“Challenge accepted! Research has the answer!” That was not only the motto of the Open House hosted by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) on June 20 and 21 in Berlin, but also a key theme at the modern information booth where the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the international accelerator center FAIR presented their work at the event. GSI and FAIR enthused visitors with an interactive challenge in a particle accelerator game and other hands-on…

In collaboration with GSI/FAIR, experimental and theoretical physicists from Heinrich Heine University (HHU) Düsseldorf and Forschungszentrum Jülich have gained important insights into laser–plasma accelerator technology. As they report in two papers published in Reports on Progress in Physics and High Power Laser Science and Engineering, the polarization state of accelerated particles is preserved during this process. This finding is significant for a range of applications, including controlled…

Using a novel simulation model based on machine learning, an international research team at GSI/FAIR has succeeded in gaining a deeper understanding of element formation in stellar events such as neutron star mergers. For the first time, the scientists used deep learning with a neural network to model the energy release during r-process nucleosynthesis in hydrodynamic simulations. The results are published in the journal Physical Review D.

At the FAIR construction site, the NUSTAR collaboration has reached an important milestone: The GLAD vacuum chamber – the first major component of the NUSTAR experimental setup – was successfully transported to the NUSTAR High-Energy Cave.

This year’s prestigious “Electrifying Ideas Award” from the ZVEI (The German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association) goes to Rittal, the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and to deep-tech company etalytics. These partners have created a German blueprint for the AI centers of the future: Artificial Intelligence (AI) will require more than just algorithms to be effective at scale. It will need data centers that can keep pace with the extreme power density of…

The ZVEI has nominated a German blueprint for the AI centers of the future as an “Electrifying Idea”: for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be effective on a large scale, it needs more than just algorithms. It needs data centers that can keep pace with the extreme power density of high-performance chips — ideally, with European sovereignty. Rittal, the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the deep-tech company etalytics are demonstrating how this can be achieved with direct liquid…

Professor Paolo Giubellino, former Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Warsaw University of Technology. It was conferred on May 6, 2026, during a formal ceremonial session of the Senate of the Warsaw University of Technology. The university thus honors Giubellino’s outstanding contributions to nuclear and particle physics as well as his long-standing and successful collaboration with the Warsaw University of Technology...

Dr. Yannik Zobus, a laser physicist at GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, is head of the LASE-FUSE (LAser Simulation for Enhanced FUSion Efficiency) Young Investigators Group since May 1, 2026. As part of the “Fusionstalente” (fusion talents) funding program of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), the project will receive three million euros in funding over five years. Thus, already for the second time a GSI/FAIR project is awarded in the framework of the BMFTR initiative.

After the fire that occurred in the area of the high-voltage electrical power supply system of the UNILAC linear accelerator at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in early February 2026, the on-site investigation into the cause of the fire has now been completed. Over the past few weeks, the Hessian State Criminal Police Office conducted the relevant investigations and determined that a probably technical defect within a control cabinet was the cause of the fire. This confirms…