Vadim Sajaev has been named the Photon Sciences (PSC) director of the APS Accelerator Systems Division (ASD) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory effective February 17, 2025.

As a key member of the PSC senior management team, Vadim has delivered scientific impact to ASD and Argonne for more than 25 years. Vadim’s leadership and vision will help advance the reputation of the Advanced Photon Source’s (APS) accelerator complex and beamlines as PSC operates its world-leading next-generation X-ray light source. Vadim has served as interim director of ASD for nearly a year.

In his newly confirmed role, Vadim will continue to transform APS X-ray research capabilities by delivering nine new beamlines and upgrades to 14 previously existing beamlines. ASD is responsible for the entire APS accelerator system, providing physics and engineering support for the APS, pursuing innovative physics research, and developing new technologies profitable to the science of accelerators, future storage rings, and X-ray free electron lasers (FELs).

Well before Vadim took the helm as interim director of ASD, he had studied beam dynamics and developed diagnostics for the original APS storage ring, putting him in an ideal position to support the APS Upgrade (APS-U) project. Vadim joined the APS as a postdoctoral researcher and was a member of the low-energy undulator test line team, which demonstrated saturation in self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) FELs. He later become the APS storage ring manager and head of the accelerator operations and physics group, where he was responsible for managing and optimizing storage ring performance. Vadim played a pivotal role in the APS-U project, contributing to the physics design phase and leading the accelerator commissioning. The APS is the first storage-ring light source in the world to use swap-out injection to replenish the electron beam’s storage ring.

He received his Ph.D. from Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in Novosibirsk, Russia, in 1997.