The event is aimed at the CERN community and CERN Alumni and Retirees, therefore physical attendance will require having a valid CERN access card. 

CERN Alumni should use this form to request CERN access cards.

One of the editors of the new book "Hans Joachim Specht: Scientist and Visionary" will give a talk at the CERN Library:

Abstract:

The Open Access book Hans Joachim Specht – Scientist and Visionary offers a rare insight into the six-decade career of a physicist who shaped both the experimental agenda and the institutional landscape of nuclear and heavy-ion physics in Europe. His career led from LMU Munich to Heidelberg University, from early discoveries of quasi-atoms and nuclear shape isomerism to significant contributions at CERN in the search for the quark–gluon plasma. Together with Bill Willis, he was instrumental in launching the ultra-relativistic heavy-ion programme at the SPS and became the spokesperson of a first-generation heavy-ion experiment. Under his direction, CERES and NA60 provided strong evidence for this new state of matter, while his foundational role in ALICE was crucial in making heavy-ion physics at the LHC a reality.

As Scientific Director of GSI, Specht initiated Europe’s first clinical ion-beam cancer therapy program, laying the foundation for HIT in Heidelberg, and steered the early planning of FAIR. His curiosity extended to neuroscience and music. With a foreword by Carlo Rubbia and nearly 30 contributions from colleagues and students, the book portrays Specht’s vision, integrity, and lasting impact, showing how much experimental physics depends not only on ideas but also on timing, institutions, and people.

The event will be followed by a Q&A and signing sessions. The book is available from the CERN Library & Bookshop.

About the editors: 

Sanja Damjanovic (presenter)
Sanja Damjanovic received her Ph.D. in high-energy nuclear physics from the University of Heidelberg in 2002 under the supervision of Professor Hans J. Specht. Since 1999, she has been working at CERN and GSI-FAIR. Beyond her scientific career, she served as the Minister of Science of Montenegro (2016–2020). In 2017, she initiated SEEIIST, a pan-European research infrastructure for cancer therapy and research, and led its Intergovernmental Steering Committee until 2021. She has a permanent position at GSI.

Volker Metag 
Volker Metag studied physics at TU Berlin and the University of Heidelberg, where he received his Ph.D. in 1970. He held postdoc positions at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (Heidelberg), the Niels Bohr Institute (Copenhagen), and the University of Washington (Seattle). From 1982 until his retirement in 2012, he was professor of experimental physics at the University of Giessen. His research field is hadron and nuclear physics. He is a member of several international research collaborations and has served on numerous scientific advisory boards and as co-editor of Physics Letters B. From 1993 to 1998, he was research director of GSI, Darmstadt, and was involved in the preparation of the FAIR project. 

Jurgen Schukraft 
Jurgen Schukraft received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of Heidelberg in 1983 under the supervision of H.J. Specht.  Joining CERN in 1984, he worked on proton–proton collisions at the ISR, and later, heavy-ion experiments at the SPS and Brookhaven’s AGS. A founding member of the ALICE experiment at the LHC, he served as its first spokesperson from 1991 to 2010. After his retirement from CERN in 2018, he held a Distinguished Professorship at CCNU Wuhan and is currently Adjunct Professor at Yale University and Affiliated Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute.