Two independently working committees, i.e. the Nomination and the Decision Committee, have singled out two decisive keywords this year: Reference-free analysis and Fundamental parameters. Both keywords are tightly connected to, if not reflecting perfectly the work of the 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award recipient.

Outstanding Achievement Award presented to Burkhard Beckhoff

Outstanding Achievement Award presented to Burkhard Beckhoff

Burkhard Beckhoff was distinguished for his contributions in the development of reference free methods for the characterization of novel materials. Together with the members of his group, he has undertaken essential work to provide novel experimental and theoretical methodologies in the field of reference-free X-Ray Spectrometry to the scientific community and pursues his efforts to push their limits in terms of characterization or application potential. He is also recognized for the determination or improvement of relevant fundamental parameters, which are of great importance both in fundamental and theoretical, applied or industrial research. His commitments within the International initiative on X-ray fundamental parameters, which is supported by EXSA, as well as various European and International XRS communities, were unanimously highlighted.

During the conference dinner of the EXRS 2018, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the newly re-elected president of EXSA, Michael Kolbe bestowed the EXSA Outstanding Achievement Award 2018 to Burkhard Beckhoff.
EXSA would like to thank the members of the Nomination Committee and of the Decision Committee for their work and wish to congratulate sincerely once again the laureate.

Since 2010, EXSA distinguishes two Young Scientists by presenting them prizes, one attributed to a scientist at the post-doc level, and the other one to reward the best Ph. D. work.

Thanks to a close collaboration with the local organizers and with the international advisory committee of the European Conference on X-ray Spectrometry 2018, EXSA could present its Young Scientist Awards, and this for the first time, during a dedicated ceremony which was held in front of the whole audience of the EXRS conference, Thursday June 28th, 2018, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Young Scientist Award presented to Yves Kayser

With great pleasure, Diane Eichert, coordinator of the YSA selection committee, and Michael Kolbe, president of EXSA, have bestowed the Young Scientist Award (post-doc) to Yves Kayser, for his contributions in the fields of Grazing Exit X-Ray Fluorescence, X-ray Grating Interferometry and X-ray Emission Spectroscopy, in which he has demonstrated excellent research capabilities in both methodological developments and interdisciplinary scientific applications. Yves carried out most of the work for which he was awarded during his Ph. D. and post-doc at Fribourg University, Switzerland, as successively at the Paul-Scherrer-Institute, Villigen, Switzerland; and pursues currently his carrier at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany.

This distinction should have granted Yves of an oral contribution at the EXRS 2018 conference, but the scientific competences of this year YSA winner were already recognized by the EXRS Program Committee which has invited previously Yves to give an oral presentation. His invited talk took place immediately after the YSAs ceremony.

Young Scientist Award presented to Philipp Hönicke

As far as the Young Scientist Award related to Ph. D. work was concerned, it was gladly attributed to Philipp Hönicke, for his Ph.D. work in which he developed and applied a novel methodology for a combined analysis of reference-free Grazing Incidence X-ray Fluorescence and X-Ray Reflectometry analysis techniques. Philipp has carried out his Ph.D. work at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany; and presently holds there a post-doc position.

EXSA would like to present once again its warm congratulations to both Young Scientist Awardees and wishes them all the best for their scientific career.
EXSA would also like to thank all candidates, who submitted their applications, and the members of the Young Scientist Award selection committee, who all contributed to the success of the EXSA Young Scientist Awards 2018.

In recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of X-ray Spectrometry, EXSA will bestow two Young Scientist Awards, one for a Ph.D., and the other one for a Young Scientist (Post-Doc).

The EXSA awards will be presented and handed over to the winners during the European Conference on X-Ray Spectrometry 2018 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, June 24-29, 2018.

Each prize consists of a 500 Euro grant, and, for the Young Scientist Award, in cooperation with the EXRS scientific and local organizing committees, an invitation to present his/her work as an oral contribution at the next EXRS conference.

Please note that the participation at EXRS 2018 in Ljubljana is a prerequisite for a successful application.

Submission of Applications (including documents):

by email to ysa2018(at)exsa.hu   deadline: February 28^th, 2018

Candidates should submit their applications and documents (pdf) themselves, not via third persons (nominations are not eligible). Documents will be not returned. All communication should be made in English.

