Published on the 28th February 2020 by ANSTO Staff
One of the Vice Presidents of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubicki, MdB and a small delegation visited ANSTO on 27 February to see the Spatz neutron instrument donated by Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB).
CEO Dr Adi Paterson and Group Executive Dr Simone Richter welcomed the small group for an informal discussion on research matters before lunch and a tour of the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS).
ANSTO has strong ties with HZB and numerous collaborations with other German research institutions.
“We were very pleased that the Vice President (pictured above seventh from left) was able to travel to Lucas Heights and see the ‘sparrow’ which is now accepting user proposals” said Richter. Spatz is the German word for sparrow.
“Australia and Germany have many areas of common interest in research and this relationship will be beneficial to both our respective countries.”
Dr Jamie Schulz, Leader ACNS provided an overview of the facility and conducted a tour, which included the Spatz neutron reflectometer.
The instrument arrived from Germany in January 2017 and over three years was painstakingly re-assembled and then commissioned under the supervision of Dr Anton Le Brun and Stewart Pullen.
Among those accompanying the Vice President were Peter Silberberg, General Consul, Klaus Steitz, Deputy General Consul and his wife, Annette Marbeth-Kubicki.
At ANSTO Dr Miles Apperley, Head of Research Infrastructure, Dr Suzanne Hollins, Head of Research and Mark Alexander, International Affairs Manager were also present.
A member of the German Bundestag, Kubiki has a background in law and economics, has been a Vice President – the equivalent of the Deputy Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives – for almost three years.