Easy and fast detection of viruses are crucial in a pandemic. Based on single-nanopore membranes of GSI, an international interdisciplinary team of researchers developed a test method that detects SARS-CoV-2 in saliva, without sample pretreatment, with the same sensitivity as a qPCR test, and in only 2 hours. On top, the sensor can distinguish infectious from non-infectious corona viruses — a crucial innovation.

The Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts has approved the foundation of a research academy to further the involvement of Hessian universities in the FAIR particle accelerator and will fund it with three million euros per year. The new Helmholtz Research Academy Hesse for FAIR (HFHF), with three locations in Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Giessen, will support FAIR-focused science at Technical University of Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt and Justus Liebig…

What happens in a supernova explosion? Why do we accelerate particles? What does the work of researchers involve? High-school students can get to the bottom of these and many other questions in the interactive online events of "Meet a scientist". From October 25 to November 5, 2021, school classes will have the opportunity to talk directly with scientists from the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt.

From 27 September to 2nd October, 2021, the big science festival "Highlights of Physics" will take place in Würzburg. The central element is a large hands-on exhibition on the market square. Scientists from all over Germany will present their research there and will be available for questions, explanations and discussions. GSI and FAIR are also represented with a booth and offer facts and entertainment around the future particle accelerator facility FAIR - the universe in the lab.

The very first superconducting magnets for NUSTAR (Nuclear Structure Astrophysics and Reactions) have been tested at the European research center CERN in Switzerland. NUSTAR is one of the four large experiment pillars at the future international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently being built at GSI.

Recently, the first international Heavy Ion Therapy Masterclass (HITM) school was held online for the duration of a full week. The school focused on treatment planning in heavy ion therapy, but also covered the entire path to deliver the beam to the tumor. It was organized within the framework of the EU-funded HITRIplus (Heavy Ion Therapy Research Integration) project, a large consortium where GSI leads the Transnational Access and participates in Joint Research Activities.

Member of the Bundestag Till Mansmann recently visited GSI and FAIR. He informed himself about the scientific activities and the progress of the future accelerator center FAIR, which is currently being built at GSI. The guest was welcomed by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Dr. Ulrich Breuer, Administrative Managing Director of GSI and FAIR and Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, as well as Carola Pomplun from the Press and Public…

Two state-of-the-art instruments, GLAD and COCOTIER, were designed and built at the Institute of Research into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe (Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l’Univers, IRFU) in Saclay, France, recently and are now operational in the R3B experimental site of GSI. In the future, both will be used at FAIR, the international accelerator facility currently under construction at GSI.

A new illustrated book shows research at GSI and FAIR from the perspective of art and design. The network of Urban Sketchers Rhein-Main and students of the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach visited GSI and FAIR and developed their individual views on the experimental facilities and the scientific topics and reproduced them in pictures. The multitude of fascinating drawings and sketches can now be admired in an illustrated book published by GSI/FAIR. The bilingual illustrated book is…