Following the major fire on the campus of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt early Thursday morning, damage assessments are underway at GSI/FAIR. Thanks to efficient emergency procedures and the rapid and professional response of the fire departments, the fire has now been extinguished. The construction site for the future international accelerator center FAIR was not affected by the fire. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated by the relevant…
What started as a temporary project will now become a permanent inner-city institution in Darmstadt for the next two years: The SCIENCE POP-UP project, an interactive hands-on exhibition for science enthusiasts of all ages, remains at its location at Ernst-Ludwig-Straße 22 in the long term. This establishes the successful initiative of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the international accelerator center FAIR as a long-term point of contact for anyone interested in ...
In the first half of 2026, the lecture series “Wissenschaft für Alle” of GSI and FAIR will cover a wide range of topics – from the “nursery” of the Universe billions of years ago to the complex living beings we observe on our planet today. Interested parties can either attend the event in the lecture hall of GSI/FAIR following a registration or dial into the broadcast of the event via video conference using an internet-enabled device such as a laptop, cell phone or tablet. The program begins on…
Two young researchers have been awarded this year’s Christoph Schmelzer Prize: Dr. Cristina Totis from the Technical University of Darmstadt and Dr. Stefanie Bertschi from the Technical University of Dresden were honored for their outstanding doctoral theses. The award, presented annually by the Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy with Heavy Ions, recognizes exceptional research in the field of ion beam cancer therapy. The recipients accepted their awards...
At its meeting on November 13, 2025, the GSI Supervisory Board unanimously elected Dr. Andrea Fischer as new chair. Andrea Fischer is head of the subdivision “Large-Scale Facilities and Basic Research” at the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space. Andrea Fischer has held responsible and strategically important positions in the Ministry of Research and in committees for GSI and FAIR for many years and has extensive knowledge of corporate structures. She was head of the department in…
On Friday, October 3, the Hessian State Representation in Berlin invites visitors to an open house from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Visitors can gain an exciting insight into Hesse’s cutting-edge research and pioneering projects. The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the future FAIR accelerator center will also be represented with an interactive booth, offering exciting insights and hands-on activities related to the research center in Darmstadt. Visitors will be able to see up…
It is a great success for science communication and demonstrates how fascinating cutting-edge research can be: Around 7,000 visitors since its opening in spring, 40 school classes, twelve workshop days—this is the balance sheet of the SCIENCE POP-UP project, realized in Darmstadt’s city by the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the international accelerator center FAIR, currently under construction. Opened in March this year and originally planned to run through the summer months,…
The research project “BARB – Biomedical Applications of Radioactive Ion Beams” funded by a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant to Professor Marco Durante, head of the Biophysics Department at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, has reached an important milestone: the first treatment of an animal tumor with radioactive ion beams has been demonstrated and published in Nature Physics. The study marks a decisive step towards the further development of particle therapy and is based on…
A piece of GSI/FAIR's cutting-edge research is scheduled to be launched into space next year: the Biophysics department will be involved in one of the next scientific missions on the International Space Station (ISS) with a highly innovative research project. The “HippoBox” project was successfully reviewed by the German Space Agency at DLR and recently selected for participation in the CELLBOX-4 mission on the ISS. The aim of the project is to use brain organoids (“mini-brains”) to…
