XFEL: Science@FELS 2022 held at European XFEL

This year’s FEL Science and Applications prize has been awarded to Praveen Maroju from the University of Freiburg at the sixth Science@FELs conference in September. Maroju’s work primarily focuses on generating and characterising attosecond-duration pulses at certain free-electron laser (FEL) facilities. Attoseconds are roughly to one second what one second is to the lifetime of the universe. Because these pulses are so short, characterising them is very challenging. Maroju’s research has focused on developing diagnostic capabilities to address this challenge.

The 2022 Science@FELs conference was held at DESY and European XFEL in Hamburg in September 2022 with more than 100 participants in attendance from 12 countries. It is held every two years by FELS of Europe, a collaboration of all free electron laser facilities in Europe, and has evolved into one of the most important international meetings in FEL science. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the FELs of Europe collaboration.

Researchers discussed recent achievements and developments in FEL shared expertise and developed professional networks between students and staff. Three dedicated expert tutorials were also offered for young researchers and the conference addressed a diverse range of topics from biology and chemistry, to theory and FEL engineering. This was consolidated by an in-person poster presentation and reception held at European XFEL accompanied by tours of the experimental hall.

“It has been brilliant to welcome so many visitors back to European XFEL,” says Serguei Molodtsov, scientific director at the European XFEL and chair of the Management Board of the Steering Committee of the FELS of Europe cooperation. “Science at FELs represents a unique opportunity for us to gather our expertise as a community, and work together to tackle the big challenges facing FEL science today.”

The conference was followed by an expert workshop called the ‘Forum on Advanced FEL Techniques’ which aimed to bring together experts and FEL users to support collaboration and coordination between facilities and user groups. FELs of Europe also provides an on-going online expert tutorial series, for FEL users and experts, set to run until November 2023.

Contacts

Serguei Molodtsov 
Tel: +49-40-8998-5779
E-mail: serguei.molodtsov@xfel.eu

Bernd Ebeling
Tel: +49-40-8998-6921
E-mail: press@xfel.eu