Dear Employees,

As the year closes, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all once again for your engagement. We have achieved a lot together in 2023. Here are some examples of our projects and activities on campus from the last few weeks.
The management team wishes you and your loved ones a wonderful festive season, a happy and relaxing time and a good and healthy 2024 for us all.

Best regards,
Yours Christian Stegmann

Milestone for the ATLAS upgrade

On 15 December, an important milestone was reached in the work on the ATLAS upgrade: the "site qualification", which qualifies Zeuthen and the HUB to build modules and hybrids for the ITk strip detector, was 100% completed - with a total of 37 individual documents proving how the individual production steps are carried out. The picture shows the first module with final production components (R3), which was built in November 2023.

Design testing of the MST telescope structure completed

The CTAO Project Office has officially declared the Critical Design and Manufacturing Review (CDMR) of the Medium-Sized Telescope structure as passed. During the CTAO/CTAC General Meeting held in Berlin in November, the critical actions raised during last year’s CDMR were examined and approved. It was an enormous effort for the complete MST team to close the majority of more than 500 action items raised during the review meeting back in November last year. One of the successfully addressed critical actions involved upgrading the structural design to make it earthquake resilient for the CTAO-South site in Chile, which required extensive engineering efforts. The major milestone marks the official start of the procurement, pre-assembly and deployment of the first two Pathfinder telescopes. Their deployment on La Palma and Chile is currently scheduled for mid-2025 (Photo: Review Meeting in November 2022).

CTAO/CTAC Meeting in Berlin

The CTAO/CTAC meeting took place in Berlin at the beginning of December. The agenda included construction-related software and hardware projects. These included exciting updates on the data model, array control software, telescopes and site development schedule, among others.

Symposium Quantum music

The quantum music and musical creativity symposium has focused on the emerging field of quantum computer music. It took place in Berlin at the beginning of October in Berlin with Eduardo Miranda from the university of Plymouth and Karl Jansen from DESY as the chairs. The symposium provided a nice platform for scientists, artists, and technologists to present and discuss their approaches to developing and using quantum computing technology in music.

Discovery of the highest energy gamma-rays ever from a pulsar

Scientists using the H.E.S.S. observatory in Namibia have detected the highest energy gamma rays ever from a dead star called a pulsar. The energy of these gamma rays clocked in at 20 tera-electronvolts, or about ten trillion times the energy of visible light. This observation is hard to reconcile with the theory of the production of such pulsed gamma rays, as the international team reports in the journal Nature Astronomy.

DESY News with animation

NitroFLASH: Radiation measurement at highest dose rates

The novel radiation therapy FLASH RT for curing cancer, which is being investigated at PITZ, requires very precise measurements of the radiation field at ultra-high dose rates. Immediately readable detectors do not yet exist for these conditions, which is a problem for further development. This is why such a detector is now to be developed. To this end, a consortium has successfully acquired third-party funding from the BMBF as part of the ErUM Transfer action plan. In addition to the University of Erlangen (Anna Nelles), D3 from DESY Hamburg and the company Berthold Technologies GmbH & Co. KG, PITZ (Frank Stephan and Matthias Groß) is also involved. In this 3-year project, which has been running since September 1st, an existing fluorescence detector is to be made fit for the required high dose rates. The kick-off meeting took place on October 20, where the project was officially launched.

Promotion of young talent

A brief overview of the events and activities that have taken place since August 2023:

The summer programme for students has finally taken place on campus again.

We have had new trainees in the workshops and the computer centre again since August/September The training colleagues were actively involved in training fairs in the region as well as practical days at schools, which concluded with a presence day on campus in Zeuthen. In addition, numerous interns were supervised in all groups.

The school laboratory on the subject of vacuum welcomed a large number of school classes to the alternative laboratory in Wildau (LOK21). The CosmicLab lent out experiments for school projects and supervised specialist work. Numerous one-day masterclasses on particle physics were held at schools. The first DESY Astro Camp was held at Werbellinsee and the International Cosmic Day was successfully organised.

Public Events

We took part in numerous events for the public in 2023. Only two projects are mentioned here, as they can still be visited next year or are available online:

Beam me up, Potsdam — Einmal Milchstraße und zurück!
The exhibition will be on display at the Alter Markt until mid-December 2023 and will then move to the Volkspark Potsdam from 2024.

Ukrainian Academy: Past, Present and Future
In November, a series of exhibitions dedicated to the Ukrainian Academy was opened in the library of the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau (TH Wildau) with the support of DESY. The exhibitions "Ukrainian academy at wartime" and "Unissued Diploma" can be visited online .

On the Campus

International public holidays and ideas for the canteen
Do you remember the email asking when you celebrate your most important public holiday? You can still take part. Help us bring a little international diversity to our lunch table.
Task 1: Tell us which public holidays you think are relevant for a country you feel connected to. Anything is possible: being born there, having spent some time there, or simply having good friends from that country. Please send the date for 2024 on which the holiday will be celebrated to Anna Nelles.
Task 2: Make suggestions for a dish, preferably with a recipe or a link to a page describing what to eat on this holiday. Please bear in mind that it has to be cooked for a lot of people who are having lunch and that it should not be too extreme. The table to enter is here.

Sustainability

Meeting
The sustainability group has met several times in recent months to discuss future steps and activities on the Zeuthen campus. The ideas range from regular invitations to speakers to more short-term activities.

Stay tuned
There is a sustainability e-mail list that you can sign up for. And there is an open Mattermost channel. Anyone interested in sustainability is welcome to subscribe.

