HFML-FELIX awarded National Roadmap Grant

HFML-FELIX is one of the ten research infrastructures that have been awarded today a grant in the NWO “National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Facilities “ scheme  by minister Ingrid van Engelshoven.

The Free-Electron Lasers for Infrared eXperiments Laboratory (FELIX) and the High Field Magnet Laboratory (HFML) are two unique infrastructures that enable research under extreme conditions. FELIX generates intense infrared and THz radiation with an unprecedented tuning range in a single facility and HFML creates the highest possible continuous magnetic fields. The instrumentation at the experimental end stations is largely unmatched and the opportunities created by combining the strengths of the two facilities are world-wide unique. As such, HFML-FELIX provides a world-class infrastructure to its users, allowing researchers to investigate matter under extreme conditions and to enter the “terra incognita” in which new effects and phenomena can be realized in molecules and materials. Examples include new routes for biomarker discovery and targeted drug discovery, ultrafast magnetic switching for more efficient data storage and investigations of new smart materials with interesting properties for potential applications.

This grant will enable an expansion in the capabilities of their suite of free-electron lasers and to install three dedicated research laboratories: the “Molecular ID lab”, where complex mixtures can be analyzed and molecular structures can be isolated and identified swiftly and accurately, the “Condensed Matter lab” for studying the interaction of condensed and magnetic materials with intense THz radiation and a laboratory that will focus on the exploitation of the recent option to combine very high magnetic fields with intense THz radiation.

Britta Redlich, director FELIX Laboratory: “I am delighted and grateful for the recognition by the Roadmap committee that HFML-FELIX is a truly unique international facility on Dutch soil. This grant will allow us to maintain and expand the leading position of HFML-FELIX and to face the global competition. It is very exciting to look ahead and envision the science that can be expected from these new developments and the unique combination of the FELIX lasers with the high magnetic fields.”

Societal relevance
The Roadmap committee recognized the societal relevance and contribution of the research facility in the important fields of health, energy and smart materials. HFML-FELIX also attracts world-leading researchers to the Netherlands and educates a large number of students.

National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Infrastructure
For more information about the National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Infrastructure see the following link: www.nwo.nl/roadmap

Voor meer informatie in het Nederlands klik hier