Twenty years of outstanding research and international cooperation – that's quite an achievement. At the 18th Erwin L. Hahn Lecture & Workshop on 29 October 2025, Prof. Dr. Barbara Albert, Rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen, and her Dutch colleague Prof. José Sanders from Radboud University in Nijmegen took the opportunity to personally deliver a welcoming address and congratulate the institute on its milestone anniversary. In addition to numerous researchers, many partners from Siemens Healthineers were also in attendance. The company provided the £7 million 7 Tesla system at the Erwin L. Hahn Institute for MRI (ELH).

 Both rectors praised the German-Dutch cooperation and collaboration that make the ELH one of the leading research centres in ultra-high field MRI, making the a great example of what international cooperation can achieve.

 A particular highlight was the keynote speech by Lawrence Wald from Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. As the last PhD student of the eponymous scientist Erwin L. Hahn, Wald repeatedly drew parallels with his doctoral supervisor in his fascinating presentation while also exploring the future of ultra-high-field MRI. For those interested the keynote is available here.

 About 80 people were in attendance on site.

 The afternoon featured a series of high-calibre presentations by renowned scientists, who discussed both the latest findings in neuroscience and innovations in MR hardware.

At the end of the day, participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss the topics of the day in more depth during an informal get-together.

The ELH would like to thank all participants and supporters who made this day an unforgettable event.