The ELIBIO project explored new frontiers in light and optics to create breakthrough science in biology, chemistry, and physics. An Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence was established at ELI Beamlines for life sciences together with BIOCEV and foreign partners, such as the European XFEL in Hamburg and the LCLS at Stanford. An essential goal of the project was to understand photon-material interactions in extremely intense X-ray fields, where new physics was expected. The experiments explored fundamental questions in the physics of photoemission and electron dynamics in the relativistic regime with X-rays. The new knowledge gained from studies on structure, function, and dynamics in cells, organelles, and biomolecules was used to perform experiments that had previously been impossible. New methods and technologies were developed to enable such measurements and answer key questions in health and disease.
The research team of ELIBIO was formed at the interface between two complementary research centers: ELI Beamlines, oriented toward photon physics, and BIOCEV, focused on biomedical and biotechnological research. The project team was headed by Prof. Janos Hajdu, who made strategic decisions regarding research direction and the scope of experimental work. Prof. Hajdu had a distinguished scientific career. He worked as a professor of photon science at Stanford University in the USA, a professor of molecular biophysics at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and as an advisor to the director of the European XFEL in Germany.
Project leader: Janos Hajdu
Contact email:janos.hajdu@eli-beams.eu
Janos Hajdu
Achievements
– The 4th dimension in X-ray crystallography: First molecular movies on chemical reactions. This work started in 1981 in Oxford and utilised the new Synchrotron Radiation Source of Daresbury.
– Development of Laue crystallography: First electron density maps for protein and virus crystals.
– High-resolution studies on catalysis by fast mono chromatic diffraction methods.
– Discovery of X-ray-driven catalysis in redox enzymes.
– Proposal for a link between late steps in protein folding and structural changes in protein function
– First structural characterisation of the family of mononuclear ferrous enzymes.
– The structural basis of penicillin and cephalosporin formation.
– Proposal for reaching femtosecond time-resolution in X-ray diffraction studies.
– Estimates on the physical limits in ultrafast imaging.
– Proposal for reaching atomic resolution in studie s on non-repetitive structures.
– The scientific case (in imaging) for building X-ray free-electron lasers.
– Starting SPPS, the Short Pulse Photon Source, at SLAC.
– 1st experiments with X-ray lasers.
Distinctions, Awards and Commissions of Trust
2012 Rüdbeck Medal for Scientific Achievement
2011 Knut and Alice Wallenberg Award
2008-present: Co-chair, Scientific Advisory Committee, Extreme Light Infrastructure of the EU.
2008-present: Scientific Advisor, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.
2005: Centre of Excellence Award, Swedish Research Council.
2004-present: Team Leader, Coherent Diffractive Imaging Task, LCLS, Stanford, USA.
2004-present: Photon Science Advisory Committee (PSC) of DESY.
2004-2008: Working Group on Scientific and Technica l Issues for the European XFEL.
2001: Excellent Research Environment Award, Swedish Research Council.
2001-present: Member of the Kungliga Vetenskap-Societeten (The Swedish Royal Society).
1999-2002: Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, LCLS, SLAC, Stanford, USA.
1988-present: Member of Congregation, Oxford University, U.K.
Janos Hajdu portrait
