Photo (©) Gideon Laureijs (HFML), Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen.
Published on May 30, 2023.
Since the beginning of 2023, I have been appointed as acting director of HFML and I am now leading the HFML-FELIX laboratory in Nijmegen. Though it came unexpected at this point in time, it feels as a natural extension of our common engagement and vision developed over the last years. I started my career at the University of Hannover, where I studied chemistry and specialized in the direction of physical chemistry. During my PhD, I worked in the field of surface science and investigated the properties of monolayers on insulating surfaces most importantly using infrared spectroscopy. There, I discovered my affinity to large instrumentation and after my PhD, I started as a post-doc at the University of Münster connected to research at the Dutch Free Electron Laser FELIX; at that time still at the FOM Institute Rijnhuizen close to Utrecht. As staff scientist and facility manager, I was heavily involved in the relocation of FELIX to Radboud University. In Nijmegen, I very much enjoy the setting, where our unique large-scale facilities are embedded in the inspiring academic climate of the university. I am driven by the motivation to develop unique instrumentation that allows us to make discoveries in many scientific areas that would not be possible otherwise. The development of our vision and strategy is key and together we make it work with our national and international partners. Here, EMFL has a central role and through my involvement in European networks such as LEAPS and ARIE, I have been able to follow EMFL closely. In my free time, I am enjoying walks in the nature and running around the village where I live, hiking and skiing in the mountains and traveling. For the future, I am looking forward to joining EMFL and further developing the collaboration. I hope to meet many of you during the EMFL user meeting taking place in June in Nijmegen and to visit the other EMFL sites soon!
