The Charpak-Ritz Prize 2021 is awarded to Marie-Emmanuelle Couprie, Researcher at the 2.75 GeV electron synchrotron SOLEIL, located south of Paris, for her outstanding contributions in:

light sources using particle accelerators to emit synchrotron radiation of high spectral purity and high degrees of longitudinal and transverse coherence, in particular her research programme in recent years moved towards compact and free electron lasers (FEL). As a major actor in a very competitive research field, Marie-Emmanuelle Couprie achieved outstanding results relevant for the physics and technology of accelerators at the core of the synchrotron light emitted by FELs. The jury appreciated also the excellent and very fruitful collaborations at the international level and with the Swiss community at Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen /Switzerland for magnetic measurements.

Marie-Emmanuelle Couprie, researcher at Synchrotron SOLEIL, head of the Magnetism and Insertion Device group and in charge of piloting the Free Electron Laser activities, she is a world-wide known FEL specialist, expert of accelerator physics and innovative scientific technologies.

Her outstanding records span the entire FEL theory, FEL dynamics (chaos, non-linear dynamics, microwave instabilities) and the interplay with electron beam evolution. She has played a crucial role for the development of the first FEL user applications in the UV range with pump probe two color experiments.

Marie-Emmanuelle has brought a unique contribution to the understanding and optimization of the performance of the FEL and she has pioneered the successful experimental demonstration of seeding a FEL with High-order Harmonic Generation in gas (HHG).

She has an outstanding track record of referred publications and invitations to conferences. Her strong implication in the development of technology with Industries (mirrors, insertions devices, cutting edge instrumentation like streak camera, dissector,..) resulted in a successful development of high quality mirrors for the inherently large optical cavity of the FEL, initiating collaborations with international companies.

Her expertise has been naturally dedicated to the short pulses and coherent synchrotron radiation issue. She is head of the COXINEL (COherent Xray source INferred from Electrons accelerated by Laser) project, 2012-ongoing, Principal investigator of the ERC Advanced Grant, 2014-2019 for the development of laser plasma accelerated based undulator and free electron laser radiation where she demonstrates her capabilities in attracting talents and in cross-fertilizing a large diversity of world-wide collaborations.

Her unique talents in science and her fluency in foreign languages beyond English allowed her to join several invited professor positions in Japan, Russia, Italy, and USA. She has collaborated with PSI for magnetic measurements and currently she co-chairs the Insertion Device task group of LEAPS (League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources), in charge of WP6 of the InfraInnov-proposal.

Am Samstag, 18. September 2021 ist ein öffentliches Symposium dem Physiker Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845 -1923) gewidmet. Das Symposium sollte bereits im 2020 durchgeführt werden, anlässlich Röntgens 175. Geburtstag und seiner vor 125 Jahren gemachten Entdeckung der nach ihm benannten Strahlung. Aufgrund der der Pandemie mussten es aber verschoben werden. Das Symposium findet an der ETH Zürich auf dem Hönggerberg statt. Mehrere Vorträge werden auf Röntgens Biografie eingehen sowie den aktuellen Stand in Forschung und Anwendung beleuchten, wo auch heute noch Röntgenstrahlung eine grundlegende Rolle spielt.

Da die Kombination von Geschichte und moderner Forschung für junge Leute besonders attraktiv ist, planen die organisierenden Gesellschaften am Vormittag vor dem eigentlichen Symposium ein spezielles Programm. Ausgewählte Studenten, namentlich die Gewinner der Schweizerischen Physikolympiade (SwissPhO) und ähnlicher Wettbewerbe, können die Forschungslabore am Hönggerberg besichtigen und erhalten aus erster Hand Informationen aus der aktuellen Forschung.

Zu dien auf Englisch gehaltenen Referaten des Symposiums ist die Bevölkerung herzlich eingeladen; der Eintritt ist frei und eine Anmeldung ist nicht erforderlich.

Das Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Symposium sowie der "Young Talents Day" werden gemeinsam von der Schweizerischen Physikalischen Gesellschaft SPG, der Physikalischen Gesellschaft Zürich PGZ und der Schweizerischen Akademie der Naturwissenschaften SCNAT organisiert.

Symposiumsprogramm:

• 13:15 - 14:00: Ralph Claessen, Universität Würzburg, Röntgen's discovery: from serendipity to scientific revolution
• 14:00 - 14:45: Marco Stampanoni, ETH Zürich, 125 years of X-ray imaging and still eager to push further
• 14:45 - 15:15: Kaffepause
• 15:15 - 15:45: Clemens Schulze-Briese, Dectris Ltd. Baden, X-rays in industry and society, what we do today and what can be done tomorrow
• 15:45 - 16:15: Davide Bleiner, EMPA, Progress in small scale X-ray lasers
• 16:15 - 16:45: Stéphane Paltani, Université de Genève, The revolution of X-ray astronomy
• 16:45 - 17:45: Apéro