Adlershof Brains: Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla
The professor of materials science is one of today’s 25 most influential engineers in Germany and is also the scientific director at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB)
What are you currently working on?
The HZB operates the synchrotron source BESSY II and the neutron source BER II, on which 3,000 scientists work annually. Two new major projects are currently in the works at Adlershof: BERLinPro, the prototype for a light source with energy recovery and the energy research project EMIL, a new unique beamline for in situ study of boundary layers.
Why is this important?
Materials research is manifold. It can encompass as well chemical as physical issues. That`s a key factor for promoting development in the major fields of the future, including energy, climate change mitigation and environmen -tal protection, resource conservation, mobility, health, security and communication. Thus, BESSY will foster research into some of the fundamental issues in the development of new materials or medications or in the effort to overcome special challenges such as the study of water distribution in plants, the analysis of archaeological finds or the authentication of paintings.
What are you hoping to achieve?
I am fascinated by the knowledge that we can only win with large scale devices. For this rea - son, I will continually strive to find ways and means to keep the newest generation of research equipment available to our users.