Three scientists from the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum have been elected to the Committee for Neutron Research (KFN). Dr Michael Schulz, Prof. Dr Christian Reiter, and Dr Andreas Houben received the most votes for the neutron research committee.

The newly elected KFN at its inaugural meeting at FRM II in Garching. Dr Michael Schulz (2nd from left), Dr Andreas Houben (3rd from left) and Prof. Dr Christian Reiter (8th from left) from the MLZ were elected to the committee. © Laura Richter, FRM II/TUM.

The newly elected KFN at its inaugural meeting at FRM II in Garching. Dr Michael Schulz (2nd from left), Dr Andreas Houben (3rd from left) and Prof. Dr Christian Reiter (8th from left) from the MLZ were elected to the committee. © Laura Richter, FRM II/TUM.

The Deputy Scientific Director of FRM II, Dr Michael Schulz, and Prof. Dr Christian Reiter, Professor of Applied Nuclear Technologies at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Head of the FRM II conversion, received approximately 13 and 11 percent of the votes, respectively, in which around 1,300 neutron users from Germany were eligible to vote. Third place in the voting rankings went to Dr Andreas Houben of RWTH Aachen University, who is responsible for the POWTEX instrument at the MLZ.

Together with the scientific directors of the centres, as well as representatives of the project management organisation and the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space, they will will represent the interests of neutron users in Germany.

Dr Michael Schulz (right) und Prof. Dr Christian Reiter (left). © (left) Christoph Leonhardt, InAlpinus Design.

Dr Michael Schulz (right) und Prof. Dr Christian Reiter (left). © (left) Christoph Leonhardt, InAlpinus Design.

“It is very important to me to better consolidate the needs of users and give neutron research the visibility it needs in politics and the public eye,” says Dr Michael Schulz, who was elected to the committee for the second time.

The term of office is three years. At the constituent meeting on April 22, 2026, at the Research Neutron Source in Garching, the 13 new KFN members elected Prof. Dr Thomas Hellweg from Bielefeld University as their chair and Prof. Dr Daria Mikhailova from Karlsruhe Institute of Technologie (KIT) as vice chair.