Celebratory colloquium at the  Physik-Department, TU München

Prime  Minister Dr. Günther Beckstein and other prominent  speakers from  politics, industry and science emphasized the importance of neutron science  for Germany.

The FRM II thanks  the Prime minister and all other speakers for the permission to publis their talks here. You find the talks linked to the programm.

On October the 31^st 2007 we will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the first Munich research reactor FRM at Garching. This institute, with its unusual shaped reactor building, known locally as the "Atom Ei" or "Atomic Egg", was the first on the Garching campus. Over the past fifty years, from this one institute, the campus has developed into a major international high-tech research area.

The original reactor was the source of the much innovative research that received international acclaim. Topics studied varied from fundamental research in physics, chemistry, biology and materials science to the successful treatment of cancer via direct neutron radiation.

The recently started replacement reactor Heinz Maier Leibnitz Neutronenquelle (FRM II) means the Garching campus is still one of the best in the world for neutron science. It attracts researchers from all over the world to use the broad spectrum of instruments and techniques available.

Industrial research and application is also core to the work at the FRM II with activities as varied as the production of radio-pharmaceuticals and semiconductors to strain analysis in engineering materials. All of the above, and more, means that Garching and the FRM II is an internationally leading centre for neutron science.

At this celebratory colloquium we will present some of these past advances, current results and look to the future to see what the next fifty years holds!