Agreement FOM and Radboud University Nijmegen will lead to a unique laser facility
The Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) and Radboud University Nijmegen signed an initial agreement this week for the relocation and funding of the laser facility FELIX/FELICE from the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen to Radboud University Nijmegen. FELIX/FELICE is a free-electron infrared laser that produces 'tailor-made laser light’, which can be modulated in terms of wavelength, energy and pulse duration according to the specific wishes of researchers from physics, chemistry, materials research and the biomedical sciences. By the start of 2013, the user facility will have been completely housed in a new building in Nijmegen that has specifically been adapted for this purpose.
With the signing, Chair of the Executive Board of Radboud University Nijmegen R.J. de Wijkerslooth de Weerdesteyn and FOM Director Wim van Saarloos formalised the agreement that the free-electron infrared laser will be housed within the Institute for Molecules and Materials (IMM) of Radboud University Nijmegen. Earlier this year, FOM announced its intention to relocate the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen to the campus of Eindhoven University of Technology and to expand this into a FOM institute for fundamental energy research. The user facility FELIX/FELICE is the only part of Rijnhuizen that will not be relocated to Eindhoven University of Technology.
"The user facility FELIX/FELICE fits superbly within the research line that Nijmegen is pursuing. We are happy that a good location has been found for it and that the intended new building has already been modified during its construction, in anticipation of this agreement being signed. This clearly demonstrates that we are welcome in Nijmegen!", said FOM director Wim van Saarloos during the signing of the agreement. "The Institute for Molecules and Materials is extremely happy that it will soon house FELIX/FELICE", explained IMM director Elias Vlieg, " as together with the FLARE laser and the High Field Magnet Laboratory (HFML) this will create a unique user facility that will attract researchers from throughout the world". The Nobel Prize-winning research on graphene largely took place at the HFML.
The FOM Executive Board will take the final decision about the intended relocation of the Institute for Plasma Physics once the precise details of the employment conditions and a Memorandum of Understanding for the relocation of FELIX/FELICE has become available, and the works council has issued an advice about the plans.
Information for editors
For further information please contact:
- Gieljan de Vries, head of public information, FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen, +31 (0)30 609 69 02.
- Iris Roggema, communication advisor, Radboud University Nijmegen, +31 (0)24 361 60 00.
- Gabby Zegers, head of communication, FOM, +31 (0)30 600 12 08.
Further information about energy research at FOM and the relocation of Rijnhuizen can be found at: /live/english/research/institutes/artikel.pag?objectnumber=126440
Further information about FOM’s strategic plan can be found at: /live/overfom/missie_strategie/strategisch_plan.pag /live/overfom/missie_strategie/strategisch_plan.pag /live/overfom/missie_strategie/strategisch_plan.pag