Sustainability at DESY

Health and Fitness

Works doctor
The works doctor's next appointments on campus are on 10 January and 1st February. Please direct any questions regarding an appointment to Marlis Schütze.

City cycling | Stadtradeln
In September, 46 cyclists from the DESY team took part in the Stadtradeln (city cycling) event in the district of Dahme-Spreewald. We travelled 12,135 km together. Hopefully many will be taking part again next year!

Campus development

Current information about the campus development and contacts can be found on the Bau-Zeuthen website.

Information from the computer centre

The UCO-Zeuthen is not available between Christmas and New Year. All enquiries will be answered at a later date.The UCO team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

DV Welcome Website

A warm welcome

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

Mahmoud Alawashra, THAT
Amir Abdallah, ME2
Juan Bernete, CTA
Tim Böhme, DV
Pascal Bruckhaus, EL2
Leon Buchholz, IceCube
Mohsen Dayyani Kelisani, PITZ
Akshay Eranhalodi, Radio
Ilia Ermakov, EL
Satoshi Fukami, IceCube
Miriam Goldack, CQTA
Arne Grimstrup, Gamma
Max Luis Hellmich, DET
Raoul Hodgson, ZPPT
Hector Hortua, CTA
Paulo Vitor Itaborai de Barros, CQTA
Simon Jankowski, DV
Qiqi Jiang, THAT
Yuliia Komar, PITZ
Felix Kuhnert, EL
Christin Kukshausen, IceCube
Annika Ladusch, Leitungsbüro
Andreas Liedtke TI
Pranay Naredi, CQTA
Heinrich Nikel, TI
Dario Mack-Kneschke, IceCube
Lisa Marie Maibauer, ME2
Hagen Möbius, ATLAS
Navid Rad, IceCube
Patrick Reutter, ME
Giacomo Ruisi, ZPPT
William Alexander Schmidt, EL
Jespar James Seidlich, ME2
Zarmina Shah, PITZ
Andres Stump, ZPPT
Eric-Robert Zell, EL2
Sumaira Zeeshan, PITZ
Xiaoyang Zhang, PITZ

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.
Since 2023, we have therefore been offering an onboarding event approximately every two months. The next date is listed on the website, In 2024, we start on 30 January at 9:00 in the canteen.
We have also set up a website where you can find helpful documents such as our Welcome Booklet or a checklist for arriving in Germany.

Information for new employees and guests

Grants and awards in 2023

2023 was a particularly successful year for some of us. Congratulations!

John Bulava
ERC Consolidator Grant

Lorenzo Barca (ZPPT)
Dissertation Award 2023 of the University of Regensburg

Nora Feigl (Neutrino)
Prize for the best Flash Talk at NuTel 2023

Anna Grebinyk (PITZ)
Research and Transfer Award 2023 of the TH Wildau, categories "research-oriented achievements"

Karl Jansen (CQTA) launches ERA Chair project
Chair awarded by the European Research Executive Agency

Mikhail Krasilnikov (PITZ)
Gersh-Budker Prize of the Accelerator Group of the European Physical Society (EPS-AG)

Cristina Lagunas Gualda (Neutrino)
IceCube Impact Award

Anna Nelles (Neutrino)
ERC Starting Grant

Prescilla Pani (ATLAS)
ERC Starting Grant

Heike Prokoph (Gamma)
"Hands-on astronomy" project successful in university competition in Science Year 2023

Elisa Pueschel (Gamma)
ERC Consolidator Grant

Robert Stein (Neutrino)
Dissertation Award 2023 of the German Physical Society (DPG)

Annika Rudolph (THAT)
Doctoral Prize of the Astronomical Society and Doctoral Prize of the VFFD

Professional development

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

Your contact person in Zeuthen for questions about further education is Silvia Alessandria.

Calendar

Events in the coming weeks
at DESY or with DESY participation

NEW: The Technical Seminar Zeuthen will become the Campus Seminar Zeuthen in 2024.
We would like to inform all groups about scientific projects, the work in the infrastructure groups and other interesting topics from our campus. The lecture language will be mainly in German, the dates are every first Thursday of the month from 9:30-10:30 a.m. We look forward to active participation, topic suggestions and feedback. Contact: Ingo Ebel (DV) and Julia Eckert (KOM).

Campus tour: For all those who were unable to attend the last Campus Day, we have promised to offer an additional date for the construction site and PITZ tour. We would like to keep this promise. If you are interested in a guided tour in January/February 2024, please register on the list by 12 January (German and English). Due to limited capacity, please only register what you did not see on the last Campus Day. The next Campus Day is coming soon...

Topping-out ceremony DESYUM, 22 January, Campus Hamburg

Onboarding DESY Campus Zeuthen, 30 January, Canteen, Registration.

Works Council meeting in Zeuthen, 27 February, Canteen

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

Comic "Trouble in Plankton City": This unique story centres on Lizzy, a young light-up shrimp with special abilities, Maurice, the lovable sea cucumber, and Mechtild, the metallic sea isopod. Their adventures and experiences illustrate how plastic waste permeates the habitats and existence of marine life and that technical solutions do not necessarily help.

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.

Editorial management:
Ulrike Behrens: I thank you very much for your contributions and support in producing the Campus Newsletter in 2023. I hope that we will be able to publish it every two to three months again in 2024.
Credits: DESY, Gesine Born, Science Communication Lab, Ashley Jones, proWissen Potsdam e.V., Helena Ebel, Jörg Mertins/Universität Regensburg
Contact: ulrike.behrens@desy.de