Stefano Pasini

Stefano Pasini is a staff scientist at Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS–1) at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), Germany. Since 2011 he has worked at the design of ESSENSE, the High-Resolution Neutron Spin Echo Spectrometer proposed to ESS. Stefano obtained his PhD in condensed-matter physics at the University of Bologna, Italy, with the main focus on low-dimensional spin systems. He is the coordinator of the Central Regional Hub in Work Package 2, task 2.4 - Creation of an IKC network of Regional Hubs. 

What is your role in BrightnESS?

The Forschungszentrum Jülich is in charge of the management of the central regional Hub in Workpackage 2 and I am currently the coordinator of the Hub.

Could you describe one of your typical workdays?

A typical day begins always with a good espresso.

Then, what I am doing at the moment is to try to establish a networking, or to reinforce it where already existing, among the partners inside the Hub and between ESS and its partners. This is essential for the future success of the (many) In-Kind projects Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic have and will have together with the ESS. This is one task of Workpackage 2 and it is a challenging one. So what we need is a strong BrightnESS team here in Jülich and this is what we are also currently working on: reinforcing the group with new, motivated colleagues.

What do you like the most about the BrightnESS project?

Apart from the feeling of being contributing to the realization of such a big project, like the future neutron source in Europe? I would say that one fascinating aspect of BrightnESS is this strong European feeling I have when I see so many European research institutes collaborating together for a common aim.

What are for you, personally, the key challenges within the BrightnESS project?

Surely its complexity is the main challenge, due to the large number of projects, and the coordination of many partners, geographically spread out through the ESS contributing countries. This makes it difficult but motivating at the same time. I think it is the unique combination of management and technical aspects, both essential for BrightnESS, that make this project so interesting.