Prof Dr Björn Poppe, head of the Medical Radiation Physics working group, which is jointly supported by the University of Oldenburg and Pius Hospital, has been appointed to the "Competence Network for Radiation Research" (KVSF). The network, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Research and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, is a forum of excellence for future-orientated radiation research. The aim is to advance basic research in radiobiology and research into radiation risks. To this end, the KVSF advises various ministries on the promotion of future research focuses and the formation of junior research groups, among other things. An important task of the members of the competence network is also to publicise problems in radiation research and to be available as experts for radiation protection issues if required. The network consists of eight representatives each from German universities and Helmholtz centres as well as the Radiation Protection Commission. The members are each appointed for two years.

"I also see my academic appointment as an honour for Oldenburg's research work in the field of medical radiation physics," emphasises Poppe. The working group is primarily concerned with the measurement, mathematical description and effect of radiation in medicine. Dr Heiner von Boetticher, lecturer at the University of Oldenburg and also a member of the working group, has been appointed as Poppe's representative in the competence network. Von Boetticher has been working in the field of radiation protection in X-ray diagnostics for several decades.