Dear Employees,

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2024! We have once again compiled some great results and useful information for you. We hope you enjoy reading it.
Summer is already on the horizon and it's great to see so many people enjoying their lunch break in the sun on the lawn by the lake. Over the next few months, we will continue to see great progress in campus development, which will make our day-to-day work much easier and better. I am particularly looking forward to our new canteen, which will be a special place not only for eating but also for socialising.
Until then, I ask for your continued patience and understanding for the current inconveniences on campus.

Best regards,
Yours Christian Stegmann

Trip to Arizona

Three DESY employees spent nine days in Arizona to work on the pSCT telescope. Maintenance work was carried out on the drive system and the structure. Furthermore, the lubrication system was modified and a monitoring system was installed and successfully put into operation. Key components of the pSCT were developed and built at DESY. The experience gained with this telescope is directly incorporated into the design and construction of the MSTs. The construction of the first two MSTs has already begun with the ordering of the first time-critical components.

Production of the CTA medium-sized telescopes begins

The upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), of which DESY is a critical member, has begun production of its components. Calls for tender for the first components have already been sent out since December, a major milestone in the construction of the observatory’s first two telescopes, which will be located on La Palma in the Canary Islands and in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The medium-sized telescopes within the array will require extremely sensitive mirror controls. To produce these systems, DESY has partnered with the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), which will build the active mirror control systems and bring them to series maturity.

Website DESY News

Workshop "Synergies concerning hadronic interaction models"

On 22 April 2024, the first workshop on synergies concerning hadronic interaction models between Gamma-ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy and forward physics at the LHC was held at DESY in Zeuthen, with participants from DESY (Hamburg and Zeuthen) as well as from the HU Berlin. The aim of this workshop was to connect and build bridges between the individual working groups at DESY and investigate the potential of a future interdisciplinary collaboration. One of the main outcomes was to organise a follow-up workshop, in which discussions with the authors of current hadronic model event generators will be held as well as with guests from the LHCf collaboration, which the HU forward physics group joined recently.

Insights into the job world and research at DESY

DESY in Zeuthen has been involved in various events in recent weeks to give children, young people and the general public an insight into the world of science. Many thanks to all those who have contributed to the success.

In March, DESY joined forces with colleagues from HU Berlin to organise an event for young people and a training course for teachers as part of the International Masterclasses. 48 young people from 18 schools in Berlin, Frankfurt (Oder), Spremberg, Potsdam, Wildau, Königs Wusterhausen, Kleinmachnow and Bernau got an impression of how research works through presentations, data analysis and video conferencing. 20 teachers from 18 high-schools and comprehensive schools in Berlin, Oranienburg, Potsdam and Eisenhüttenstadt took part in the training programme.

In April, 32 mentors customised the "Zukunftstag für Mädchen und Jungen" for almost 40 young people. The participants worked in 12 different areas - from scientific groups, workshops and office activities to the computer centre.

At the beginning of May, DESY presented itself on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam together with the TH Wildau and Dahme_Innovation in the research camp at the "Potsdamer Tag der Wissenschaften" (see photo).

Milestone of the THz project at PITZ

Research and development activities for a high-power tunable accelerator-based THz source are currently being carried out at PITZ. An important milestone was the submission of the report “Conceptual Design Studies of a THz source for pump-probe experiments at the European XFEL based on a PITZ-like photo injector” to the European XFEL. The report summarizes the experience gained during the design, installation, and commissioning of the THz beamline, as well as proof-of-principle experiments on THz FEL at PITZ. The results of the measurements on a high-gain single-pass THz FEL have been summarized and complemented by theoretical modeling and simulations.

Gun5.2 finished

The production of Gun5.2, the follow-up to the electron source installed at PITZ, was finalised after some challenges in production. On 6 March, the gun arrived in Zeuthen for frequency adjustment (tuning). It will then be CO2-cleaned in Hamburg and then assembled in Zeuthen. In early summer, it will go into operation at the new conditioning test stand in Hamburg (FALCO). Many colleagues in Zeuthen and Hamburg worked hand in hand to realise the high production requirements - a big thank you to everyone involved! As a result, the critical production steps have been revised once again and made more error-proof so that the production of the other guns can now proceed.

