Every two years, the staff members from all four EMFL sites meet somewhere outside their facilities to exchange ideas, discuss best practices of administrative procedures, and strengthen the common EMFL spirit. This time, the sixth meeting of the EMFL Days took place in Prague from 16 to 18 September 2024. Altogether, 110 EMFL staff members gathered in the capital city of the Czech Republic in a hotel near the center. Although the flooding in some parts of the country did prevent some people from participating, most EMFL staff arrived safely. For many participants, it was the first visit to Prague and they were able to enjoy the surrounding with a walk through the city in perfect weather conditions.
The EMFL Days started on Monday afternoon by a plenary session with an opening and welcome by Jochen Wosnitza (HLD). Further, Charles Simon (LNCMI), chair of the EMFL Board of Directors, updated on the EMFL status and future plans. The invited speaker Jan Prokleska, Vice-Head of Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Charles University and representing the Czech regional partner in the ISABEL project, presented the “MGML infrastructure in Prague”. The directors of the three laboratories – Britta Redlich (HFML), Charles Simon, and Jochen Wosnitza (HLD) – presented the current state and future plans of their facilities. Further, Charles Simon and Xavier Chaud (LNCMI) gave overviews on the EU projects ISABEL and SuperEMFL, respectively. An informal evening program closed the day, when staff joined the entertaining and informative quiz prepared by students from HLD. Exchange of information and lively discussions started Tuesday morning during the two first sessions of workgroups. As usually, the workgroups covered the topics: i) Magnets and facilities development, ii) Instrumentation, iii) Administration/hosting users/communication, and iv) PhD/Post-Doc session. The afternoon, dedicated to an informal tour through the city of Prague, allowed enjoying the historic buildings, the bridges, and embankments. Finally, the participants joined for dinner at an authentic restaurant with typical Czech beer and food.
Wednesday morning, the groups continued their work during the two last sessions and defined their vision of a common strategy for EMFL. The morning ended with a wrap-up plenary meeting, during which the groups shared the outcome of the different sessions. Looking back, the EMFL Days are ideal for exchanging information between EMFL staff, whether to discuss the development of a project and its opportunities or to stimulate ideas by creating stronger bonds and intensified dialogue between staff as well as by getting to know each other better. Indeed, the very well organized EMFL Days 2024 have been a very successful and fruitful meeting.