After a check of the eligibility criteria, the documents will be sent to the award committee, which consists of randomly selected former awardees. The committee will judge the applications based on objective criteria such as presentations, publications list, and on subjective criteria taking into account personal impression and impact value for the X-ray Spectrometry community.

Ph.D. Award:

Criteria:

1. Excellent recent doctoral thesis which has focused on new theoretical aspects, instrumentation, experimental methods, and/or applications of X-ray Spectrometry, in line with the EXSA topics.
2. Related doctoral degree received from a European institution by January 2016 or later for a thesis in a major European language; the application for this award is limited to 1 (one) time.
3. The age of the applicant at the time when the degree was received must not exceed 35 years. Well-grounded personal time-outs, e.g. maternity/paternity leave, will allow for an extension of the age limit (subject to the decision of the executive committee).
4. The research shall have been performed mainly within European countries.

Please submit

• Your Curriculum (typically 1 page, maximum 2 pages, in English).
• A copy of the thesis (pdf) and of the official Ph.D. certificate.
• A summary description of the research undertaken of typically 1 page (3 pages maximum, in English). Highlight main purposes, methods and results, and the impact of your work. This document should be different from the usual summary of the thesis and should include also a short description of the circumstances under which the work was performed (e.g. individually, as a team member at a university, as an international scientific exchange visitor, etc.). In case of team work please identify and describe your own contributions.
• A list of publications related to the Ph.D. thesis (published or in print). Please include pdf copies of the 2 most important publications in English and justify this choice with a short paragraph (max. 10 lines per paper).
• Valid contact coordinates (email and postal addresses, etc.).

Young Scientist (Post Doctoral) Award:

Criteria:

1. The candidate should have a doctorate.
2. Excellent scientific contribution(s) to X-ray Spectrometry.
3. Most of the work presented in the application should have been carried out within Europe and published in a major European language.
4. Maximum age limit at the time of the EXRS 2018 conference: 35 years. Well-grounded personal time-outs, e.g. maternity/paternity leave, will allow for an extension of the age limit (subject to decision of the executive committee).

Please submit

• Your Curriculum (typically 1 page, maximum 2 pages, in English).
• Copies of your 5 most important publications in English (pdf) and justify this choice with a short paragraph (max. 10 lines per paper).
• A summary description of the research undertaken within typically 2-3 pages. Please highlight the main purposes, methods and results, and impact of your work. Please describe also the circumstances under which the work was performed (individual scientist, as a team member/leader at a university or research institution, etc.). In case of team work please identify and describe your own contributions.
• A list of publications (published or in print).
• Valid contact coordinates (email and postal addresses, etc.).

Please find a copy of the announcement as pdf here.

Contact:

Diane Eichert (ysa2018(at)exsa.hu), secretary of EXSA and speaker of the award committee

In the second week of October, the first Autumn School of the European X-ray Spectrometry Association coorganized by EXSA, PTB and TU Berlin took place in combination with a workshop and a meeting of the Fundamental Parameter Initiative. Around 75 colleagues, 25 students among them, participated in a week of vivid debate and scientific exchange on the subject of “Quantitative Methods in X-ray Spectrometry”. Two days of lectures introduced the students to the subject while the workshop comprised talks about related current research and two lively discussions, one on Fundamental Parameters and the other on micro-XRF imaging.

Bestowal of the poster prize to Malte Wansleben (left) by EXSA president Michael Kolbe (right)

Additionally, the time dedicated to the posters presentation has encountered a great success and has provided an excellent platform for the attendees to showcase scientific research that complemented oral sessions running during the workshop. A poster prize has been organized to recognize a Ph.D. student who demonstrated high-quality research presented in a poster format and highlighted the scientific perspectives of the work. It was awarded to Malte L. Wansleben, Ph.D. student in PTB’s X-ray spectrometry group, for his work on “A compact and calibratable von-Hamos X-Ray Spectrometer based on full-cylindrical HAPG mosaic crystals”.