ATLAS-Upgrade

Since the end of February, the first three official pre-preduction modules (the very first, a module of type "R0" is shown above) were finalised. They tested successfully, also at future operation temperature of -35°C, which allows our production site to proceed building more modules. The production effort was also strengthened by new team members: Thorsten Kuhl and Alvaro Lopez Solis joined from the DESY ATLAS group and Maik Daniels joined from the HU workshop. Welcome!

Galactic microquasar exposes a secret

The scientific collaboration running the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) telescope, using observations with the Cherenkov Telescope Array located in Namibia, has detected very high-energy gamma-rays above several tera-electronvolts coming from the SS 433 microquasar’s "western" and "eastern" jets in our Galaxy. This confirms the first ever detection of a microquasar in the tera-electronvolt range that the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-ray (HAWC) collaboration had purported in 2018.

Website DESY News

DZA interim location in Görlitz opened

End of February, the German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) officially opened its interim location in the historic post office building on Postplatz in Görlitz. During the inauguration ceremony, Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer symbolically handed over the key to the DZA's designated founding director, Günther Hasinger, Professor at the Technical University of Dresden and Senior Scientist at DESY.

Website DESY News

Half-time for mDOM production

On 21 February, the 128th optical module (mDOM) of the DESY part of the IceCube upgrade was completed. While most of the modules have already passed the so-called "Final Acceptance Test" (FAT) in Zeuthen, the last modules for the first delivery to the South Pole this summer are currently being put through their paces. Meanwhile, the team in the mechanical workshop in the SEGRO hall is working on fitting the mDOMs with steel cables and packing them so that they can go searching for neutrinos as part of a "string" in the ice of the Antarctic. DESY is building a total of 225 modules, with a further 205 being manufactured at Michigan State University, where the Production Readiness Review was successfully passed in April. A big thank you to all those involved for their great work.

The Campus Group

Since March, the TI, Canteen and BAU sections have been merged to form the Campus group. Verena Ruhm has taken over the management of the group. Ray General, who led the TI group, has gone into well-deserved retirement. We would like to thank him very much for his commitment to the campus.
The aim of this service centre is to maintain, operate and further develop the campus. The spectrum ranges from campus development to building construction measures for the science centre, refurbishment measures, the operation of facilities and services such as the canteen, hostel, caretaking and security services.
The restructuring process is being supported externally with the aim of becoming a flexible, customer-orientated unit. The first steps are already visible with new functional email addresses, an updated homepage and a reorganised ticket system. If there are any ideas and requests on campus, please feel free to pass them on to the Campus group. They look forward to shaping our campus with you.

The ticket system has been reorganised so that requests on campus can be responded to more quickly and efficiently. From now on, please submit all enquiries via the website. In the orange box you will find the link to the web interface with redirection to the form to be filled out.

Website Campus group

On the Campus

Gas and dangerous goods cabinets
Please note: Free access to gas and dangerous goods cabinets (indoors and outdoors) must be guaranteed at all times for safety and fire protection reasons as well as for the replacement of gas cylinders and maintenance work on the gas systems.

Digital vehicle pool
Since 1 April, our Zeuthen vehicle pool has been accessible via DESY's own website. All reservations, cancellations etc. are now made exclusively digitally via this online vehicle pool. If you have any questions about this system, please contact fuhrpark-zeuthen@desy.de.

DESY band
We have a DESY band on campus. The band is open to all directions in music and welcome everyone from beginners to professionals. Anyone who would like to play an instrument or want to join singing is welcome to attend one of the next rehearsals. Contact persons are Karl Jansen. Patrick Rüger and Susann Thiessat.

Sustainability

Conference "Sustainable Management"
On 19 September 2024, the network partners of dahme_innovation are organising the "Sustainable Business" conference. The event provides information on key areas of sustainability and promotes dialogue between stakeholders. Further information and registration here.

Sustainability at DESY

Health and Fitness

Works doctor
The works doctor's next appointments on campus are on 5 June, 11 July and 1 August. Please direct any questions regarding an appointment to Marlis Schütze.

