The team of CASUS, an institute of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), had prepared a concise and effective program featuring the center’s high-profile scientific work as well as the measures to foster the exchange with Polish scientific institutions. Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt, HZDR’s Scientific Director, welcomed the delegation at CASUS: “It is a great honor for us that you are visiting us—especially considering the tight schedule you have already completed today.”

The members of the Perspective Commission spent two days in late August in Saxony. Three years ago, they played a central role in the process of selecting the two concepts for large-scale research centers to be implemented in the Saxon Lusatia region and in the Leipzig/Halle region, respectively. After the decision to establish the German Center for Astrophysics (DZA) in the former and the Center for the Transformation of Chemistry (CTC) in the latter region, the August tour was intended to inform the Commission about the progress made so far. CASUS was included on the agenda as it is one of the first science projects established within the larger structural change frame.

CASUS can be considered a trailblazer in many ways, commented Prof. Heike Graßmann, State Secretary of Saxony’s State Ministry for Science, Culture, and Tourism, in her welcome address: “CASUS is a prime example that projects can be implemented quickly in Germany. After the idea was conceived in 2017 and mentioned in the coalition paper of Germany’s 23rd Cabinet in 2018, the center was founded just one year later. After excelling at an evaluation, long-term funding was approved in 2022.”