“GSI and FAIR have world-leading accelerator facilities in operation and, with the construction of FAIR, a new international flagship project in the pipeline. After eleven years of working with electron beams, it is therefore a fascinating task for me to return to the world of hadron accelerators, of which there are very few large facilities worldwide,” Aßmann comments his start. “It is my goal to serve the planned user experiments with the existing accelerators in the best possible way, to make the present facilities fit for the future step by step, and, last but not least, to successfully commission the entire GSI/FAIR accelerator complex with the GSI accelerator team. Bringing these tasks together involves various challenges but also new opportunities that I, as head of the business area, will be happy to tackle with the departments and their heads.”

In his work, Aßmann aims to preserve and cultivate what has been tried and tested, while integrating new and innovative approaches. He plans to foster a strengthened collaboration with regional universities to advance accelerator physics and technology and to solve challenges at GSI/FAIR. Examples include the use of advanced methods such as artificial intelligence in accelerator theory and operation, new optimization methods for particle beams, and the development of innovative accelerator structures or instrumentation. Aßmann also plans to collaborate closely on these and other topics within the Helmholtz Association and with other German, European and international partners. “With the observation of neutron star collisions in gravitational wave detectors, which is only now possible, and with innovative approaches in tumor therapy, research with ion accelerators is gaining additional momentum and new potential for discovery, both in basic research and its applications. That's where I'd like to be involved as a scientist.” (CP)

About Dr. Ralph Aßmann:

Ralph Aßmann has obtained his doctorate in physics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. His PhD research was performed at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich and at CERN in the ALEPH experiment on the mass of the Z boson, spin polarized particle beams and precise energy calibration. He then spent almost four years as research associate and staff at Stanford University and SLAC, where he worked on operation, modelling and design of the colliders.

For the next 15 years he worked at CERN in leading roles on the LEP and LHC colliders. He was an LHC machine coordinator in run I of the LHC operation, that led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. In this role he helped to commission and to optimize the world-leading proton and heavy ion beams of the LHC.

In Summer 2012 he moved as Leading Scientist for Accelerator R&D to DESY, where he researched new, compact accelerators. He was awarded an ERC synergy grant together with three colleagues in 2014. Until a replacement has been identified, Dr. Assmann is the founding coordinator of the EuPRAXIA ESFRI project, a 569 M€ project on building the world-wide first user facility based on plasma-based accelerators that is supported by more than 50 institutes.

He has been the Chair of the Accelerator Group in the European Physical Society from 2020 - 2023, the proposer and initial coordinating PI of the 30 M€ Helmholtz ATHENA project, the leader of several European funding grants and coordinator of the European Network for Novel Accelerators.

Further information

Website of Accelerator Operations & Development

Each year, the Summer Student Program offers a glimpse into research at an  accelerator laboratory. "The experience at GSI is an unmissable opportunity to meet different perspectives on physics from different cultures, which means for us to deeply understand what our goals and expectations are," says Benedetto Spadavecchia from the University of Turin.

All summer students worked on their own small scientific or technical project from ongoing research in a research group. The topics ranged from atomic physics and materials science to nuclear physics and astrophysics. Developments and tests of technical and experimental components for the FAIR accelerator facility, which is currently being built at GSI, and its future experiments were the main focus. “For me, it was the first time being in such a large facility and also the first summer program abroad, “ says Raluca-Andreea Miron from the University of Bucharest. “I enjoyed working on my project and meeting remarkable researchers here at GSI, who inspired me to continue to be curious about science. I am glad to share these two months in Germany with amazing people from all over the world, who have become my friends. The summer student program at GSI is an outstanding experience for every student in STEM.”

Many of the international students come back to Darmstadt after the Summer Student Program for a master or doctoral thesis at GSI and FAIR. Already for the 41st time the Summer Student Program took place, which is organized in cooperation with the graduate school HGS-HIRe. In addition to scientific events, the program included a pedestrian rally, sports activities and self-organized ventures in the region. Accompanying lectures presented the broad research spectrum of GSI and FAIR and the scientific results achieved. (LW)

Furter information

Photo competition of the Summer Students

During their visit, the Polish students also had the opportunity to visit several major research institutions in the region, including the Heidelberg Institute of Technology and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz. The program, arranged by the FAIR-International Cooperations Unit and the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science at the Jagiellonian University, introduced the students to a wide range of scientific disciplines and technological advances. In addition, the guests were able to attend lectures of the International Summer Student Program at GSI/FAIR and gain insights into ongoing research activities and cutting-edge projects in various laboratories and departments on the GSI/FAIR campus.

During a discussion with the Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Jörg Blaurock, the students had the opportunity to exchange ideas and report on their experiences. This exchange of ideas was very valuable for the students and left a lasting impression on their academic pursuits. “As you embark on this journey of exploration, remember that knowledge unlocks endless possibilities. Your visit to GSI and FAIR opens minds to science and technology wonders. Embrace challenges, dream big, and seek answers to the universe's mysteries. Your passion will shape scientific research's future, leaving a profound impact on the world. So, go forth with determination, for the pursuit of knowledge knows no boundaries. Together, let's make a difference“, said Jörg Blaurock.

“Witnessing the students of our Jagiellonian University's Physics Scientific Club engage in this enriching study tour in Germany to GSI and FAIR facility fills me with great pride. Such experiences are not just journeys; they are vital passages that nurture curiosity, broaden intellect, and inspire a lifelong pursuit of knowledge. I am thankful for all the support and insights provided at the facilities in GSI/FAIR though International Cooperations Unit of FAIR/GSI”, said Piotr Salabura, Professor at Jagiellonian University.

The students also gave an extremely positive feedback, PhD student Ania emphasized: “I think it is a common misconception for young people that getting involved with an international research group is achievable only if one is very experienced, has huge knowledge, and that even then it is extremely hard. This is not true for GSI. What people here are showing us is that motivation, curiosity and a passion to learn can easily make one’s dream come true. From the variety of disciplines and experiments, one can find the most suitable and pursue a dream career.”

Poland is one of FAIR's major shareholders and is shaping FAIR's progress in various areas of development and production: For example, Poland contributes profoundly to the HADES detector. Polish know-how has been also pivotal for the development of the electronics for CBM's silicon tracking detector and for the straw tube tracker of PANDA's Forward Detector, as well as for the cryogenic systems in the large accelerator ring SIS100 and in the Super Fragment Separator.

The partnership with Jagiellonian University Krakow lasts since end of the 70’es and is also a link to inspire young minds. During the “FAIR Days” 2021 FAIR/GSI and Jagiellonian University signed a new cooperation agreement (“Memorandum of Understanding”) and an agreement on student and staff mobility within the framework of the GET_INvolved program to further deepen their cooperation. (BP)

About Jagiellonian University

The Jagiellonian University (JU) was founded on 12 May 1364 by the Polish king Casimir the Great. It is the oldest higher education institution in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. Jagiellonian University was nominated by the Minister of Science and Higher Education for international shareholder in FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe) GmbH. The Jagiellonian University has been coordinating and managing Polish participation in the FAIR program since 2010. The Jagiellonian University – Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science – is working on several large projects related to the design of FAIR’s scientific equipment.

About GET_INvolved Programme

The GET_INvolved Programme provides international students and early-stage researchers from partner institutions with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training.

Further information

For more information on the GET_INvolved Programme, interested persons can contact the respective coordinators: Dr. Pradeep Ghosh (GSI and FAIR) and Professor Dr. Piotr Salabura (Jagiellonian University)

Related links

• FAIR and Polish participation
• Jagiellonen University, Krakaw, Poland
• GET_INvolved Programme

The publication from Andrey Bondarev, a postdoc researcher at Helmholtz Institute Jena, an outstation of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, James Gillanders a postdoc researcher in Rome, and their colleagues is about new insights into heavy elements production in neutron star mergers. (BP)

Further information

• Complete news of EPJ
• Scientific publication
  Bondarev, A.I., Gillanders, J.H., Cheung, C. et al.
  Calculations of multipole transitions in Sn II for kilonova analysis.
  Eur. Phys. J. D 77, 126 (2023).

Dr. Lennart Volz studied physics at the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg. For his master's thesis at the University of Heidelberg on the feasibility of using ion beams for the imaging of patients, he received the Christoph Schmelzer Award 2017. During his Masters, Dr. Lennart Volz also worked as a research associate at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in Boston.  Until 2021 he was a postdoctoral researcher at the German Cancer Research Center DKFZ, Department of Biomedical Physics in Radiation Oncology, since then he is a postdoctoral researcher at the GSI Biophysics Department, his focus is on Medical Physics.  Between 2021 and 2023 he also held a position as visiting researcher at the University College London in the Particle and Advanced Radiotherapy (PART) group.

In his dissertation, which received several honors and was supervised by Professor Joao Seco, Heidelberg, Dr. Lennart Volz focused on an improvement and on new methods of particle imaging for tumor therapy with ions. Treatment with ion beams is a highly effective and at the same time very sparing therapy method, but range uncertainty limits its applications. In current clinical practice, a major cause of range uncertainties resides in the conversion of the treatment planning x-ray CT to the patient specific relative stopping power (RSP) map. By measuring the energy loss of particles after traversing the patient, particle imaging enables a more direct reconstruction of the RSP, that is crucial for accurate treatment planning. By measuring the energy loss of particles after traversing the patient, particle imaging enables a more direct reconstruction of the RSP. In his thesis, Dr. Lennart Volz investigated different aspects towards the clinical implementation of particle imaging: First, he developed a theoretical description of the spatial resolution for different particle radiography algorithms in order to explain observed limitations and demonstrated a novel filtering technique for imaging with helium ions that can differentiate secondary particles from the relevant primary particles. With the new filtering method, he demonstrated experimental helium ion CTs with both high spatial resolution and high RSP accuracy. First results from an experimental comparison between particle and x-ray CT modalities for RSP prediction were presented.

Furthermore, Dr. Lennart Volz explored a novel technique for intra-treatment helium ion imaging based on a mixed helium/carbon beam with that relative range changes in the millimeter regime were observable. Finally, novel particle imaging detector designs were investigated. With the results of his dissertation, Dr. Lennart Volz was able to highlight the potential of particle imaging, and in particular helium ion imaging, for image guidance in particle therapy.

The Otto Haxel Prize was endowed by the entrepreneur and physicist Professor Dr. Hans-Joachim Langmann in memory of his doctoral supervisor. The nuclear physicist Professor Dr. Otto Haxel was scientific director of the Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe from 1970 to 1975. The Otto Haxel Award for Physics has been awarded since 2017 in cooperation with the German Physical Society for the three best PhD theses in physics at the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg and at KIT, Otto Haxel's three places of work. (BP)

Light atoms, such as hydrogen or helium, play a special role in physics. They have only few electrons, which means their spectra can be calculated using our fundamental theories to exceptional precision. For this purpose, the precise knowledge of their properties, such as their mass, is essential. The atomic mass of helium-4 measured in the current experiment can for example be used to determine the mass of the electron, an important fundamental constant. Measurements in this mass range performed by different research groups have been inconsistent in the past. The current Penning-trap-based precision measurement significantly boosts the reliability of our tabulated fundamental constants.

Penning traps, in which individual charged particles can be confined for long periods of time using electric and magnetic fields, have proven to be precision scales for ions. The trapped particle performs a characteristic circular motion in the trap that depends on its mass — heavy particles oscillate more slowly than light ones. If two different, single ions are measured one after the other in the same trap, the ratio of their masses can be determined exactly.

To perform the helium measurement, the scientists used the so-called LIONTRAP (Light-Ion Trap), located at the University of Mainz and developed and built within a collaboration of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics and GSI. In the 3.8 Tesla strong magnetic field of LIONTRAP, the stored helium nuclei moved on circular paths with a radius of about ten micrometers. Carbon ions, which were also trapped, served as a mass comparison.

As a result, the researchers obtained the mass of the helium nucleus to 4,001 506 179 651(48) atomic units, with the number in parentheses indicating the uncertainty of the last digits. This result has an accuracy 1.3 times greater than the current literature value but deviates from it by 6.6 standard deviations. Additional measurements of, for example, helium-3 systems are planned for the future to resolve the inconsistencies with measurements from other research groups.

In the future, precision mass measurements with Penning traps will also be employed at the FAIR facility currently under construction at GSI. With aid of the HITRAP ion trap setup, which is part of FAIR’s APPA experiment pillar, it is planned to determine the binding energies of electrons in heavy ions with different charge states to test quantum electrodynamics. Further trap experiments in the NUSTAR pillar want to measure nuclear binding energies to test nuclear models for the synthesis of chemical elements in our universe. (CP)

Further informationen

• Publication in Physical Review Letters

The visit was part of a summer meeting of the SPD Parliamentary Group in Wiesbaden, which also included information tours to various companies and top sites in the region. On the GSI and FAIR campus, the political visitors gained insights into the scientific successes and current status of the FAIR project, one of the largest construction projects for cutting-edge research worldwide and at the same time a strong pillar of the German and European research landscape in global competition. They got a compact overview of science, structural and technical progress, and the development at the site in the heart of the Rhine-Main region.

The program also offered a tour of the GSI campus and an overview of the FAIR construction site. The guests visited the linear accelerator UNILAC, which Dr. Hartmut Vormann explained, the experiment HADES, which was developed in international research cooperation, and the therapy unit for tumor treatment with heavy ions. From the viewing platform, the guests were given an overview of the entire FAIR construction site. They were able to take a direct look at the work in progress on the 20-hectare area.

