GSI and FAIR mourn the loss of one of their most prominent scientists. Prof. Dr. Sigurd Hofmann, one of the world leaders in the discovery of new elements, passed away on June 17, 2022 at the age of 78. During his time as head of the Heavy Elements Department, he succeeded in discovering the elements darmstadtium, roentgenium and copernicium. In the years before, he made significant contributions to the synthesis of the elements hassium, bohrium, and meitnerium. Equally remarkable in his…

Professor Marco Durante, head of the Biophysics Research Department at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, has been elected president of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG). The international organization is active worldwide to promote particle therapy — tumor therapy with particle beams, as developed, among others, at GSI— and thus improve overall treatment options for cancer.

It is an important step to extend future treatment methods in the fight against cancer: The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) and Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company from Palo Alto, California, intend to jointly advance medical-technical developments in the field of FLASH therapy and further pave the way to clinical application. To this purpose, an agreement was concluded among the three collaborators.

Current developments and new strategies for future data center operations were the focus of the Data Center Expert Summit 2022, the expert conference for data centers in Germany, held recently at GSI/FAIR. It was organized by the eco Association of the Internet Industry in cooperation with GSI/FAIR's Technology Transfer Department. The event was also attended by the State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry for Digital Strategy and Development and CIO of the Federal State of Hesse, Patrick…

An international research team, including researchers from the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, has for the first time combined data from heavy-ion experiments, gravitational wave measurements and other astronomical observations using advanced theoretical modelling to more precisely constrain the properties of nuclear matter as it can be found in the interior of neutron stars. The results were published in the journal “Nature”.

A research team was able to generate polarized X-rays with unprecedented purity at the European XFEL in Hamburg. The experiments involved scientists from the Helmholtz Institute Jena, a branch of GSI, Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf. The method is supposed to be used in the coming years to show that even vacuum behaves like a material under certain circumstances — a prediction from quantum electrodynamics.

The joint supercomputing center Green IT Cube of GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt will be expanded into a research and transfer center focusing on "Water Cooling of Mainframe Computer Systems". For this purpose, GSI receives project funding of 5.5 million Euros from the REACT-EU program.

Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da), as representative of the “European University of Technology” (EUt+), GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research) and the FAIR accelerator centre have signed a contract aimed at deepening their cooperation yesterday. Over the longer term, the “GET_INvolved” Programme will offer students and researchers the possibility to complete internships and research visits at GSI/FAIR. It is open to all students…

The construction for the FAIR Control Center (FCC) has begun. The start of work is an important step in the construction of the international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) and marks a decisive moment for one of the largest construction projects for research worldwide. On March 29, 2022, the symbolic laying of the foundation stone for the new building took place on the construction site directly at the western entrance to the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für…