As the response of the community, both academic and industrial, to this first EXSA event of that kind has been overwhelmingly positive, a continuation of this activity is being considered.

The PANalytical award 2016

With the yearly PANalytical Award one of EXSA’s major sponsors seeks to encourage and provide support for excellent young scientists who are at the beginning of their careers. The award recognizes and praises groundbreaking research that required the use of a laboratory X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence or X-ray scattering instrument as the primary analytical technique. As such, recipients will not be limited to any brand of instrument, but rather to research that utilised an X-ray source to reach their conclusions.

The European X-ray Spectrometry Association (EXSA) announces the Biannual Awards for Young X-ray Spectrometrists.

Deadline: Applications must be received by May 15, 2016

Submission of Applications (including documents):
by email to the EXSA Executive Committee, youngscientistaward@exsa.hu

Contact and further information:
Charalambos Zarkadas (youngscientistaward@exsa.hu), secretary of EXSA, speaker of the award committee
and at the homepage of the European X-ray Spectrometry Association, www.exsa.hu

The Awards will be presented and handed over to the winners during EXRS 2016 in Gothenburg, June 19-24, 2016.

Please note that participation at EXRS 2016 in Gothenburg is expected.

Candidates should submit their applications and documents (pdf) themselves, not via third persons. Documents will be not returned. All communication will be in English.

After a check of the eligibility criteria the documents will be sent to the award committee, which consists of randomly selected former awardees. The committee will decide on the winners based on objective criteria like presentations and papers and on their personal impression regarding the impact to the community.

PhD Award:

Criterion: Excellent recent doctoral thesis with focus on new theoretical aspects, instrumentation, experimental methods, and/or applications of X-ray Spectrometry. Related doctoral degree received June 19, 2014 or later (i.e., within 2 years before opening of EXRS 2016).

Please submit

• Your Curriculum (typically 1 page, maximum 2 pages, in English).
• A copy of the thesis (pdf) and of the official PhD certificate.
• A summary of typically 1 page (3 pages maximum, in English) demonstrating the highlights and impact of the work. This should be different from the usual summary of the thesis and include also a short description of the circumstances under which the work was done (individually, as a team member at a university, as an international scientific exchange visitor, etc. In case of team work please identify and describe your own contributions.
• A list of publications related to the thesis (published or in print). Please include pdf copies of the 2 most important publications in English.
• A valid contact address (email and postal).

Young Scientist (Post Doctoral) Award:

Criterion: Excellent scientific contributions to X-ray Spectrometry. Date of birth: June 19, 1981 or later (i.e., within 35 years before opening of EXRS 2016). Well-grounded personal time-outs, e.g. maternity/paternity leave, will allow for an extension of the age limit (subject to decision of the executive committee).

Please submit

• Your Curriculum (typically 1 page, maximum 2 pages, in English).
• Copies of your 3 most important publications in English (pdf).
• A summary of typically 2-3 pages demonstrating the highlights and impact of your work. Please describe also the circumstances under which the work was done (individual scientist, as a team member/leader at a university or research institution, etc. In case of team work please identify and describe your own contributions.
• A list of publications (published or in print).
• A valid contact address (email and postal).

Announcement of Young Scientist Awards 2016 as pdf-file

EXSA supported three students with a travel grant to help with their expenses for attending the TXRF Conference 2015 in Westminster Colorado. The grantees were chosen by by the TXRF Advisory Committee, which decided to support students from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, the Technical University Vienna, Austria, and the Tokyo University of Science, Japan. The decision to support these students recognizes their excellent work presented at the conference. EXSA likes to congratulate all grantees.

The Society of Friends of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin announces the bestowal of the Innovation-Award in the field of procurement and usage of synchrotron radiation. The award is to be granted for an excellent achievement which has contributed significantly to the further development of techniques, methods or uses of synchrotron radiation. Scientists and engineers from research institutions, universities, and industrial establishments within Europe are addressed.
Further information can be found in this leaflet.

Furthermore, this society announces the ‘Ernst-Eckhard-Koch-Prize’, which is bestowed for outstanding doctoral theses in the field of research with synchrotron radiation performed at either the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) or HASYLAB at DESY, Hamburg, which were completed during the current or past year.