The FAIR project is rated by experts as a top international science project for decades, offering world class opportunities and outstanding potential for groundbreaking discoveries. FAIR makes value contributions to society on many levels, whether as a driver of innovation, provider of highly qualified jobs and in education of young scientists and engineers or in the development of new medical applications. (BP)

Professor Volker Koch and Professor Nu Xu are both from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Volker Koch holds the professorship for theoretical heavy-ion physics and has been the laboratory’s nuclear physics division head. Nu Xu is professor for experimental heavy-ion physics and the former spokesman of STAR, a flagship experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Professor Takaharu Otsuka held the chair of theoretical nuclear physics at the University of Tokyo until his retirement. Taka Otsuka and Nu Xu are both recipients of Humboldt Research Awards, while Volker Koch is currently an EMMI Visiting Professor.

GSI and FAIR took the unique opportunity to discuss with these colleagues in an interview the motivation why they have chosen GSI for their long-term stay, and what personally fascinates them from the many science options at FAIR. Despite very different perspectives and different scientific expectations with regard to the FAIR research pillars, the three scientists have one thing in common: the anticipation of outstanding research prospects and decisive advances in knowledge in a unique world leading research infrastructure at FAIR. The whole interview can be read here:

You all three are world-leading scientists and come from prestigious institutions. Why did you choose GSI for your research stays?

Volker Koch: The Rhein-Main-Neckar region is the center of gravity in nuclear science, in particular in my field of interest, which focuses on the properties of the strong force at the high-density and high-energy frontiers as it can be explored in heavy-ion collisions. There is for example the HADES experiment, which has taken exciting data in their latest runs within the FAIR Phase-0 program, which we try to understand now.  It is of great advantage to have many experts on campus and at the neighboring universities with whom we can look at these data from very different angles. In fact, I have missed such a stimulating scientific atmosphere during the pandemic and I every much enjoy the daily discussion taking place here. Of course, we also discuss the future opportunities, in particular the CBM experiment at FAIR, which we hope will answer some of the fundamental questions in our field of research.

Nu Xu: Indeed, the phase diagram of Quantum Chromodynamics, which describes the properties of the strong force as function of temperature and density, has still several open fundamental questions. I was much involved in the preparation and in the execution of experiments of the STAR collaboration where we have tried to explore whether this phase diagram exhibits a critical point like it is familiar to us from the phase diagram of water. Unfortunately, the STAR experiment left a gap in the data, which is needed to answer this question. The place from which we expect the answer is the CBM experiment at FAIR. To prepare this unique and scientifically extremely important experiment I am here.

Takaharu Otsuka: My scientific interest is somewhat different from that of my colleagues as I try to develop models, which describe the many facets of nuclear structure. Here the frontier are exotic unstable nuclei, which for example have a large number of extra neutrons compared to their stable counterparts. These nuclei and their properties are, however, crucial if we want to develop a general model, which describes the many phenomena the nuclear many-body system exhibits. For example, we have learnt in recent years that nuclear magic numbers, which are a cornerstone of nuclear structure whose explanation was awarded a Nobel Prize, are different in exotic from those in stable nuclei. We could recently show that among others the tensor force plays a crucial role in these exotic nuclei. In my career, I have benefitted very much from close contact to experimentalists, which some years ago were my colleagues at RIKEN. Now I think that in the future the NUSTAR experiments at FAIR will have the leading role in understanding many aspects of the structure of exotic nuclei beyond the present reach. In particular, I am interested in the physics, which determines the limit of existence in very neutron-rich nuclei where FAIR opens completely new perspectives. Therefore, I am happy to intensify my collaboration with my theory and experiment colleagues in Darmstadt. I hope that both sides will benefit from these activities.

Professor Xu, you mentioned the STAR experiment at RHIC, which is one example that there are also other facilities worldwide which explore the science which will be in the focus at FAIR. Professor Otsuka, you referred to the Japanese flagship facility RIKEN. Perhaps you can elaborate where you see the advantages of FAIR and perhaps its uniqueness?

NX: The Brookhaven activities are finished leaving important questions unanswered. In my view, CBM is in the position to answer them. Actually, if there were other facilities, which were better advanced than CBM, I would have joined these activities. But there is none. If FAIR can deliver SIS100 beams the CBM collaboration will be ready for data taking. And the CBM experiment has the high-rate capabilities to decide whether a critical point exists in the QCD phase diagram or not.

VK: Indeed, to answer this fundamental science question statistics is the name of the game and CBM has the capability to deliver the required rate of data. This allows actually much more than to prove the existence of the critical point. For example, one can also explore the symmetry energy at densities twice or even three-times the value of saturation density, as it exists inside of heavy nuclei like lead. Such high densities are of crucial importance in many astrophysical environments, like core-collapse supernovae or neutron star mergers. The CBM data will also provide very valuable constraints for the nuclear Equation of State, which governs the structure of neutron stars, which are the most compact objects which one can study directly in the Universe. In fact, there are so many upcoming activities in astrophysics opening the era of multi-messenger exploration of the Universe, which all are intimately related to science, which will be, often for the first time, explored at FAIR. During my stay in Darmstadt, my colleagues and I have developed several new ideas how this complementarity can be optimally explored. I am really looking forward that FAIR will be switched on and the CBM and NUSTAR experiments start. This will be a new game in town, as we say in California.

TO: The FAIR facility offers significantly higher bombarding energies than the other facilities. This allows to explore mass regions in the nuclear chart which are not easily accessible with other accelerators, making the global activities complementary in many aspects. This opens exciting perspectives for my research interest. It is very exciting that FAIR will soon deliver for example first data on the very neutron-rich nuclei, which build the third peak in the astrophysical r-process, which is often referred to as the "gold peak". We have predicted the half-lives for the nuclei in the gold peak and it will be nice to see whether we have been right. Let me stress another important point. Also many activities at FAIR, although unique on the global level, are very complimentary. Take the symmetry energy, which my colleagues Volker Koch and Nu Xu want to study at very high densities. It is also relevant for astrophysical applications to know it at densities at and below saturation. This behavior can be studied with the R3B experiment within the NUSTAR collaboration.

Your home countries have very strong activities in heavy-ion and nuclear structure science. Which role does FAIR play for these communities?

VK: The US Nuclear Physics community is currently preparing its Longe Range Plan, which also addresses the future opportunities of the research on high-density nuclear matter, that is the behavior of the QCD phase diagram at high densities as it will be explored at FAIR. I am not personally involved in the writing team, but I know that the intellectual interest of my theory colleagues in this field is tremendous. Personally, I am also convinced that there will be a growing American participation in CBM.

NX: I share the view of my colleague Volker Koch concerning the interest in the US. But I like to add, that also in my mother country China there is a very large interest in the CBM physics, carried by six institutions including many postdoctoral and graduate students. The Chinese colleagues have been involved in the STAR experiment at RHIC and bring their expertise now to CBM. To underline the Chinese interest, components of the time-of-flight detector system for CBM have been built in China. They are tested and ready to be employed at FAIR. We need a SIS100 beam.

TO: There is an existing strong interaction between the Japanese and GSI activities in nuclear structure, but also in other FAIR research fields like atomic or biophysics. Some FAIR detectors developed by the NUSTAR collaboration have already been tested and used in experiments at RIKEN. But the exchange is in both directions. One interesting research field at FAIR will be hypernuclei, which is regular nuclei to which a lambda particle, which carries a strange quark, is added. Japan has a long history in hypernuclear research. But now we bring activities to FAIR based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by RIKEN and GSI/FAIR where we jointly open research on neutron-rich hypernuclei. FAIR provides the SIS100 accelerator and the Super FRS, the equipment to produce such really exotic nuclei, and RIKEN develops and builds a novel detector which allows to study these hypernuclei. RIKEN has in fact very positive experience with such collaborative efforts abroad, for example, with a dedicated hadron physics program at Brookhaven. I am sure that also the RIKEN-FAIR project will be a success.

What is the scientific highlight you personally wish to see delivered by FAIR?

NX: With its high-rate capability and the other available observables, CBM will answer the question whether a critical point exists in the QCD phase diagram, or not. CBM will also constrain the nuclear equation of state to a level that it has a very strong impact on the understanding of astrophysical objects like neutron stars or supernovae. I would like to add that while the high-energy programs at CERN focus on the properties of the quark-gluon plasma – the form of matter as it exists in the very early phase of the Universe, here we concentrate on the properties of matter at high densities. If CERN is the high-energy frontier, FAIR is the high-density frontier. Both programs are complementary to each other and are both necessary for understanding the QCD phase diagram.

VK: The critical point and the equation of state are certainly also on the top of my list. But CBM can do more, perhaps answer questions which we do not even think about now. For example, recent lattice QCD calculations predict that the interaction between two Omega baryons is attractive. CBM with its very high event rate is likely the only experiment, which can check this prediction.

TO: In general, I expect from the NUSTAR experiments at FAIR decisive progress in our general understanding of the nucleus as a many-body system, already from phase 0 experiments and then more once FAIR is operational.  It would be quite exciting to understand the boundaries of nuclear existence as a function of neutron excess but also in the regime of superheavy nuclei, derived from nucleons as the fundamental building blocks and the strong and Coulomb forces acting between them. But I personally would also like to explore whether hypernuclei might be a tool to probe the emergence of nuclear shapes. There are some hints, which have recently emerged that nuclei might have a wider spectrum of geometric shapes than usually assumed.

Thank you very much for this discussion. We wish you a successful stay in Darmstadt and many fruitful returns to GSI and later to FAIR. (GSI)

The award recognizes Professor Durante's outstanding achievements in the field of radiation research. Since 1987, the IARR, the umbrella organization of the world radiation research societies, has presented the prestigious Henry S. Kaplan Distinguished Scientist Award every four years to an outstanding scientist to recognize their achievements in the field of radiation research. Nominations are done by individuals or national societies. Professor Durante was jointly nominated by the German and Italian radiation research societies.

Professor Durante is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of radiation biology and medical physics, especially for therapy with heavy ions and radioprotection in space. He made important scientific progress in the field of biodosimetry of charged particles, optimization of particle therapy, and shielding of heavy ions in space. Professor Durante's expertise is in high demand internationally. Currently, he is president of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG), a worldwide organization of scientists and professionals interested in proton, light ion and heavy charged particle radiotherapy. He was elected by the PTCOG Steering Committee, to which each clinical particle therapy center in the world sends representatives.

"I wish to dedicate this award to Professor Gerhard Kraft, who passed away this year and has been the founder of the biophysics department at GSI and the father of heavy ion therapy in Europe. It is a great honor for me to receive this award. The Henry Kaplan Prize is an enormous motivation and also a recognition of the topics that have moved me for many years and are important for me. Continuously developing the benefits of radiation research and making even better use of its potential is a major goal, for example for an even more effective cancer therapy or for the safe exploration of space. This drives me personally, but also our joint research in biophysics at GSI and in the future at the FAIR facility," emphasized Professor Marco Durante.

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, is delighted about the award and stressed: “We are extremely proud of this prestigious award, which recognizes the exceptional standing of Prof Durante but also the world-class quality of the GSI and FAIR program in radiation biology and therapy.”

Professor Durante studied physics and got his PhD at the University Federico II in Italy. His post doc positions took him to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Texas and to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan. During his studies, he specialized in charged particle therapy, cosmic radiation, radiation cytogenetics and radiation biophysics. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Galileo Galilei prize from the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics, the Warren Sinclair award of the US National Council of Radiation Protection (NCRP), the IBA Europhysics Prize of the European Physical Society (EPS), the Bacq & Alexander award of the European Radiation Research Society (ERRS) and the Failla Award of the Radiation Research Society. Additionally, he has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant of the European Union for the continuation of his research activities. The ERC grant is used to continue the studies at GSI. (BP)

The initiative is a catalyst and promotes global collaboration and innovation across sectors and the scientific community at large. Supporting the campaign underscores GSI and FAIR's commitment to transparency, collaboration, innovation, sustainability and efficiency. Therefore, participation is not just a signature, it’s a commitment to improving science and society through openness and collaboration. The open nature of software allows for global scrutiny and contributions, resulting in better, efficient and sustainable development. Dissemination even prior to possible monetization is a core principle, aiming for positive impact rather than quick profits. The essence: if the public pays for it, the public should benefit from it.

GSI's and FAIR's strategic decision to use open source software and hardware is important because free and open standards allow to explore diverse technological solutions that fit best and encourage competition. In addition, open source software and hardware serve as a catalyst in attracting highly skilled individuals such as engineers, scientists and developers. It is a good tool to foster seamless collaboration and provides a platform for participants to collectively build on each other's work, leading to continuous improvement. Finally, this creates an environment that encourages collaboration and learning. This commitment to nurturing talent transforms GSI and FAIR into a hub for research and development.

The open nature of the software allows for scrutiny and contributions from innumerable minds globally. This collaborative approach often results in more refined, efficient and sustainable software development. Open software reflects GSI's and FAIR's commitment to excellence and meets the high-performance computing and security demands crucial for important infrastructures, physics experiments, in particular in the accelerator control domain. (BP)

More information

Open Science GSI/FAIR

Campaign „Public Money? Public Code!“

At present, the radioisotope thorium-229 is considered to be the only candidate for use in a nuclear clock. A nuclear clock of this kind would be considerably more accurate than the current atomic clocks. The timekeeper in this case would be the rate of oscillations in the nucleus of thorium-229, induced by laser light excitations. An international team of researchers with participation of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung has now developed a new method to determine the excitation energy with significantly more precision. This represents an important step in the development of a functional nuclear clock.