On 5 June, the works doctor will be offering eye examinations from 9:30 to 11:00. This examination is essential for ordering computer glasses. There are no individual appointments. Please come to room 3P02 and fill out the two forms in the folders provided. The time frame for the examination is approx. 5 minutes.

Five ways to wellbeing
This year, DESY is offering a special mental health programme for all DESY employees in Hamburg and Zeuthen: lectures, workshops and e-learning courses, digital and on-site, in German and English, throughout the year.
All this can also be found on the DESY Health-Blog. (PW: DESY23). A subscription to the weekly newsletter there provides additional health information and reminds you of events.

City cycling | Stadtradeln
In June, the Dahme-Spreewald district starts the Stadtradeln (city cycling) programme again. As in previous years, our commune is the town of "Zeuthen im Landkreis Dahme-Spreewald", our team "DESY Zeuthen". Sub-teams can be registered independently.

Kicker
The new kicker in the canteen is available for recreational fun every day from 15:00 and all day at weekends.

Information from the computer centre

From 7 June 8:00 to 9 June 20:00, reconstruction measures will take place in the data center in Zeuthen. The aim is to move important infrastructure components into new, better cooled racks to make room for the new tape robot. During this time, no internet, intranet or telephony will be available on the entire campus. It will also not be possible to use Cisco Jabber, AFS and the WIN drives remotely or to access other services that terminate in Zeuthen. Mail and Sync&Share remain unaffected as these services are running in Hamburg. The colleagues apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

A warm welcome

We welcome all employees and guests who have started at DESY in Zeuthen since January:

Mahmoud Alawashra, THAT
Sepideh Aminzadeh Gohari, PITZ
Alessandra Azzollini, Gamma
Frauke Berger, DZA
Detlef Bieker, ME
Andrea Bulgarelli, CQTA
Sara Buson, Gamma
Andres Delgado, Gamma
Alice di Tucci, CQTA
Daniela Eckstein, DZA
Julia Maria Höhne, IceCube
Yu Hong, CQTA
Asghar Jafarzadeh, CTA
Laura Jakobeschky, ZELW
Doramas Jimeno Sanchez, CTA
Emil Olaf Kleditzsch, DZA
Peilin Li, ATUP
Massimiliano Lincetto, Gamma
Mandy Lucka, V4-Z
Stuart McMuldroch, CTAO
Meera Meera, PITZ
Obinna Ogili, KOM
Josephine Prochnow, ATLAS
Alexej Puschkarski, Campus
Paraskevi Lydia Sakkou, IceCube
Jose Maria Sanchez, Gamma
Markus Schulze, CTA
Alexander Seedorff, DZA
Maria Eftaxia Stasinou, CQTA
Elif Tarakci, PITZ
Gerd Tauschek, DZA
Mariusz Tyszko, V4-Z
Kester Weise, H.E.S.S.
Konrad Witschas Stephan, DZA
Alexander Wolf, DZA

Laura Jakobeschky has been the new electronics trainer since 1 April. DESY is delighted to have such competent support for the trainees and we wish them a good start.

It is nice to be able to associate a person with the new names. Therefore please arrange a photo appointment with Susann Niedworok for the Website "New Faces".

Website New Faces

Onboarding DESY-Campus in Zeuthen

It is important to us that new colleagues and guests find their way around the campus quickly and easily. We organise an onboarding event every two to three months. The next date is listed on the website
We have also set up a website with possibly helpful documents such as our Welcome Booklet or a checklist for arriving in Germany.

Information for new employees and guests

Awards

The year 2024 has started particularly successfully for some of us. Congratulations!

Tim Böhme, Maged Aldeef, Denise Rückert und Michaela Deredder
The trainees took 1st, 2nd, 9th and 10th place in the Foto-Azubi-Challenge organised by the IHK.

Massimiliano Lincetto
IceCube Impact Award — for exceptional support and improvements to two real-time software projects: SkyMist and Skymap Scanner.

Richard Naab
The IceCube Group Impact Award together with Erik Ganster — for leadership in enabling and supporting a wider use of the NNMFit analysis software tool in the collaboration.

