XFEL: Federico Boscherini new chair of European XFEL Council

Federico Boscherini, Professor of Physics at the University of Bologna, is the new Chair of the European XFEL Council. With many years of experience in research with X-rays, Boscherini has been an advisor to the Council since 2018. James Naismith, Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Oxford, will be the new Vice Chair of the Council. The European XFEL Council is the supreme governing body of the international research facility and, as the shareholders' assembly, decides on important organisational and strategic issues.

Federico Boscherini: “I am truly honoured to be the next Chair of the Council. European XFEL is a unique facility which is opening up new research areas, with certainly much more to come in the next few years. I am excited to contribute to its further development in close collaboration with the management and staff. In these challenging times for European large scale research infrastructures, I am determined to serve the Council and the company to develop and strengthen this outstanding international research centre.”

Boscherini's predecessor Maria Faury, 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, has headed the Council for the maximum possible two terms, taking on the role in 2018. The new Council Vice-Chair James Naismith takes over from Prof Martin Meedom Nielsen of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), who has served the Council for 12 years in various capacities, including two terms as Council Chair from 2014 to 2018.

Prof. Robert Feidenhans'l thanked Maria Faury and Martin Meedom Nielsen for the trustful cooperation and said: “Together, we have successfully developed European XFEL over the past four years. This was marked by the transition from the first experiments at two experiment stations to regular user operation with currently six stations, as well as a significant increase in research opportunities at the facility. It was a time of remarkable challenges, from a technical and scientific point of view, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and, most recently, the new geopolitical situation that emerged due to the war in Ukraine. I would like to express my special thanks for the continuous support over the years. We also have a lot of plans for the future and so I am very pleased that Federico Boscherini and James Naismith, two internationally renowned experts in the field of research with X-rays, now take over the helm of the Council.”

Both Maria Faury and Prof. Meedom Nielsen remain Council members, representing France and Denmark respectively.