The nucleus of the radioisotope thorium-229 features an isomer with an exceptionally low excitation energy that enables direct laser manipulation of the nuclear state. It is for this reason that it is among the leading candidates for use in next-generation optical clocks. The last decade has been characterized by a number of experimental breakthroughs, such as the first direct and clear proof of the existence of the nuclear isomer, its characterization using laser spectroscopy, the measurement of its excitation energy, and X-ray pumping. However, there was still a lack of observation of radiative decay and of the precise determination of the light frequency for the development of the optical clock. Using a novel approach in which the isomer is populated with ionic beams at the ISOLDE facility at CERN, researchers have now been able for the first time to observe the elusive radiative decay of the isomer and substantially decrease the uncertainty of its energy and decay constant with the help of spectroscopic techniques. 

The corresponding experiments were undertaken by an international team headed by researchers from KU Leuven. German members of the team came from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), LMU Munich, the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. The researchers have recently published their results in Nature.

Vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy of the nuclear isomer

The first proposal for an optical clock based on the excitation of a nuclear state to serve as an ultra-stable metrological instrument and quantum sensor was made long ago, but most recently caused a stir in the scientific world due to the direct detection of the thorium-229 isomer. The underlying idea is quite simple: Instead of measuring time based on the frequency of light needed to invoke electronic transitions in an atom, which is the method employed to date, the frequency of the light used to excite the atomic nucleus itself is employed for this purpose. The clear advantage would be that the atomic nucleus is a more compact structure compared with atomic shells and has small electromagnetic moments. It is thus less susceptible to external interference factors, meaning that the resultant clock will be of unparalleled accuracy. In addition, it is expected that the radiative transition of the isomer in the thorium-229 nucleus will be in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning that optical control should be possible using appropriately designed UV lasers. This, on the other hand, will only become possible when the corresponding nuclear transition has been observed using optical methods and analyzed in more detail. 

The technique used to date was to populate the appropriate nuclear isomer with the help of the alpha decay of uranium-233. So far, the decay to the ground state did not lead to the emission of the characteristic light from the nucleus. In the experiments at CERN, the nuclear isomer was populated by means of the beta decay of actinium-229, which was previously implanted in crystals of calcium fluoride and magnesium fluoride at kinetic energy of 30 kiloelectron volts (keV). The researchers used vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy to analyze the photon spectrum emitted by the crystals under favorable radioluminescence conditions and were finally able to identify the spectral line at a wavelength of 148 nanometers. "We have finally succeeded in observing a clear signature for the radiative decay of the thorium-229 nuclear isomer in our experiments. As a result, we have managed to measure its excitation energy with an accuracy improved by a factor of seven than previous results. And on the basis of our measurements, we have even been able to estimate the half-life of the radiative transition, which we put at about 10 minutes," said Dr. Mustapha Laatiaoui, junior research group leader at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, who was involved in the recent investigations. 

Highly promising outlook

The reported results represent important steps towards the development of a nuclear clock. On the one hand, the decreased level of uncertainty in terms of the excitation energy constitutes a reduction of the potential search range and is a crucial preliminary parameter for the development of a suitable vacuum-ultraviolet laser control system. On the other hand, the observation of radiative decay in large-bandgap crystals shows that the creation of a solid-state nuclear clock with far greater stability than that of contemporary atomic clocks is feasible.

The practical realization of a clock that uses nuclear transition as a timekeeper would have an exciting range of potential applications – in applied and fundamental physics, geodesy and seismology through to trials to determine whether fundamental constants exhibit any time variations. (LW)

More information

Original publication: 
S. Kraemer et al., Observation of the radiative decay of the 229Th nuclear clock isomer, Nature 617, 24. Mai 2023,
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05894-z

During an introduction the guests were informed about the scientific activities at GSI and FAIR and the construction of the international FAIR project. They had a guided tour to the research facilities on the GSI and FAIR campus. They visited the therapy unit for tumor treatment with heavy ions, explained by Professor Christian Graeff, the HADES experiment, explained by Professor Tetyana Galatyuk, and the test stand for superconducting accelerator magnets, where high-tech components for FAIR are tested, explained by Dr. Holger Kollmus.

During a bus tour of the FAIR construction site and a walk-through of individual construction sections, the guests got a close-up view of the construction progress. The program included the cryogenics buildings, the underground accelerator ring tunnel SIS100, the central hub for the facility’s beam line and beam distribution (transfer building) and the buildings for experimental caves. (BP)

Aided by numerous illustrations, the lecture gives an overview of the history of the settlement Wixhausen from the Bronze Age to the 20th century. The main focus is on the period of the foundation of the village and the first mention, the time of the incorporation into Darmstadt as well as the relations with GSI/FAIR, which have lasted for more than 50 years.

Peter Engels, who comes from Haan in the Rhineland, studied history, Latin and musicology at the University of Cologne, where he passed the state examination in 1987 and received his doctorate in 1990 with a thesis on the history of the Crusades and the Christian reception of Islam in the Middle Ages. After completing his legal clerkship at the State Archives in Münster and at the School of Archives in Marburg, he has been head of the City Archives in Darmstadt since 1993. He is also a member of the Historical Commission for Hesse and has been chairman of the Historical Association for Hesse since 2002, in which capacity he is also responsible for the Stadtlexikon Darmstadt Online, which has been available since the beginning of 2016. He is the author of numerous publications and organizer of many exhibitions on the history of the city of Darmstadt and the state of Hesse.

The additional lectures will focus on beams in various fields of application, for example in the further development of tumor therapy with ion beams in moving organs. Another lecture will shed light on the possibilities of using X-rays generated in the laboratory to gain insights into objects in space. Finally, the last lecture for the year 2023 will deal with the particles that are present in our environment and permanently impact on our bodies.

The lectures start at 2 p. m., further information about registration, access and the course of the event can be found on the event website at www.gsi.de/wfa

The lecture series “Wissenschaft für Alle” is aimed at all persons interested in current science and research. The lectures report on research and developments at GSI and FAIR, but also on current topics from other fields of science and technology. The aim of the series is to prepare and present the scientific processes in a way that is understandable for laypersons in order to make the research accessible to a broad public. The lectures are held by GSI and FAIR staff members or by external speakers from universities and research institutes. (CP)

Current program:

• Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 2 p.m.
  850 Jahre Wixhausen – Ein Darmstädter Stadtteil mit Wissenschaftsgeschichte
  Peter Engels, Stadtarchiv Darmstadt
   
• Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 2 p.m.
  Die Kunst der Präzision: Wie Strahlentherapie bewegte Tumore trifft
  Lennart Volz, GSI/FAIR
   
• Wednesday, November 15, 2023, 2 p.m.
  Röntgen-Astrophysik im Labor (Wie man die Signale heißer Objekte im Weltall entschlüsselt)
  Sonja Bernitt, Helmholtz-Institut Jena
   
• Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 2 p.m.
  Quanten mit höchsten Energien – der Mensch unter Dauerbeschuss
  Joachim Enders, Technische Universität Darmstadt

A plan has already been drawn up so that the installations can be carried out precisely and accurately, step by step. Numerous different aspects, such as delivery windows and the type of magnets, must be exactly coordinated and logistically mastered so that the accelerator components fit together precisely in the shell like a gigantic puzzle.

The start of the SIS100 installation will be in the straight of the western sector 4. From there, the installation will continue clockwise toward the sector 3 arc. While the straight line in sector 4 is dominated by high-frequency acceleration systems, the arc consists largely of superconducting magnet modules. Due to the supply situation of the quadrupole modules required for beam focusing, the superconducting dipole pairs are first set up in the arc and interconnected. They guide the beam onto the hexagonal "circular path" of the SIS100.

The installation begins in the straight section with the positioning of the superconducting bypass lines, which were manufactured as a Polish Inkind contribution. The bypass lines transport the liquid helium required for magnet cooling and the superconducting main bus bar system passing the room temperature components of the straight sections. The bypass lines are first moved to a parking position, from which they are then moved and connected to the quadrupole modules after delivery is complete. Gaps are left in the first assembly cycle for the quadrupole modules to be integrated in the second cycle.

Since the tunnel is still in settlement motion, the later integration of the quadrupole modules also leaves freedom of movement for fine adjustment. The extraction straight in sector 5 will initially be kept open for equipping the high-energy beam transport system, including heavy magnet systems. The expansion of the SIS100 tunnel with the technical building equipment, double floors and routes is in full swing. In the second half of 2023, cable pulling work will be carried out with a focus on sector 4.

On the home stretch until the end of the year, extensive work still needs to be completed in preparation for assembly. For example, various smaller subassemblies for closing the UHV (ultra-high vacuum) system have to be procured, pre-integration work completed and comprehensive documentation prepared for each subassembly. Then the installation itself can begin, another crucial milestone and a sign of the steady progress being made in the construction of FAIR.

In parallel, science is also taking major steps towards future research at FAIR. The FAIR experimental program is currently being defined more and more precisely, for example during research stays of high-ranking scientists on site at GSI and FAIR or in the collaborations of the large experiment pillars. Already today, "FAIR-Phase 0" offers outstanding experimental opportunities. In the future, the FAIR accelerator facility will deliver high-energy ion beams of highest intensities. In combination with the Super-Fragment-Separator, storage rings and cutting-edge instrumentation, it will provide worldwide outstanding research opportunities. (BP)

New nuclear physics data provide a better understanding of the properties of neutron stars. High-precision measurements of nuclear masses reveal germanium-64 as a waiting-point nucleus in nucleosynthesis via fast proton capture and form the basis for modelling X-ray bursts on neutron stars as part of binary systems. The experiments were conducted by an international team, including researchers from Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg (MPIK) and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung by employing the Heavy Ion Research Facility of the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Lanzhou, China.

Neutron stars are some of the most bizarre objects known to astronomers. While measuring only about ten to twelve kilometers in diameter, they are one of the densest objects in the universe, with masses considerably larger than the solar mass. Additionally, they are extremely hot and can display the strongest magnetic fields known. The physics of these extreme objects are of great interest to scientists worldwide.

About five percent of all known neutron stars occur in binary systems, where the neutron star is gravitationally bound to another, often less evolved star. In such systems X-ray bursts can frequently be observed.

Type-I X-ray bursts are thermonuclear explosions on a surface of a neutron star. The fuel is hydrogen and helium rich matter which is steadily accreted for hours up to days from a companion giant star. Once the ignition temperature and density are reached, a thermonuclear runaway is triggered, resulting in a bright X-ray burst of about ten to 100 seconds. The burst is powered by a sequence of nuclear reactions termed rapid proton capture nucleosynthesis process (rp-process).

The rp-process consists of a sequence of proton captures and beta decays, emitting high energy photons. So-called Waiting Point (WP) nuclei in this process play a decisive role in setting the matter flow and thereby the X-ray flux produced by the neutron star burst. These are the nuclei where the fast proton capture reactions cannot energetically proceed further and the process stalls until a much slower β⁺ decay enables a bypass. A sequential capture of two protons, however, can in some cases allow the process to bridge the waiting point. The reaction probabilities depend on the proton separation energies, which can directly be derived from the masses of the involved nuclei. Therefore, a precise knowledge of the masses of the involved nuclei is crucial to understand the microphysics behind the X-ray bursts.

Dedicated sensitivity studies have indicated that the yet unknown masses for nuclei around the WP nucleus ⁶⁴Ge (Z = 32) are presently a major source of uncertainty in modelling the rp-process nucleosynthesis. A group of scientists have now measured with unprecedented resolution all the remaining masses needed to constrain the flow through ⁶⁴Ge and thereby gained surprising insights.

The nuclei of interest, namely ⁶³Ge, ^64,65As, and ^66,67Se, are extremely neutron-deficient and have very short half-lives spreading from 54(4) millseconds for ⁶⁶Se to 153.6(1.1) milliseconds for ⁶³Ge. Such short-lived nuclides can only be produced at a specialized radioactive ion beam facility and require ultra-fast and — due to small production quantities — also ultra-sensitive and efficient measurement techniques. It is emphasized that the production rate of the ⁶⁴As nuclei was lower than one ion per day.

The present experiment was conducted at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) in operation at the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A novel method for efficient detection of short-lived nuclei was employed for the first time in the CSRe. Following the idea originally proposed for the Collector Ring of FAIR, the scientists developed an efficient way to compensate the uncertainties in the revolution time of the ions in the CSRe storage ring of the HIRFL facility caused by their velocity spread.

“We helped set up the detection methodology and are deeply involved in the physical interpretation of the data,” states Professor Klaus Blaum, director of the division on stored and cooled ions at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg. “The ability to measure masses of such short-lived species with vanishingly small production rates demonstrated here is a major achievement,” describes Professor Yuri Litvinov, head of the ASTRUm Group at GSI in Darmstadt, the impact of the new results. “Before this we could not measure the masses of short-lived nuclei to this accuracy or in some cases were not able to determine them at all.”

With this novel method the masses of the nuclei ⁶⁴As and ⁶⁶Se were measured for the first time, and the masses of ⁶³Ge, ⁶⁵As and ⁶⁷Se could be significantly improved. The scientists simulated an X-ray burst with these newly achieved masses, resulting in a larger peak luminosity of the burst than previously assumed. This means that, in order to match the brightness acquired by telescopes, these astronomical objects need to be more remote than expected. In the case of the well-known X-ray binary GS 1826-24, it shall be placed about 1300 lightyears further away from our solar system than previously thought. Additionally, the new results impact the heating and cooling rates of the neutron star as well as update bounds on its density.

