Konrad Schmidt

Dr. Konrad Schmidt is a staff scientist and HZDR High-Potential Fellow at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), embedded in the Nuclear Astrophysics group within the Division of Nuclear Physics of the Institute of Radiation Physics. He also lectures nuclear-astrophysics courses at TU Dresden and serves as coordinator for Transnational Access within the EU ChETEC-INFRA consortium, organising monthly online schools (SNAQs) and leading experiments at the underground Dresden Felsenkeller accelerator.

Education & Career Path

• Doctoral degree (Dr.) in experimental nuclear astrophysics.
• Staff scientist, Nuclear Astrophysics group, HZDR Institute of Radiation Physics.
• HZDR High-Potential Fellow (competitive three-year programme with optional extension).
• Lecturer & exercise instructor, TU Dresden – Nuclear Astrophysics (2020-2023).
• Seminar facilitator & laboratory course supervisor, TU Dresden (2007-2023).

Research Interests

Dr. Schmidt’s experimental programme centres on low-energy nuclear reactions that forged the chemical elements. His work spans three astrophysical eras:

• Big Bang Nucleosynthesis: Measuring the ³He(α,γ)⁷Be reaction underground to test predictions of primordial lithium abundances against cosmic-microwave-background data.
• Solar Fusion: Quantifying CNO-cycle reactions and neutrino fluxes that underpin helioseismology and modern solar-model tests.
• Explosive Nucleosynthesis: Determining the ⁴⁰Ca(α,γ)⁴⁴Ti reaction rate to resolve the long-standing discrepancy between supernova ⁴⁴Ti γ-ray observations and theoretical yields, and investigating rp- and αp-processes during X-ray bursts using the JENSA gas-jet target.

Experimental Facilities & Collaborations

He utilises an international network of accelerators and detectors:

• Dresden Felsenkeller – 5 MV underground accelerator for ultra-low-background studies.
• HZDR Ion Beam Center – 3 MV Tandetron for high-intensity stable beams.
• JENSA at NSCL/MSU – Gas-jet target coupled to silicon arrays and recoil separators.
• CENBG (France), GSI Target Lab, ATOMKI (Hungary) – Target fabrication and complementary measurements.
• JINA-CEE (USA) – Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics collaboration.

Scientific Awards & Distinctions

• HZDR High-Potential Fellow (competitive fellowship with 100 k€ annual funding).
• Coordinator, ChETEC-INFRA Transnational Access (13 partner infrastructures, EU).
• Founder & organiser, SNAQs – monthly online Schools on Nuclear Astrophysics Questions.

Teaching & Mentoring

Dr. Schmidt has taught nuclear-astrophysics lecture series every summer term since 2019, co-taught with Prof. Dr. K. Zuber, and has supervised numerous advanced laboratory courses and seminars for second-year through graduate students at TU Dresden.

Laboratory & Group Leadership

He leads the experimental programme at the Dresden Felsenkeller underground accelerator, coordinates target development across European labs, and heads data-taking campaigns that combine γ-ray spectroscopy, accelerator mass spectrometry, and recoil-separator techniques to deliver high-precision cross-section data for astrophysical reaction networks.