DIVERSITY

DESY Diversity Day
DESY will present the results of the Diversity Survey 2023/2024 on 28 May at 10:00. The event will be broadcast in Zeuthen in the SR5 (Villa).

Personal details
Summer Blot stepped back from the activities of the Diversity Roundtable here in Zeuthen at the beginning of the year. We would like to thank Summer Blot very much for her engagement and for what she has achieved together with Lia Lang in the last few years.
Lia Lang will be back on campus in autumn. Until then, we will continue to work on the topic together with our colleagues in Hamburg.

Professional development

The HR development supports all employees at DESY in their professional and personal development in order to develop their talents.

The contact persons in Zeuthen for questions about further education are Silvia Alessandria and Annika Ladusch.

Calendar

Events in the coming weeks
at DESY or with DESY participation

DESY Diversity Day, 28 May, 10:00
DESY presents the results of the Diversity Survey 2023/2024. The event will be broadcast in Zeuthen in the SR5 (Villa).

3. Brandenburger Science Slam at the Gewerbehof in Luckenwalde, 31 May, 19:00
The stage is set for science! Our colleague Anna Grebinyk will also be at the start with her research topic "Cancer radiotherapy with ultra-high dose rate". Admission is free, registration is required. Address and registration information here.

Science City Day in Hamburg, 1. Juni, 11:00-19:00
Zeuthen will be at the DESY campus in Hamburg with lectures and an exhibition on astroparticle physics. The complete programme is here.

Works Council meeting in Zeuthen, 4 June, 10:00, Canteen

Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften in Berlin, 22 June, 17-24 Uhr
The colleagues of HU and DESY will again jointly present their research in particle physics and astroparticle physics in the Physics Institute with an exhibition in the foyer and talks in the Gerthsen lecture hall. The complet programme is here
We need your support, because visitors have many questions and want to interact with dedicated researchers. At the same time, active help is needed for set-up and dismantling. Please sign up in the table (with first name, surname and email) in the time slots in which you would like to support.

Innovationsmeile in Wildau, 29 June 10:00-18:00
All information about the Innovation Mile will be available here shortly: https://dahme-innovation.de.

Onboarding DESY Campus Zeuthen, 8 July, 9:00, Canteen, Registration.

Campus-Tag in Zeuthen, 9 July, 13:00, at the lake
What do the others actually do here on campus? To get answers to this question, we would like to open workshops, labs and other areas in the afternoon. For the programme, please send an email with the group name, offer and location to conference-zeuthen@desy.de. We will meet again on the meadow by the lake for games, fun and music. If you would like to organise a cultural contribution (of a sporting or artistic nature) please contact conference-zeuthen@desy.de. Food and drinks will be provided. In order to organise the event in the best possible and sustainable way, we need your registration.

This year's Summer Students Programme starts on 16 July and ends on 5 September 2024.

Overview

Here you will find an overview of seminars and conferences:

Regular seminars
Scientific workshops and conferences

We collect tips and ideas from colleagues for colleagues in addition to the daily work, e.g. hands-on activities for children or special cultural programmes. Anyone who would like to share something with others is welcome to send it to Ulrike Behrens .

To join in, try out and be amazed

The school laboratories in the Helmholtz Association have published a limited edition of the 4th "Experiments at Home" brochure. All four brochures can be downloaded here.

Drawing contest "My best day ever or the freedom to dream!".Take part and win a visit from Ernie & Bert as walking acts at your festival! The deadline for submissions is 31 May.

Events

MS Wissenschaft on Tour
The MS Wissenschaft set sail from Berlin on 14 May 2024. At around 30 tour stops throughout Germany, interested visitors can board the ship and explore exciting questions and exhibits on the topic of freedom. Further information and all stations are here.

75 years of the German Constitutional Law. A celebration for democracy.
From 24 to 26 May 2024, there will be a big democracy festival around the Federal Chancellery and the German Bundestag. All citizens are cordially invited. The Helmholtz Association will be represented at the festival by the centres' school labs.

Editorial management:
Ulrike Behrens
Credits: DESY, Helena Ebel, Paul Glaser, Science Communication Lab
Contact: ulrike.behrens@desy.de