All the relevant masses needed to model the rp-process flow through ⁶⁴Ge are now measured. The next step will be to accurately determine the masses around the next two critical WP nuclei ⁶⁸Se and ⁷²Kr. “We are confident this newly developed method to accurately determine masses of such short-lived nuclei will help us to understand these fascinating astronomical objects and the underlying physics even better,” summarizes Klaus Blaum the findings. (MPIK/CP)

Further information

Press release of the Max-Planck-Institut for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg

Publication in the scientific journal "Nature"

Group 'ASTRUm - Astrophyics with Stored Highy Charged Radionucleides' of Professor Yuri Litvinov

Bikash Sinha was one of the key players and leaders in India's successful partnership with FAIR. He not only pioneered India's entry as a shareholder in FAIR but played a leading role in the conception of the FAIR scientific program. Furthermore he was India's representative in the FAIR Council, FAIR's highest supervisory body, from its beginning in 2010 to 2021. It is largely thanks to his dedication that some 25 scientific institutions and 15 industrial partners in India are now involved in the FAIR project.

Prior to the establishment of FAIR, Bikash Sinha already had many years of successful collaborations with GSI. GSI is happy and proud for having been at the beginning of his great project of Indian international collaboration in the field of relativistic heavy ion physics.

Bikash Sinha was a world-renowned scientist and one of the outstanding personalities in science management in India. He was the director of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, among others. He received numerous awards for his scientific work, including the prestigious Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards given by the Government of India.

FAIR and GSI will have enduring memories of Bikash Sinha as an outstanding scientist, science policy maker, but most of all as a great person and a great friend. To his colleagues and friends Bikash Sinha with his attractive personality was always a source of positive energy and inspiration. The management of GSI/FAIR expresses its deepest condolences to his family and friends. (IP)

The novel heavy ion therapy was pioneered in joint research of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum, the Clinic of Radiology and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, and the Rossendorf Research Center FZR (today’s Helmholtzzentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, HZDR). Individual radiation treatment with heavy ions had initially been conducted as early as December 1997. This had been preceded by four years of technical development of the therapy unit at the heavy-ion accelerator of GSI, which included a radiation facility for patients, and by 20 years of fundamental research in radiation biology and physics. Initiator and the crucial pioneer of this tumor therapy was Professor Gerhard Kraft. He established GSI’s biophysical research department already in the early 1980s and was its head from 1981 to 2008.

Worldwide innovations were the extremely target-conform irradiation with the raster scanning method, the biological irradiation planning and the visualization of the beam in the patient with a special recording device, the PET camera (Positron emission tomography).

In the period until 2008, GSI used carbon ion beams to treat more than 440 patients for tumors of the head and neck with great success. Today, special clinics in Heidelberg (Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Center — HIT), Marburg (Marburger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrum — MIT) and Shanghai (SPHIC) offer customized versions of the treatment that was first used at GSI in Darmstadt 25 years ago. GSI played a major role in the development of these three facilities. In the meantime, the three-dimensional scanning technology has become standard in all new particle therapy facilities. The three centers, HIT, MIT and SPHIC, have treated more than 10,000 patients to date.

Today, Professor Marco Durante is the head of GSI biophysics. He is a renowned expert in the field of particle therapy and current president of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG), a worldwide organization of scientists and professionals interested in proton, light ion and heavy charged particle radiotherapy. He was elected by the PTCOG Steering Committee, to which each clinical particle therapy center in the world sends representatives.

Professor Durante and his team are working with great international attention on constantly improving the method through new technologies and treatment procedures and to make it even more powerful. For example, FLASH irradiation - the application of an ultra-high radiation dose in a very short time - is currently the focus of much attention worldwide and is advanced with great expertise at GSI. Other research questions include the treatment of moving tumors on internal organs and possible combinations of heavy ion and immunotherapy.

The international accelerator center FAIR currently being built at GSI will expand the research possibilities for next-generation particle therapy even further, for example by using beams with high intensities or radioactive ions for online PET imaging. Tumor therapy with heavy ions thus still provides broad potential for further scientific findings, so that it can be used even more effectively for the benefit of many patients in the future.

How significant the development and research of tumor therapy with heavy ions is for medicine is confirmed 25 years after the start in Darmstadt by current clinical studies on carbon ion radiotherapy conducted at the HIT in Heidelberg. To date, research at the HIT has produced clinical evidence of the safety and efficacy of carbon ion beam therapy in several areas: depending on the type of tumor, they show good tolerability of the therapy, combined with an effective fight against the treated tumor.

The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, emphasizes the great benefit for society: "The ion beam therapy developed at GSI is an outstanding example of how society and people can benefit from basic research through successful technology transfer. Together with strong partners, we are working hard to further develop new technologies and methods to ensure that our scientific breakthroughs continue to benefit society in the future, in medicine and other areas such as materials research or computer technology." (BP)

Scientific Background: The tumor therapy with heavy ions

Treatment with ion beams is a very precise and highly effective, yet extremely gentle, therapeutic process. The major advantage of this method is that the ion beams, which have previously been brought to very high speeds in the accelerator facility of GSI, develop their strongest effect in the tumor itself, while sparing the healthy tissue that surrounds it. Because the range of the heavy-ion beam can be controlled with millimeter precision, particles are stopped inside the tumor and can release their energy there in a concentrated burst.

The raster-scan method, which was also developed at GSI and was used in heavy-ion therapy for the first time, enables the carbon beam to cover the tumor very precisely. The radiation dose can be applied to the malignant tumor tissue point by point in three dimensions. In order to control the effect, the beam is left at each point until the intended dose is reached. Despite the large number of up to 50000 individual beam spots, the irradiation of a field takes only a few minutes. This process makes it possible to irradiate very precisely tumors with complex shapes.

More information

Ion-beam radiotherapy in the fight against cancer

Association for the promotion of tumor therapy with heavy ions

As partners of “The hessian AICon”, GSI and FAIR underscored their commitment to advancing practical AI applications across various fields. GSI and FAIR already collaborate with hessian.AI through the “Digital Open Lab” at the Green IT Cube on the GSI/FAIR campus. At the GSI and FAIR exhibition booth, the Technology Transfer and Information Technology (IT) departments showcased the offers to private and public partners: the provision of infrastructure and IT expertise for collaborative development projects and jointly operated high-performance computing systems and projects. Furthermore, the accelerator physics department gave insights into practical applications of AI, both in the research and development of large accelerator facilities as well as their operation in the control room.

The Green IT Cube is an innovation center focusing on energy-efficient and sustainable information technology (IT). It provides a state-of-the-art computing infrastructure and serves as an environment for the development, testing, and upscaling of energy-efficient high-performance computing solutions. The Digital Open Lab at the Green IT Cube provides researchers, companies, and start-ups with an ideal framework to collaboratively addressing current research questions in close connection to cutting-edge research.

Moreover, the Green IT Cube has been chosen recently as the location for the initial phase of the “KI-Innovationslabor” (AI Innovation Lab) supported by the State of Hesse. This initiative aims to invest ten million euros into building a unique center for AI research, development, and application. The innovation lab will offer a cutting-edge AI-supercomputer infrastructure and extensive AI expertise, fostering collaborations among researchers, industry, and start-ups. It will provide a platform for developing, training, testing, and evaluating AI systems and applications. As such, the innovation lab will facilitate product innovations in various fields such as medicine, materials science, pharmaceuticals, and industrial sectors.

The conference “The hessian AICon” aimed to foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and innovation within the AI community. It served as a platform for industry leaders, researchers, and AI enthusiasts to connect, discuss cutting-edge advancements, and explore the transformative potential of AI technologies. (BP)

More information

About hessian AI

About Digital Open Lab

For one day, GSI and FAIR opened their doors to guests, which also included numerous representatives from politics and research. Thousands of interested visitors, including many families, took the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of one of the leading international physics research facilities. The demand was extraordinarily high: Within one week, all tickets for guided tours on the campus and the FAIR construction site as well as the stay on the "Science Square" were fully booked. The GSI and FAIR management was very pleased about the interest of visitors of all ages in the work of GSI and FAIR. The day showed that research consists of high quality science and fascinating technology, but also lives on dedicated employees.

For the Open House with the motto “Seeing. Experiencing. Understanding”, the employees at GSI and FAIR had prepared the research operation in a special way so that visitors could gain an understanding of as many topics as possible. More than 400 volunteers were on hand during the Open House. They made sure the guests had an interesting and informative day, tirelessly answered their questions, and helped during the tours.

During five guided tours and at almost 20 stations, the guests were able to gain exciting insights into the research with ion beams. This included accelerator facilities, where during research operations ions can race at around 270,000 kilometers per second, or the experiments with detectors as big as houses, which can detect several hundred reaction products simultaneously. Other tours focused on the 20-hectare construction site for the world’s outstanding particle accelerator facility FAIR and the unique high-tech developments for this great future project.

The “Science Square” was all about enjoying the international atmosphere of GSI and FAIR with diverse catering and entertainment, including science shows by the "Physikanten" and "Team Scientastic," magic, ice cream made of nitrogen, tabletop fiddling and hands-on experiments. The "Market of Possibilities" offered, among other things, the opportunity to talk directly with researchers about topics such as technology transfer or space travel. The guests also got information about the wide variety of job opportunities at GSI and FAIR.

The Open House at GSI and FAIR was also part of the nationwide program for the Science Year 2023. The campaign is proclaimed annually with a changing topic by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2023 titled “Our Universe”. This year’s topic fits particularly well with the future accelerator center FAIR, which has the motto “The Universe in the Laboratory”. At FAIR, matter that usually only exists in the depth of space will be produced and explored in the laboratory. Scientists from all over the world will be able to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. (BP)

Statements on the Open House

Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus, Hessian Minister for Digital Strategy and Innovation: "In addition to your concrete research successes, I am particularly pleased to see how strongly the Hessian research landscape continues to network together with GSI and FAIR and exploits important synergies to further advance the successful digital transformation in Hessen. The AI Innovation Lab of the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence hessian.AI at the Green IT Cube of GSI, which opened in March, or the new Digital Innovation Hub EDITH are two examples that make our successful cooperation tangible."

Prof. Dr. Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR: „It is important for us to inform the public about our work and our concept for the future and to strengthen the interest for scientific and technical topics, especially among the interested young people. With the Open House we succeeded in raising excitement and curiosity for science. We are glad that so many young people came – our potential scientists for tomorrow.”

Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR: „The Open House attracted a lot of visitors, highlighting the fascination that cutting edge has for the people. We were able to give the interested public an insight into the current FAIR construction activities and show what progress is being made continuously on the 20-hectare construction site. The international FAIR project guarantees a promising further development of the location Darmstadt and offers innovative perspectives for research and technology.”

The Summer School is held both at ESA´s European Space Operations Center ESOC and on the GSI/FAIR campus in Darmstadt. The aim is to train students in basic heavy ion biophysics for space applications, e.g. space radiation detection, monitoring and protection. Exploring cosmic radiation and their effects on humans, electronics and materials is a decisive contribution to the future of human spaceflight, so that astronauts and satellites in space are provided with the best protection during the exploration of our solar system. Furthermore, it also contributes to detailed knowledge about the risks of radiation exposure on Earth.

The Summer School’s top-class scientific program, opened by Wim Sillekens, ESA Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration programs, and Professor Marco Durante, Head of the GSI Department of Biophysics, includes lectures from experts such as former astronaut Thomas Reiter and former ESA Director General Johann-Dietrich Wörner, visits to facilities in Darmstadt and practical training and research opportunities at GSI/FAIR. Participants switch between the two locations ESOC and GSI/FAIR campus. In the second week, they are welcomed at GSI/FAIR by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. Dr. Radek Pleskac gives an insight into the FAIR project. At GSI and FAIR, the participants have the opportunity to work in teams on laboratory activities and to learn more about the research fields of radiation biology and simulation of cosmic radiation in accelerators.

The young researchers have the possibility to continue developing and building on their own experiment ideas via formulation and submission of a ground-based space radiation experiment proposal for example in the context of the investigations into biological effects of radiation (IBER program). IBER enables groups of researchers to use the GSI accelerator facilities to study the biological effects of cosmic radiation. At the end of the ESA-FAIR Radiation Summer School, participants will take written exams or carry out team work, which will be evaluated and rated by the lecturers.

The establishment of the Summer School is a result of the close cooperation between ESA and FAIR for many years on cosmic radiation research and one of more common topics in the GSI/FAIR-ESA cooperation agreement. The existing GSI accelerator facility is the only one in Europe that can generate all of the ion beams occurring in our solar system, which range from hydrogen, the lightest one, to uranium, the heaviest. At the future FAIR accelerator center, the possibilities will be significantly expanded: FAIR will allow experiments with an even wider range of particle energies and intensities and will be able to simulate the composition of the cosmic radiation even more accurately. The neighborhood of ESA’s Space Operations Center in Darmstadt also creates ideal conditions for local cooperation in one of the decisive research fields of the future. (BP)

Further information

ESA-FAIR Radiation Summer School

The exhibition at Atelierhaus LEW1 on Rosenhöhe is open from Friday, July 28, to Sunday, July 30, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (LW)

Complete news of Kultur einer Digitalstadt e.V.

It's a match! The Universe in the Lab meets the Universe on Tour. The GSI and FAIR experiments bring the Universe into the laboratory by recreating some of the essential processes which define the evolution of our Universe in the lab in controlled conditions with the help of particle accelerators. This research will be part of the planetarium show, where visitors will travel to the depths of space and take a tour of the Universe. In a companion tent, guests can also visit an exhibition on the topic of "light" and find out what it reveals about the universe and what role gravitational waves play. Various stations provide information about, among other things, the importance of light for astronomy – from radio waves to the light of the stars visible to us to gamma radiation – and take a look at the nurseries of stars and planets.

