DLR’s Brussels office was founded in 1999, very close to the European Parliament. Staff here are tasked with representing DLR’s strategic local interests and contributing the expertise of its research institutes, as well as supporting them in European cooperation within the framework of EU-funded programmes. Since October 2023, DLR researcher Maike Brigitte Neuland has been in Brussels as the point of contact for security and defence research. This was far from the first time she’d packed her bags and moved, as Belgium is the fifth European country she has lived in. “I feel European through and through and want to invest my energy and knowledge in Europe,” she says. This was always her answer when she was advised to consider a career in the United States, for example.
Working in the laboratory
At the DLR site in Lampoldshausen, Maike Neuland researched the effect of high-energy laser radiation, its interaction with various materials and scattering in the atmosphere.
It all started at what was the University of Karlsruhe, now the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where Maike Neuland studied physics. She carried out some of the measurements for her dissertation at the CERN particle accelerator in Switzerland “when the Large Hadron Collider wasn’t quite operational yet, and walking along the long underground tunnels was still allowed,” receiving her diploma in April 2009. This was the moment when the physicist decided that studying in Germany wasn’t enough for her and that aerospace was incredibly appealing: she applied for the SpaceMaster international master’s programme and was accepted. The following years were marked by packing bags, moving, new languages, countries and cultures. This was all part of her daily life as a student, which included stints in Germany, Sweden and France. She completed her master’s thesis and PhD in Switzerland.
The fact that she then moved to the DLR site in Lampoldshausen – of all places – to research the effects of high-energy laser radiation, its interaction with different materials and scattering in the atmosphere, is all down to an internship. She got to the know the location in the summer of 2010 during her master's degree programme, when she conducted research as an intern in the department for rocket propulsion in the field of combustion and ignition processes.
It’s no small feat to find everything afresh and to reorganise everything again.
New country, new task
Since October 2023, Maike has been in yet a new country: Belgium. Again, this meant another suitcase to pack, new colleagues and new tasks. Although she has started anew many times in different European countries, “it’s only human to feel a bit queasy beforehand,” she says. “It’s no small feat to find everything afresh and to reorganise everything.” But in the end, she knows that she has been through it all many times before and mastered it successfully. “I thought we had a lot of abbreviations at DLR, but at EU level it’s truly something else.” She speaks German, English or French, depending on which is needed for her work in Brussels, but regrets that she can hardly use her knowledge of Swedish on site. She never feels alone: "In this day and age, it's normal to have friends and family all over the world, and there are plenty of media and ways to keep in touch."
Connection between Europe and DLR
Networking with and within European institutions and DLR institutes is one of her key tasks in Brussels. While there are already points of contact in the Brussels office for the DLR research areas of space, aeronautics, energy and transport, her position has no predecessor to date. Maike is building this position from the ground up. At events and conferences organised by the German federal states: when the physicist attends, she wears her name badge with a DLR logo and speaks to those who might be interested in collaboration. Or she is approached and provides information about DLR’s activities. She is the link between Europe and DLR’s institutes. Her scientific background and her contacts at DLR’s institutes form the basis of her successful networking. Another crucial task as part of her role in Brussels is to keep abreast of what is happening at the European Commission and other European associations in the field of security and defence research, so that DLR can contribute its expertise and be heard when decisions are made. “A big part of this is reading a lot, researching, and numerous consultations and discussions with everyone involved at DLR.”
Networking instead of experimenting
Scientist at DLR’s site in Lampoldshausen
Maike Neuland is a physicist with a huge fascination for aerospace.
Her day-to-day while working as part of the team at the Institute of Technical Physics at the DLR site in Lampoldshausen was very different: mornings started off with a round of the laboratory, switching on the laser to warm it up for experiments to come, turning on pumps, measuring devices and water pipes. This was often followed by experiments with high-energy lasers, recording data and then the analysis. “Of course, sometimes in Brussels I miss standing in the lab with a screwdriver in hand, but I thoroughly enjoy my work for European cooperation here.” All too often at events she hears: “Really, DLR does that, too?”. While DLR is a well-known large research organisation, no one at the EU knows all of its work and institutes. “We have to make all of this far more visible. I’m quite aware that here in Brussels, I not only represent a working group from a single institute, but DLR as a whole.” Her motivation to connect the right person in Brussels with the right person at DLR, and therefore to position DLR in the European context, is high. “But even after six months, I’m still learning the ropes,” she says self-critically. “At DLR I am forever learning new aspects of our research.”
However, When Maike Neuland now attends events and conferences in Brussels, many unknown faces have already become familiar. And her team in the DLR office in Brussels? “Already a part of my Brussels family.”
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