am very happy that Maria Faury will now be chairing the Council in this new and very important phase of the life of the facility. Her experience and dedication will be extremely valuable now that we must fulfill the promises made during the building up of the facility, and as we make the plans to ensure that the European XFEL will stay ahead as the world's best place for X-ray science in a very competitive field."
At the council meeting on 27–28 June, European XFEL Managing Director Robert Feidenhans’l said he was looking forward to work with Maria Faury and thanked Martin Meedom Nielsen for his advice and work through his two terms in office. “I am very pleased that Maria Faury has been appointed chair of the council. Her profound knowledge of the facility as well as her support have been very valuable in the past. In the future, her know-how and dedication will be even more important as we further expand the facility by more than tripling beamtime capacity and plan for further investments at the research campus in Schenefeld, the accelerator and the beamlines,” Feidenhans’l said. “I am also very thankful to Martin Meedom Nielsen for his support during the crucial years of construction, commissioning and the first user operation of our facility. I am pleased he will stay committed to European XFEL as council vice chair.”