Opening hours of the mobile planetarium in Hofheim: 
July 26 – 28: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. I July 29: 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. I July 30: 10:00a.m.  – 6:00 p.m.

Lectures in the mobile planetarium (starting at 8:00 p.m.): 

• Wednesday, July 26, 2023: "Element Formation - Insights into the Life of Stars" by Prof. Dr. René Reifarth, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
• Saturday, July 29, 2023: "X-ray astrophysics of hot matter - from the laboratory to space" by Dr. Sonja Bernitt, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research
• Saturday, July 29, 2023: "Light Walk" with the citizen research project Nachtlicht-BüHNE for digital recording of light pollution.

In total, the roadshow "Universe on Tour" tours 15 large and small cities from May to September 2023 to get citizens excited about research in space. The tour is part of the “Science Year 2023 - Our Universe”, a joint initiative of the BMBF and Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD). The Stiftung Planetarium Berlin and the Astronomische Gesellschaft (AG) are responsible for the implementation and content of "Universe on Tour."

Citizen science project Night Light Stage

Interested guests can take part in the Citizen Science project Night Light Stage by documenting the light pollution in their surroundings and providing the collected data for research. On July 29, 2023, at 8:00 p.m., the "Light Walk" will start at the planetarium tent. No registration is necessary here. The project leaders will be available for interviews. (LW)

All stops of the roadshow "Universe on Tour": 
scienceyear.com/2023/universe-on-tour

The parliamentarians learned about the scientific activities at GSI/FAIR and the progress of the future accelerator center FAIR, currently under construction at GSI. After an introduction on the status of the FAIR project, campus development, research successes and recent experiments, the guests had a guided tour to the existing research facilities on the GSI and FAIR campus. They visited the linear accelerator UNILAC, explained by Dr. Udo Weinrich, the supercomputing center Green IT Cube, explained by Dr. Helmut Kreiser, the large-scale experiment R3B, explained by Dr. Kathrin Göbel, and the test stand for superconducting accelerator magnets, where high-tech components for FAIR are tested, explained by Dr. Holger Kollmus.

During a tour of the construction site, accompanied by Dr. Harald Hagelskamp, the head of the FAIR construction site, the guests took a look at the construction progress. The program included the cryogenics buildings, the underground accelerator ring tunnel SIS100, the central hub for the facility’s beam line and distribution (transfer building) and the buildings for experimental caves. (BP)

Digital Open Lab

A transformation to the Green Economy will hardly succeed without increasingly energy-efficient large-scale data centers. New concepts and technologies are needed to meet society’s enormous hunger for data and the growing demand of the scientific community,  in a sustainable way. To meet these needs, GSI/FAIR expanded one floor at their supercomputing center Green IT Cube earlier this year, turning it into an IT living lab: the Digital Open Lab. For this purpose, GSI received project funding from the REACT-EU program. In the future, among the research and development projects to be carried out via the Digital Open Lab will be those on the more sustainable operation of data centers, together with industrial partners. Likewise, partners from the scientific environment have the opportunity to use the data center for their research work.

Inspired by a large number of industrial visits and inquiries, the Technology Transfer department of GSI/FAIR initiated the implementation of the living laboratory. Previously, there was no development and test platform under real conditions in Germany, neither for researchers nor for companies. This requirement gave rise to the idea of a digital living lab. 

The Digital Open Lab aims to explore and test digital innovations for energy-efficient high-performance computing and ultra-fast data processing, in particular using liquid cooling media, preparing them for industrial application. For this purpose, the Digital Open Lab offers a basic infrastructure where changing application scenarios can be set up according to the requirements of the industrial partners. However, these must allow the realistic simulation of an industrial application scenario, both in terms of the size of the demonstrator (a large number of servers and other components) and in terms of the connections and options for different operating modes (e.g. duration of operation under high loads).

The Digital Open Lab provides the necessary resources for this task. Technologies can be tested in collaboration with industry in dimensions, technical environments and operating scenarios that come much closer to industrial use than the conventional development environment in the laboratory. 

The necessary cluster networks with scientists contributing content-wise as well as companies with attractive application scenarios are currently being established. Suitable, efficient and sustainable transfer structures are to be derived from this. 
This will make it possible to: 

1. identify technologies with potential and suitable fields of application outside use in basic research;
2. validate potential technologies in the identified fields of application with market participants;
3. develop and implement transfer strategies for specific technologies into specific fields of application; 
4. structure and finance suitable transfer projects with partners from research and industry; and 
5. establish a thematically appropriate industry network and support the identification, validation and transfer of technologies. 

Green IT Cube — The technology

The Green IT Cube is an environmentally friendly high-performance data center with a special cooling system. The generated heat is dissipated through heat exchangers mounted on the back of the racks and cooled with a liquid medium. This reduces the energy required for cooling to about one-tenth compared to conventional data centers. Furthermore, the data center does not require any complex cooling of the high-volume room air. With half the floor height, the computer cabinets can be arranged much more densely, as in a high-bay warehouse, which reduces investment costs. In addition to the electrical power required to supply the computer components, the Green IT Cube data center requires less than ten percent of energy consumption for cooling and all other operations (PUE<1.1). 

Professor Volker Lindenstruth and Professor Horst Stöcker are the inventors of this environmentally friendly data center technology. They developed a visionary overall concept of a highly optimized cooling structure for the most energy-efficient large-scale data centers. Construction of the Green IT Cube took place from mid-December 2014 to December 2015, with commissioning taking place in January 2016. The technology has been successfully in operation since then, undergoing continuous improvements.

The high-performance Green IT Cube concept has repeatedly won national and international awards for innovation and environmental friendliness; most recently, it was awarded the Federal Environment Agency's Blue Angel eco-label. Even before the actual completion of the floor, the Digital Open Lab was awarded the Datacenter Strategy Award 2022 in the field of innovation. This was in recognition of GSI/FAIR's strategy to use the Green IT Cube as a living laboratory for developing new ideas and innovations in collaboration with startups, companies and research institutes. (CP)

About GSI/FAIR

The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt operates a world unique accelerator facility for ions. Some of the best-known results are the discovery of six new chemical elements and the development of a new type of cancer therapy. The new international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), one of the largest research projects worldwide, is currently under construction at GSI. At FAIR, matter that usually only exists in the depth of space will be produced in a lab for research. Scientists from all over the world will use the facility for experiments to gain new insights about the building blocks of matter and the evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present. They will also develop new applications in medicine and technology.

About NDC-GARBE

NDC-GARBE (ndc-garbe.com) is a German data center developer. The international team combines decades of experience in European real estate developments with a profound knowledge of data center technologies and a deep understanding of the market. The focus is on projects in markets with the highest demand in Germany and neighboring European countries. Whether based on modular and cost-optimized standard solutions or a data center according to customer-specific requirements, NDC-GARBE assures a smooth process and on-time completion throughout all project phases.

Professor Karlheinz Langanke works in the field of theoretical nuclear astrophysics, in particular on the theoretical calculation of nuclear reactions in supernovae and in stellar element synthesis. Born in 1951, he studied physics at the University of Münster, where he also obtained his doctorate and habilitation. As a postdoc he went to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where Nobel laureate Willy Fowler inspired his interest in nuclear astrophysics. From 1987 to 1992 he held a professorship at the University of Münster, and in 1992 he joined the faculty at Caltech as a senior research associate. In 1996, he accepted a chair at Aarhus University in Denmark. Since 2005, he has held a joint professorship at the Technical University of Darmstadt and at GSI, where he also served as Research Director and, for two years in 2015/16, as  Scientific Managing Director.

The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino emphasizes: "I am truly delighted about the election of Professor Karlheinz Langanke as Honorary Member of EPS. He is a towering figure in our field of science and has played a key role in shaping the scientific program of GSI and FAIR. He is an outstanding scientist who addresses important challenges in nuclear physics with his projects and commitment. With the admission to this prestigious circle of EPS honorary members, his scientific work and his international standing are justly honored. At the same time, the award demonstrates the scientific strength at GSI and FAIR. Karlheinz Langanke’s seminal contributions to the microscopic description of nuclear processes in astrophysical environments has a profound impact on our modern understanding of stellar evolution, supernovae dynamics and nucleosynthesis. Karlheinz initiated and built up world-leading activities in nuclear astrophysics in Darmstadt, which in the future will constitute the backbone of research at our new facility FAIR, from which we expect fundamental new insights into the origin of the elements in the Universe and of the astrophysical objects which produce them. The work of Prof Langanke is therefore creating an important and long lasting legacy.”

Professor Karlheinz Langanke's scientific work has evolved during his scientific career on many topics in nuclear astrophysics ranging from hydrostatic burning phases in stars to understanding the dynamics and associated nucleosynthesis of explosive events such as supernovae. Arguably his most important research is concerned with  the electron capture on nuclei which is the dominating process working against the gravitational collapse in the core of a massive star leading to a supernova explosion. He developed the strategy and techniques to describe this process at the extreme density and temperature conditions occurring in the collapsing star. His results are now incorporated in modern supernova simulations with important consequences for the dynamics of the collapse.  Furthermore, Langanke also developed the research field of neutrino-nucleus reactions for astrophysical applications in nucleosynthesis and neutrino detection on Earth. He also realized  the important role that fission yields play in r-process nucleosynthesis and together with GSI experimentalists developed the first set of fission yields for r-process nuclei.

For his scientific work, Professor Karlheinz Langanke was awarded, among others, the 2012 Lise Meitner Prize of the European Physical Society and the 2015 Benjamin Lee Professorship Award of the Asian Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics. He was elected member of the Academia Europaea and appointed honorary member of the Hellenic Nuclear Physics Society. Karlheinz Langanke has been called to numerous international advisory committees at leading laboratories worldwide.

He is the author of numerous major scientific publications and review articles. In addition he represented the field of nuclear astrophysics at many major conferences and regularly lectures in schools on all continents, sharing his enthusiasm for Nuclear Astrophysics with the next generation of researchers. (BP)

Further information

• Honorary Membership of the European Physical Society

The science manager and physicist Dr. Ulrich Breuer has been joint Administrative Director of GSI and FAIR since 2020 and previously worked as Administrative Director at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). He studied physics and received his doctorate at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen. His professional career began in 1991 at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. There he first worked as assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and then in leading positions for many years. In 2005, he changed to the Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin as Administrative Director, where he accompanied the merger with the Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung (BESSY) and the foundation of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. He operated as its Administrative Director from 2009 to 2011. From 2012 to 2017, he worked as Vice President Economics and Finance of the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). Subsequently he held the position of the Administrative Director at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf.

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Director of GSI and FAIR, and Jörg Blaurock, Technical Director of GSI and FAIR, expressed their gratitude to Dr. Ulrich Breuer for his great commitment and for his highly competent work. GSI and FAIR have developed very successfully during Dr. Ulrich Breuer’s term of office. His guiding principle as Administrative Managing Director was a solid financial and personnel planning as well as the effective support of science with tailored infrastructural, administrative and commercial processes. During his term of office, he succeeded in creating the administrative framework that has further advanced the GSI/FAIR campus as well as the FAIR Phase 0 research program and the FAIR construction project in a targeted manner.

His time included, for example, the start of construction for the FAIR Control Center and the opening of the AI Innovation Lab at the High Performance Computing Center Green IT Cube of GSI and FAIR. Dr. Ulrich Breuer led the administration of GSI and FAIR through the challenging developments during the Corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine, always keeping in mind the special requirements of the internationally oriented research institution. (BP)

Zeitraffer-Video FAIR-Baustelle von 2018 bis 2023

The participants had the opportunity to attend talks from Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, about the FAIR project and from Dr. Danyal Winters, work package leader “SIS100 laser cooling pilot facility”, on the state of the art in laser cooling. Scientific posters from theory, simulation, experiment and engineering showed a true cross-section of accelerator science at GSI and FAIR, from student projects to the work of seasoned accelerator experts. The FAIR exhibition stand showed the accelerator science community the progress made towards first science at FAIR and the future goals for groundbreaking heavy ion and antiproton research.

The head of FAIR’s international office, Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, was on hand to present the GET_Involved programme to the IPAC participants. Industry delegates learned how to become suppliers to FAIR, and FAIR/GSI’s technical and procurement experts scouted for innovative companies with the unique competences needed to realize FAIR. Furthermore,  technology transfer offers and research and development projects around the digital open lab, heavy ion therapy and Helmholtz technology brokerage were presented.

The GSI and FAIR delegates not only presented their own research, but worked shifts in the IPAC exhibition to present FAIR on the world stage in Venice. The Industry liaison officers representing Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Spain, Italy and Switzerland followed the FAIR presentations to support in finding partners in their respective countries. Many established and new partners in industry took the time to attend the dedicated industry reception at the FAIR/GSI booth. In 2024, the science community will gather for the next IPAC in Nashville, Tennessee. (BP)

Further iInformation

• IPAC’23 website
• GET_Involved programme
• GSI/FAIR procurement
• GSI/FAIR technology transfer
• Contact: Dr. Sonia Utermann

Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing and Advanced Digital Tools: The fields in which companies and the public sector in Hesse need to take action in the digital transformation are diverse and complex. EDITH now offers the best possible support. The mission of the Digital Innovation Hub is to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups and municipalities in southern Hesse, including the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan region, in implementing their digitization projects, closing the digital gap in Hesse and to make the region one of the smartest as well as most sustainable in all of Europe. On June 12, at the Digisustain 2023 conference in Frankfurt am Main, EDITH presented EDITH presented its new offering and answered the questions of the expert audience.

Dr. Arjan Vink, head of the staff department Third-Party Funding and project manager for EDITH at GSI/FAIR: "We are very pleased to be able to share our knowledge on high-performance computing and project funding with small and medium-sized companies and municipalities in Hesse together with the EDITH consortium partners and in an international environment. In addition, we would like to further advance sustainable computing in particular through consulting and via research and development projects in our Green IT Cube data center." (CP)

Further information

Press release of the House of Digital Transformation (German)

In a group of detectors carried by “Juice”, a charge sensitive amplifier readout chip from GSI/FAIR is used. The so-called PADI-X ASIC was developed within the CBM experiment. CBM (Compressed Baryonic Matter) is one of the central research pillars of the international accelerator center FAIR, which is currently being built at GSI. The chip was developed in both GSI scientific-technical department Experimental Electronics and Detector Lab, in collaboration with senior scientist Dr. Mircea Ciobanu (Institute of Space Science, Romania and University of Heidelberg).

At the launch of Juice from the European Spaceport in French Guiana, Carole Mundell, ESA's Director of Science, emphasized: “Today, we have sent a suite of ground-breaking science instruments on a journey to Jupiter’s moons that will give us an exquisite close-up view that would have been unimaginable to previous generations. The treasure trove of data that ESA Juice will provide will enable the science community worldwide to dig in and uncover the mysteries of the jovian system, explore the nature and habitability of oceans on other worlds and answer questions yet unasked by future generations of scientists.”

The Scientific Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, is delighted about the participation in this very exciting space mission: “The European Space Agency ESA has been working closely with GSI/FAIR for many years to jointly advance the various aspects of space research. For example, cosmic ray research is a crucial contribution to ensure that astronauts and satellites in space have the best performance when exploring our solar system. In addition, artificial hibernation, another research field with strong GSI expertise, could become a promising key technology for the future of spaceflight. ESA and FAIR have since a few years a joint summer school dedicated to radiation effects in space. I am very pleased that a high-tech application developed for the future FAIR accelerator center will now continue this successful series and be part of the Jupiter exploration.”

On its way to the biggest planet in our solar system, the "Juice" probe has ten instruments on board, primarily to analyze Jupiter's large moons. Water is presumed to be present there under a thick layer of ice, and thus a prerequisite for life. The instruments come from European partners and the U.S. space agency Nasa and enable numerous investigations, such as laser or radar measurements, by which data can also be collected under the ice layer.

The PreAmplifier-DIscriminator chip (PADI) is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that was originally designed as a general-purpose chip for GSI/FAIR. It is used as front-end electronics for reading out the timing resistive plate chambers in the time-of-flight (TOF) wall of the CBM experiment for FAIR. Thus, originally developed for high-energy physics experiments carried out at ground facilities, it turned out that PADI is also suitable for space experiments, and PADI-X was selected and qualified as front-end electronics for one sensor on the “Juice” mission, the PEP/JDC instrument. PEP (Particle Environment Package) is a particle spectrometer for measuring neutral and charged particles in the Jupiter system.

The PEP instrument consists of a total of two units with six different sensors; the scientific goals of the instrument are to study Jupiter's moons Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io, as well as Jupiter's magnetosphere.

Before the “Juice” probe can take up its mission at Jupiter, however, it still has a long way to go. During its eight-year journey to Jupiter, it must fly once around Venus and three times around Earth to gain speed. After its arrival in 2031, the scientists will be able to take a close look at Jupiter's moons, among other things, and begin their analyses - with the help of high-tech from GSI/FAIR developments. (BP)

Further information

More about ESA's JUICE mission

Dark matter is one of the greatest scientific mysteries of the universe: From astronomical observations, one knows that it accounts for about 26 percent of the total energy content of the universe and is thus about five times more abundant than normal matter. Until now, however, this mysterious substance has eluded direct detection because it interacts only extremely weak with the normal matter surrounding us.

In order to shed more light on this dark part of the universe, the CNRS has founded the DMLab together with DESY, GSI, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The aim is to strengthen collaboration between the two countries and foster the potential for discovery. “We want to bring together the partly complementary expertise and different infrastructures of the German and French sides in order to sustainably advance topics of common interest and thus also gain greater visibility internationally,” says DESY researcher Thomas Schörner, German director of the DMLab. The IRL will also support funding applications of the IRL teams to the French and German national funding agencies.

The DMLab's scientific topics include a wide variety of aspects of the search for dark matter: direct searches for dark matter particles, the development of innovative detector and accelerator technologies, and the theoretical study of dark matter. The activities also include astroparticle physics with its multi-messenger approach that includes research on gravitational waves, and scientific computing with topics such as artificial intelligence and large-data management.

Joint DMLab projects in which GSI is participating concentrate on the development of new accelerator concepts on the basis of laser driven particle acceleration, novel detectors and theoretical models.

The DMLab will initially be established for five years. Organizationally, it is a facility of the French IN2P3 (Institut National de Physique Nucleaire et de Physique des Particules) in the CNRS, which is opening another location in Germany. Ten of the existing IN2P3 sites distributed throughout France are involved in DMLab. The laboratory will enable French scientists to spend longer research stays of at least one year in Germany. With the help of the funding also pledged by DESY, GSI, and KIT, a lively exchange in both directions is expected, which will have a productive impact on all projects at DMLab.

More than thirtyfive years ago, the bilateral collaboration between IN2P3 and GSI started the mutual exchange of scientists to conduct joint research projects. The Dark Matter Lab is a unique opportunity to further deepen the collaboration between CNRS–IN2P3 and the Helmholtz research centers. (CP)

Further iInformation

Press release of DESY

Dr. Francesca Luoni studied at the Engineering Technical University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano). She wrote her Master’s Thesis in Milan and at the German Aerospace Center DLR. After graduating as a nuclear engineer, she started her PhD research at the Technical University of Darmstadt and at the Department of Biophysics at GSI. Currently, she is working as a postdoctoral researcher at the GSI Biophysics Department, Space Radiation Physics research. Her focus is on radiation shielding during space missions. She is also a spokesperson for the GSI-ESA-NASA nuclear cross-section databases resulting from the ESA project ROSSINI3 and part of the team organizing the "ESA-FAIR Radiation Summer School" held annually in Darmstadt at GSI/FAIR and ESA.

In her awarded PhD thesis, mentored by Professor Marco Durante, head of GSI Biophysics, Dr. Francesca Luoni focused on the physics of the interaction of space radiation with materials that are candidates for passive shielding during long-term space missions. Passive shielding is currently considered the most promising radiation protection strategy. This approach consists of adding shielding material to the walls of the spacecraft and the planetary bases.

In her thesis, Dr. Francesca Luoni presented results obtained in the accelerator-based experimental campaigns with ion beams as they occur in space and different shielding materials: among other findings, this showed that lithium-based hydrides stabilized with paraffin were proved to combine the promising dose attenuation properties of the pure hydrides and the mechanical and chemical stability of the paraffin, resulting in good candidate shielding materials for space missions. Subsequently, the experimental data were compared with the simulation results of the most commonly used Monte Carlo codes. The simulations showed significant and systematic differences. Therefore, the last part of the work focused on the presentation of the two nuclear cross-section databases with total reaction cross-sections and fragment production cross-sections, that were generated within Francesca Luoni’s work. The databases were made open access to provide the research communities interested in such data, with the possibility to access them and plot them alongside the parametrizations.

The association “Freunde der Technische Universität zu Darmstadt e.V.” awards 13 prizes each year for outstanding scientific achievements - one prize for each TU department. Since 1987, the organization honored young scientists annually. The 13 departments select the best PhD thesis of the current year and report this to the association. The excellent PhD theses are awarded with 2,500 euros each, plus a one-year free membership in the association “Freunde der der Technische Universität”. (BP)

Further information

Vereinigung von Freunden der Technischen Universität zu Darmstadt e.V

Seeing. Experiencing. Understanding: The Open House offers an adventure trip into science and leads right into the heart of the cutting-edge research activities at GSI and FAIR with numerous information and entertainment offers. Scientists, engineers and technicians explain their work and give insights into the fascinating world of research. There is a wide range of opportunities for the guests. Thanks to the ticket system, visitors can conveniently plan their stay in advance and organize it individually.

On the date, the guests can explore the campus with guided tours. There are several tours to choose from, also in English and offerings with barrier-free access and without age restriction. All of them give a good overview of research facilities, technology departments, accelerators and experiments. The visitors can see, for example, the accelerator facilities, where during research operations ions can race at around 270,000 kilometers per second, or the experiments with detectors as tall as houses, which can detect several hundred reaction products simultaneously. Other bookable tours focus on the 20-hectare construction site for the world’s outstanding particle accelerator facility FAIR and the unique high-tech developments for this great future project.

The “Science Square” near the future FAIR control center, is all about enjoying the international atmosphere of GSI and FAIR with a diverse catering offer and entertainment program. There, as well, the focus is on science: There will be hands-on experiments and opportunities to talk directly with researchers about topics such as technology transfer or space travel. Persons interested in working at one of the most exciting international research facilities can get information about the wide variety of job opportunities at GSI and FAIR.

The Open House at GSI and FAIR is also part of the nationwide program for the Science Year 2023. The campaign is proclaimed annually with a changing theme by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2023 titled “Our Universe”. This year’s topic fits particularly well with the future accelerator center FAIR, which has the motto “The Universe in the Laboratory”. At FAIR, matter that usually only exists in the depth of space will be produced and explored in the laboratory. Scientists from all over the world will be able to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. In addition, the event coincides with the celebrations of the 850th anniversary of the city district Wixhausen, closely connected to GSI/FAIR as a neighboring district.

The GSI and FAIR managing directors Professor Paolo Giubellino, Dr. Ulrich Breuer and Jörg Blaurock look forward to the Open House with great anticipation: “All of us working at GSI and FAIR are very excited to welcome the visitors and want to spark enthusiasm and curiosity for science with the Open House. It is important for us to inform the public about our work and our concept for the future, to inspire people and to strengthen the interest for scientific and technical topics, also among the interested young people. Science needs many bright minds using their talent for research. We also want to show the possibilities of international collaboration and how society can benefit from modern research. That's why we strongly hope to welcome numerous guests on July 15.” (BP)

Information

Tickets: Individual “Open House” tickets free of charge must be purchased in advance.

Booking portal: free ticket booking at www.gsi.de/en/tagderoffenentuer (starting 1 June 2023)

Booking options: a) guided campus tours or construction site tours at fixed starting times (duration approx. 75 min.) with stay at the “Science Square” b) stay at the “Science Square” without guided tours (duration unlimited)

Maximum number: up to six tickets per person can be booked

Admission: The ticket entitles you to admission from 10 a.m., please arrive at the entrance at least 30 min. before the starting time of your booked tour

Language: Guided tours are also offered in English at certain times.

Age restrictions: All ages are welcome at the “Science Square”; age restriction for the guided tours can be found on the ticketing website.

Accessibility: Accessibility is provided in the "Science Square"; restrictions on guided tours can be found on the ticketing website.

Gastronomy: A gastronomic offer is available on a self-pay basis

The France@FAIR event, which emphasized the significance of global collaboration in research and innovation, was effectively organized by the FAIR Management and the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (MESR), France. The event brought together 15 leading companies in the big science industry in France, enabling them to explore the potential opportunities available at FAIR.

During the France@FAIR event, participants were able to take a tour of the civil construction site and gain firsthand insights into the project's progress. They also received a presentation on the research focus and project status by the Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of FAIR and GSI, and Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Drector of FAIR and GSI. This helped them to better understand the technological needs and challenges that the project aims to address. These experiences provided a valuable opportunity for the companies to engage with the project team and gain a deeper understanding of how they can contribute to the project's success. The companies were also presenting their competencies, experience and capabilities to the experts at FAIR. The insights and current opportunities in Research and Innovation between France and Germany were also shared, including research projects and Technology Transfer opportunities for sustainable development and cooperation.

The satellite event, aimed to understand the current requirements of the FAIR mega science project and how French companies can GET_INvolved with FAIR, was attended by 15 French companies. The satellite event was warmly opened by Consul General adjoint (Frankfurt) Thomas Buffin and attended by passionate scientists and members of the GSI/FAIR team. The Industry Partnership Officer, Arnauld Leservot, and the support of the Embassy of France in Germany and the Management of FAIR made the event possible.

“I was pleased to present the key importance of the French-German cooperation on Research and Innovation on behalf of the Embassy of France in Germany in this frame. I was very delighted to get to know and discuss lengthy with the passionate scientists and GSI/FAIR team on this important international project and its future prospects. I was very impressed by the site and the facilities under construction,” said Axelle Cheney-Grünberger, Senior International Policy and Innovation Expert from the Embassy of France in Germany.

"We are extremely delighted to see such a strong interest and participation from industry partners in the France@FAIR event. Collaborating with industry is crucial to the success of big science projects like FAIR, and we value the insights and contributions of these companies towards achieving our research and innovation goals. I look forward to have them actively engaged in the FAIR project in one form or the other", said Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of FAIR and GSI.

The France@FAIR event was a great success, highlighting the importance of international cooperation in research and innovation. Special thanks go to Axelle Cheney-Grünberger, Science Allemagne, for sharing her insights and current opportunities. Additionally, the following companies participated in the event and were able to gain valuable information about research projects and Technology Transfer opportunities: ALSYMEX, Technetics Group, Bertin Technologies, OMEGA PHYSICS, Thales Science, Chart Industries, Inc., Sigmaphi Accelerator Technologies, Air Liquide, ROBATEL industries, Framatome, Nexans, NUVIA VINCI, Cegelec CEM (VINCI Energies), and ISP System. The event provided an excellent opportunity for these companies to learn more about the FAIR science project and explore possibilities for sustainable development and cooperation. (BP)

Further information

France at FAIR

In-Kind and procurement

GET_INvolved programme

Technology transfer

Contact for inquiries

For queries, it is possible to get in touch with Arnauld Leservot (arnault.leservot@recherche.gouv.fr), Industrial Partnership Officer for Research Infrastructures at French Ministry of Research and Innovation, Dr. Sonia Utermann (S.Utermann@gsi.de), In-Kind and Procurement, Dr. Pradeep Ghosh (Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu; International-cooperations@fair-center.eu), International Cooperations

The project is well focused and deliberately restricted to three enabling technologies, which require the most urgent efforts and timely attention by the community: laser amplification at both high-energy and high-repetition-rate, the transport of high-energy laser beams over long distances, and the resilience of optical coating for large optics. To reach the goals, the major activity within THRILL will be organized around producing several prototypes demonstrating a high level of technical readiness. THRILL will address not yet explored technical bottlenecks — such as transport over long distances of large-aperture laser beams via relay imaging using all-reflective optics — and aims at proposing concrete steps to increase the performances and effectiveness of the industrial community through the co-development of advanced technologies up to prototyping in operational environments.

Advancing the technical readiness of these topics is strategically aligned with the long-term plans and evolution of the European ESFRI landmarks FAIR, ELI and Eu-XFEL, and of the French research infrastructure APOLLON, bringing them to the next level of development and strengthening their leading position. The project is also offering an outstanding opportunity to train a qualified work force for research institutions and industry. The structure of THRILL promotes synergetic work, fast transfer to industry and integrated research activities at the European level. Access to the research institutions will be granted as in-kind contribution.

GSI is well-suited for the coordinator role due to its long-standing experience in the conception, development and operation of mid-scale laser systems. GSI’s high-performance laser system PHELIX (Petawatt High-Energy Laser for Ion Experiments) has been one of the first lasers operated in combination with an accelerator research facility worldwide. PHELIX can deliver laser pulses with energies of up to 1,000 joules and laser pulses with a power of up to half a petawatt. “At PHELIX, scientists from around the world have the unique opportunity to conduct experiments that combine laser beams and ion beams produced in the existing accelerator facility. This makes it possible to study extreme states of matter, such as those that occur in stars or inside large planets,” explains Professor Vincent Bagnoud, head of the research department Plasma Physics/PHELIX at GSI/FAIR.

THRILL is funded by the EU’s HORIZON EUROPE program under the grant agreement 101095207. Participating institutions, apart from GSI/FAIR, are Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility and Forschungsverbund Berlin in Germany, as well as Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Amplitude Systems in France, the ELI ERIC, Laserlab-Europe AISBL in Belgium and the University of Rochester in the USA. (CP)

Further information

• THRILL projekt
• Plasma Physics/PHELIX at GSI/FAIR

Digitization requires data centers and competent personnel to operate them. But this is precisely where the challenges lie: On the one hand, the requirements and complexity of IT systems increase; on the other hand, it is becoming more and more difficult to find well-trained data center technicians and engineers. This is where DC Vision comes in. The software centralizes all information about the various components in the data center. For each individual rack, a digital twin is created which exactly replicates reality. If changes have to be made to a rack, AR glasses provide data center engineers with a variety of additional information about the rack they are currently working. This greatly simplifies remote services in particular, as all work steps can be clearly defined. The probability of errors drops precipitously. In addition, technicians can access other sources as needed, updating or adding data to the digital twin as appropriate.

Dr. Helmut Kreiser, head of the Green IT Cube from the IT department of GSI/FAIR, sees a lot of potential in the technology: “Our data center has multiple levels, and we’re currently running 128 racks per level. Documentation management takes up a lot of time here, but is crucial to ensure the security of the infrastructure. We’re pleased to be able to utilize the concept of the digital twin with DC Vision, which reduces this effort and provides considerable added value.” In the future, there are plans to use sensors more intensively in the data center and integrate them into the digital twin concept, as Dr. Kreiser explains: “Our goal is to enable visual inspections with AR glasses that provide us with all relevant information at a glance. Having all this data in view, we could directly identify errors and even anticipate potential interruptions.”

For DC Smarter, the Green IT Cube represents the ideal environment to demonstrate the software to interested companies or organizations. Jörg Hesselink, CEO DC Smarter, is enthusiastic about the cooperation: “We are delighted to be the first partner to move into the Digital Open Lab at the Green IT Cube. For us, this is the ideal combination of research environment and real data center infrastructure. Here we can both comprehensively present our software to prospects and also receive valuable suggestions for additional functionalities.”

DC Vision is based on an existing Data Center Infrastructure Management System (DCIM). The digital twin is created on the basis of existing information. Jörg Hesselink knows from experience: “Only 50 percent of all companies regularly update the required information. The user-friendly interface of our software simplifies asset management and prevents media disruptions, thus ensuring the secure and reliable operation of the infrastructure over the long term.” (DC Smarter/CP)

Further information

• Green IT Cube of GSI/FAIR
• Digital Open Lab of GSI/FAIR
• Website of DC Smarter

Following a welcome by the organizing Public Relations department and the head of the Human Resources Management, Tobias Gottschalk, the girls first went on an accompanied discovery tour to some stations on campus. They took a look at the experimental storage ring ESR, visited the treatment site for tumor therapy with carbon ions and marveled at the large detector setup HADES. The program also included a walk to the viewing platform of the large construction site for the future FAIR accelerator.

Afterwards, the girls learned more about individual work areas on campus in small groups. These included science activities in materials research, atomic physics and at the ALICE experiment, as well as numerous infrastructure facilities such as electronics departments, workshops, target laboratory, detector laboratory, cryogenics, construction, facility management and IT. In a special FAIR construction offer, some of the girls were also able to get a glimpse of construction activity on the large-scale site, getting up close and personal with excavators, cranes and lots and lots of concrete. In biophysics, even a small group took part in Girls'Day in English.

“We were very happy about the enormous popularity and the lively participation. For us as the organizing department and, of course, for our colleagues in the scientific and technical departments, this is a confirmation of the attractiveness of our offer,” explains organizer Carola Pomplun, who is a physicist herself and works in the Public Relations department at GSI and FAIR. “Many groups built or made something small on campus that could be taken home. To get into personal contact with our colleagues on site, to see the work ‘live’ and to ask and answer questions directly, allows the participants a deep insight into the different fields of work.”

“Besides the possibility of working at GSI and FAIR as a student, there is also the option to do your bachelor's, master's or doctoral theses with us. In addition we offer a variety of apprenticeships as well as dual study programs,” says Tobias Gottschalk. “If the girls liked it here, I’d like to invite them to apply for those, or for a voluntary or compulsory internship as well.”

Girls’Day is a day of action all over Germany. On this day, businesses, universities, and other institutions all over Germany open their doors to schoolgirls from grade 5 and above. The participants learn about courses of study and training in professions in the areas of IT, natural sciences, and technology — areas in which women have rarely been employed in the past. GSI and — since its foundation — also FAIR have been participating in the annual event since the early days of Girls'Day. (CP)

Further information

• Girls'Day at GSI/FAIR (German)
• Official Girls'Day website (German)

The students gained insight into innovative methods for tumor therapy using ion beams via introductions to particle therapy and a review of the carbon therapy pilot project that took place at GSI, where over 440 people were treated on campus from 1997 to 2008. During a tour of the research facilities, they visited the former treatment site and received information about the current state of research.

During a subsequent hands-on exercise, they had the opportunity to create treatment plans for therapy using the professional software MatRad, developed by Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum in Heidelberg, and got to know more about the benefits of different methods. In a final video conference in English with participants from other research institutions in Germany, Georgia and Slovenia, they exchanged their experiences.

The PTMCs have been set up by GSI/FAIR and are organized internationally by coordinator Yiota Foka. Since its first pilot at GSI/FAIR, six PTMCs sessions have been organized per year reaching about 1500 each year in 2021 and 2022, in online mode. In 2023, nine sessions of PTMC took place mostly in-person or in hybrid mode, in 35 institutes from 20 countries. Further yearly events at GSI/FAIR and others around the world are planned for the future.

Each year, more than 13,000 students from 60 countries take part in all IPPOG Masterclass events of about 225 universities or research centers for a day to unlock the mysteries of particle physics. The events in Germany are held in collaboration with the Netzwerk Teilchenwelt, of which GSI/FAIR is a member. The goal of the nationwide network for communicating particle physics to young people and teachers is to make particle physics accessible to a broader public. In addition, the new PTMC demonstrates benefits of fundamental research for society and the role of particle physics for tumor therapy. (CP)

The workshop is a part of the preparations of implementation of the new experiments. The call for research proposals took place last year, submission, evaluation and selection as well. The goal of the current IBPER workshop was to discuss the experiment proposals of the research groups and to plan the future experiments during the next beam time at GSI/FAIR. Numerous scientists from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, France and Italy participated in the workshop and shared information about the experiments, which deal with nanocomposites, moon dust and cold shields, among other topics.

The meeting was opened by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, and ESA Campaign Manager Dr. Anna Fogtmann. An overview of IBPER and IBER activities at GSI was given by the head of GSI’s Biophysics Department, Professor Marco Durante. During a guided tour, the guests got an insight into the GSI and FAIR research facilities before research plans were discussed.

The GSI accelerator facility is the only one in Europe that can generate all of the ion beams that occur in our solar system, which range from the lightest one, hydrogen, to the heaviest, uranium. The research opportunities will be expanded even further by the international accelerator facility FAIR. Even higher energies will be available for cosmic radiation simulation, enabling groundbreaking new insights. Using these pioneering research opportunities of GSI/FAIR, participants in the new IBPER program will be able to advance their selected research projects to expand knowledge of the biological and physical effects of cosmic radiation.

With space missions to the Moon and beyond, the complex space radiation environment can be a limiting factor of human and robotic space exploration. Ionizing radiation impacts living organisms and also interacts with matter, affecting electronic devices, and disrupting satellite operations. This creates the need for investigations into the effects of interactions of ionizing radiation with biological tissues, physical matter, and hardware, to better assess the risk of adverse effects of space radiation leading to designing countermeasures and mitigation strategies for spaceflight.

The results, generated by the ESA-GSI-collaboration will provide future-oriented information not only for space travel but also for life on earth. For example, data from the experiments can provide more detailed insights into radiation risks on earth. They can also help to optimize radiation protection measures and can improve radiation therapies for treating cancer. (BP)

Further information

IBER & IBPER Webpage

Jörg Blaurock Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR (remotely), and Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, International Cooperations of GSI and FAIR, welcomed the Indian guests. The visit focused on informing about the status of the FAIR Project, current and planned research activities at GSI as well as the high-tech developments for FAIR, especially the Indian activities in this regard. During his visit, the ambassador had the opportunity to visit the construction site with a guided tour and see a few chosen sections in campus.

During their visit, the delegation also met with Indian students, researchers, and employees of Indian origin who are currently working at the research center GSI and FAIR. The Ambassador was impressed with their contributions to the project and their dedication to scientific research.

The visit was a success and helped to strengthen the long standing partnership between India and Germany in the field of scientific research and technology. India's investment in the FAIR project demonstrates its commitment to fostering global collaborations and advancing scientific research.

The Ambassador's visit highlights India's growing presence in the global scientific community and its efforts to encourage its citizens to pursue careers in research and development. It also underscores the importance of international collaboration in advancing scientific research and promoting innovation. The Ambassador also pressed for even more brain circulation between Germany and India using mobility opportunities for students, researchers and engineers through the GET_INvolved Programme. Overall, the Ambassador's visit was a significant step forward in strengthening India's role in the global scientific community and advancing scientific research and technological innovation. (BP)

India at FAIR

India is one of the founding countries of FAIR, and holds 3,5 percent of the current FAIR GmbH shares. Indian Researchers, under the guidance of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, have been working both in experiments and accelerators, designing and realizing components in Indian scientific institutions and industries. Indian scientists have been essential in shaping the overall scientific program of FAIR and in the conception of the accelerator complex. They are engaged in building detectors for the NUSTAR (Nuclear Structure, Astrophysics and Reactions) and, CBM (Compressed Baryonic Matter) scientific pillars. Another area of major participation is building high-tech equipment to be used at the heart of the FAIR accelerator such as Vacuum chambers, radiation-hard cables and high-tech power convertors.

Further information

GET_INvolved Programme

For inquiries, please contact: Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, E-Mail Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu or International@gsi.de.

The EDC were opened by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of FAIR and GSI, with an introduction to the science of GSI/FAIR. With twenty presentations and many discussion opportunities, the ECD provided a colorful bouquet of topics and a broad forum around the subject. The ECD are always accompanied by an industrial exhibition, where this time ten companies from the field of cryogenics presented their portfolios. For FAIR/GSI and the in-kind partners, this was an opportunity to talk to potential suppliers on site.

Naturally, one of the focusses of the meeting this time was the international FAIR accelerator, which is currently being built in Darmstadt. Numerous presentations reported on the cryogenic infrastructure and cryogenic systems of the future FAIR ring accelerator SIS100 and the fragment separator Super-FRS as well as on the FAIR construction site planning. A highlight was the on-site visit to the FAIR cryogenics facility on the construction site, which is well advanced in its installation.

The FAIR cryogenic plant is one of the largest possible cryogenics plants that can still be built from one unit. In order to guide the particles along their paths, strong magnetic fields are required, which can most efficiently be achieved through the phenomenon of superconductivity. To achieve this, the magnets must be cooled to a temperature of four kelvin (- 269°C). For that purpose, the cryogenic system delivers a maximum flow rate of over 21,000 liters of liquid helium per hour, for a total helium storage of nine tons, with a maximum cooling capacity of 14 kilowatts at four kelvin. (CP)

Radiation therapy, manufacturing radiopharmaceuticals, developing and certifying drugs and designing energy-efficient semiconductors and new high-performance materials – these are just some of the different areas that are of great economic relevance. They are also areas in which accelerator-based technologies offer enormous advantages to research and development, in manufacturing and for quality control. However, at present the potential of such technologies is not being fully tapped outside the field of science. The Helmholtz Innovation Platform HI-ACTS, with the participation of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, is stepping up to change this.

HI-ACTS will be jointly operated by GSI together with project coordinator DESY, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. Accelerator technologies operated by the Helmholtz Association will be made available to industrial users in the form of a cost-effective full-service infrastructure. This means that existing research infrastructures, such as DESY's synchrotron radiation source PETRA III and its successor PETRA IV, will be easier to use when studying industrial questions.

At GSI and the international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently under construction, a position will be created for this purpose, which will further develop and professionalize relationships with relevant industrial partners. Partners can, for example, use experiment time at the accelerator, as is already established in a collaboration between the European Space Agency ESA and the Biophysics research department for radiation hardness testing of electronic components to be used in space, or in the production of nanostructures in materials research. The computing capacities of GSI/FAIR's particularly energy-efficient high-performance computing center Green IT Cube can also be employed by external partners.

“To network with relevant partners for transfer, GSI has established a proactive innovation ecosystem and sees the HI-ACTS innovation platform as an ideal partner for further expanding and professionalizing the areas of infrastructure use and services around its accelerator facilities,” says Dr. Tobias Engert, head of Technology Transfer at GSI/FAIR.

“Accelerator technology has great innovation potential that needs to be exploited for a wide range of societal challenges,” adds Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. “The new HI-ACTS platform will provide a single point of contact for industrial partners, establish administrative procedures and offer the best possible support for researchers.”

In addition to making better use of the existing accelerators in the research centres themselves, HI-ACTS aims to establish the technology of compact accelerators so that these devices can easily be used on site, for example when developing drugs, or as powerful instruments for cancer therapy.

The platform will set up Technology Labs, specifically drawing on the competencies of the scientific partners for relevant technological developments, such as compact accelerators or cyclotron solutions for radionuclide production. From the very beginning, HI-ACTS will be designed in collaboration with industrial companies, ensuring that the needs of companies working in fields such as medical technology, high-performance semiconductors, (radio‑)pharmaceuticals and radiotheranostic materials can be specifically addressed.

HI-ACTS is one of two projects that are currently receiving funding within the framework of the Helmholtz Association’s “Innovation Platforms” funding scheme. The common factor between all the applications is that they specifically address challenges for which the research centres within the Helmholtz Association can develop sustainable solutions relevant to society at large.

Implementation of the platform will start as of now and will run for a period of three years, with a total volume of just under 13 million euros. Current plans envisage HI-ACTS operating beyond this period in the long term. (DESY/CP)

Further information

• Press release of Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotrons DESY
• Project website HI-ACTS
• HI-ACTS at GSI/FAIR

Leading international scientists, partly from GSI and FAIR, spent five days in Aschaffenburg discussing the latest experimental and theoretical results in the field of quark-gluon plasma (QGP). The QGP, a state of the early universe in its first microseconds after the Big Bang, is produced in the laboratory in large accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and will also be studied with collisions of nuclei at the FAIR accelerator facility under construction in Darmstadt. The event was organized by scientists from GSI Darmstadt and the University of Münster, together with colleagues from Bielefeld, Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Gießen and Heidelberg.

After the last conference was held online due to the covid pandemic, the lively discussions around talks in parallel and plenary sessions in Aschaffenburg were much appreciated by the participants. The conference was preceded by a student day with presentations for early-career scientists held at GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, which included a guided tour of the FAIR construction site.

A series of public events gave people in Aschaffenburg and the surrounding area an insight into nuclear and particle physics and their essential role in understanding our Universe. A public evening lecture by Prof. Luciano Rezzolla from Goethe University Frankfurt rounded off the program. The next edition of the conference will take place in the fall of 2024 in Japan.

Artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, advanced computing, deep space missions... Projects for new advanced space applications are flourishing. To carry them out, it is essential to use highly advanced radiation-resistant electronic devices and to acquire decisive knowledge of shielding properties and radiobiology for astronauts going to the Moon and beyond. Capable of mimicking the effects of space highly penetrating radiation, very high energy (VHE) ion beams have become extremely attractive for qualifying advanced electronics for use in space and shielding and radiobiology testing. However, there are such European facilities aimed specifically for space applications.

Funded under the Horizon Europe programme, HEARTS (High-Energy Accelerators for Radiation Testing and Shielding) will aim at developing and establishing a European infrastructure for research and industrial access to high-energy heavy ion facilities for the fields of radiation effects in electronics, shielding and radiobiology. For this purpose, it will provide upgrade two VHE ion facilities and provide access to space industries and academia on a routinely basis.

HEARTS will be instrumental to ensure an autonomous European access to space. By making such facilities available in Europe, European companies will be less dependable on critical facilities available elsewhere. By the end of the project in 2026, the HEARTS is expected to bring Europe to be in a position to easily accommodate the current demand for VHE ions and to meet the increasing demand that is foreseen by the end of the decade.

The project is coordinated by CERN, together with GSI as main high-energy ion accelerator infrastructures. HEARTS also includes the University of Padova as an academic partner, as well as Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space as industrial participants, all of whom have extensive experience in the field of radiation effects and a strong interest in VHE ion testing.

On the GSI part, the HEARTS project is advanced by the Biophysics Department headed by Professor Marco Durante. The expertise available here in the field of space radiation physics and biology is receiving wide international recognition. As part of the HEARTS work packages, GSI biophysics will make significant preparations for the use of the new FAIR ring accelerator SIS100 for shielding testing. For the HEARTS program, it will be essential the realization of the biophysics test station at SIS100, foreseen in the CBM experimental cave, which will allow a world-record in cosmic ray simulations using 10 GeV/n Fe-ions. The only other facility, Brookhaven National Laboratory in US funded by NASA, offers a cosmic ray simulator with cutoff at 1 GeV/n.

Another work package with strong GSI participation focuses on defining and calibrating the beam delivery sensors for both material shielding and microelectronics. (CERN/BP)

Further informationen

• HEARTS is a project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101082402, through the Space Work Programme of the European Commission.
• Call to action: Follow the project on LinkedIn

Since the 1960s, earthquakes have been predicted by measuring radon gas, which leaks from microcracks in the bedrock due to movements in the Earth's crust. “But is has become increasingly clear that the radon level measured in the air or soil can be influenced by temperature fluctuations and air humidity, so instead we’re measuring the values in the groundwater,” says Dr. Ayse Ataç Nyberg, professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, who is leading the project. 

GSI plays a key role in the project in terms of realizing the sensing and analytics. Building on particle and radiation detectors, signal processing electronics and data processing systems used for nuclear physics experiments at GSI facilities, the participating GSI research group is developing the sensor units for artEmis. In addition to radon detectors, the units will include sensors for temperature, pressure, conductivity and other physical parameters. By using artificial intelligence (AI) methods, which also result from basic research at GSI, the sensor units can be operated autonomously. GSI scientist Dr. Jürgen Gerl, who is responsible for the sensor units in the artEmis project with his team, confirms, “We are pleased to make an important contribution to the practical realization of an early warning system for earthquakes by applying detection systems and methods from our basic research.”

As a first step, measurements will be carried out on fault lines in Greece, Italy and Switzerland. Through research stations in these countries, the team has access to groundwater sources where sensor units can be placed. Hundreds of such units, distributed across the earthquake-prone areas, each form a network. Advanced analysis of the network data is performed using machine learning and AI. The goal here is to clearly link changes in local radon concentration to seismic activity and rule out other causes (false alarms). (LW)

More information

artEmis project

News of KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Gerhard Kraft was born in Heidelberg on October 29, 1941. He studied physics in Heidelberg and Cologne, where he also received his doctorate, and initially worked in the fields of atomic and nuclear physics. This was followed by research stays in Strasbourg and Berkeley in the USA, where he became acquainted with the ion beam therapy activities there. In 1973 he joined GSI in the research department of atomic physics. From 1981, he headed the new GSI biophysics department as founding director. He also held honorary professorships at the University of Kassel and the Technical University of Darmstadt as well as a Helmholtz professorship of the Helmholtz Association.

Professor Gerhard Kraft's main field of activity was heavy ion therapy and his work is inseparably linked with the initiative to establish heavy ion therapy in Germany and Europe. His vision was to develop an extremely precise irradiation method in which the advantages of the ion beam - its precision and high biological effect - could be fully exploited. Thanks to his initiative, his foresight and persuasiveness, this undertaking succeeded. The method for cancer therapy with ion beams, which he initiated, was advanced at GSI in Darmstadt from basic research in physics and radiobiology to clinical application. Cancer cells are effectively destroyed while healthy tissue is spared.

In joint research by the GSI Helmholtzzentrum and its partners – the Radiological Clinic of the University of Heidelberg, the German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg (DKFZ) and the Research Center Dresden-Rossendorf (now HZDR) – the novel tumor therapy was developed and realized in a pilot project. The first patient irradiation in 1997 was preceded by four years of technical construction of the therapy unit and 20 years of basic research in radiation biology and physics. The construction of the treatment unit at GSI was primarily a joint effort of the biophysics, materials research, experiment electronics, information technology and accelerator departments.

Professor Gerhard Kraft struggled with tireless commitment and perseverance to set up this pilot project. Years later, he still recalled the teamwork in the pilot project with high appreciation: "At that time, most people hardly thought it possible to make the outstanding biological-medical properties of ion beams technically usable for therapy. This was only possible through the interaction of many disciplines such as nuclear and atomic physics, radiation biology and medicine, accelerator physics, computer science and many more."

From 1997 to 2008, more than 440 patients with tumors in the head and neck region were treated with ion beams at GSI with great success. The promising findings went directly into the construction of the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center HIT. Subsequently, Professor Gerhard Kraft dedicated himself to the further dissemination of heavy ion therapy and, for example, accompanied the construction of similar therapy facilities in Marburg and Shanghai, advising major corporations such as Rhön-Klinikum AG and Siemens AG. He also co-authored the proposals for the ion beam therapies in Pavia (CNAO) and in Wiener Neustadt (MedAustron).

The renowned scientist has shaped the research of the biological effects of ion beams nationally and internationally with his work. He was involved in many initiatives to develop ion therapy in Europe and was a founding member of the ion therapy initiative "European Network for Research in Light Ion Hadrontherapy" (ENLIGHT) at CERN. In addition, he was always an extremely experienced advisor in the Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy with Heavy Ions. His initiative also led to the establishment of a professorship in radiation biophysics at the Technical University of Darmstadt, which significantly strengthened radiation research in Germany. Together with the Biophysics Department of GSI, the Darmstadt site could thus be developed into one of the leading centers of radiation research.

Even after his retirement, he continued to work intensively in research, focusing in particular on research into the therapeutic effects of radon. As a patient with a severe chronic disease, he was convinced of its positive effects after many radon cures. Together with his colleagues and students, he also conducted fundamental research on the transport and accumulation of radon in organisms, thus advancing the field of radiation protection on radon, a topic that is becoming increasingly important. Here, again, his unerring instinct for important technologies and research topics has been evident.

He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Erwin Schrödinger Prize of the Helmholtz Association in 1999 and the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class in 2008. He was also awarded the prestigious Bacq and Alexander Prize by the European Radiation Research Society ERRS in 2006, as well as the Otto Hahn Prize of the City of Frankfurt and the Ulrich Hagen Prize of the German Society for Biological Radiation Research.

Professor Gerhard Kraft created an exemplary interdisciplinary research culture in his department, which always had a balanced proportion of male and female researchers and is still very successful today. He also dedicated himself tirelessly to the education of young scientists and mentored significantly more than a hundred final theses.

With his pioneering research for the benefit of society, Professor Kraft's work has left traces that are even visible in the daily lives of the people of Darmstadt. For example, the so-called Bragg curve, the base of the tumor therapy with heavy ions, is eternalized in the glass windows of the Protestant church in Darmstadt-Wixhausen district; it shows the dose distribution of heavy ion therapy.

The death of Professor Gerhard Kraft means the loss of a leading figure for the sciences. GSI and FAIR will always remember Professor Gerhard Kraft with great honor. Our deepest compassion goes out to his family. (BP)

The artist wants to create an immersive interactive installation generating a poetic reinterpretation.“The opportunity to work and research at FAIR/GSI will allow me to delve into the hidden poetry of physics, the links that beat inside atoms and verses,” says Violeta López López.

GSI wants to promote interdisciplinary exchange and creativity together with Kultur einer Digitalstadt and the artist. The aim is to create new perspectives and inspire innovation in science and art. Through the artistic approach, complex scientific concepts can be communicated to a wider audience. During expert discussions, in the Open Lab and at the Final View, the research project of the residency can be experienced by all participants and the public.

The "Artist-in-Science-Residence" is supported by Kulturfonds Frankfurt Rhein-Main, Dr. Hans-Riegel-Stiftung Bonn, Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt and Digitalstadt. (KG/BP)

Further information

Project Artist-in-Science-Residence

Press information on Artist-in-Science-Residence 2023

The Management of GSI and FAIR is very glad about the commitment of the Federal Ministry of Research and the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts to provide about the additional funding for FAIR and thus to secure "First Science" at FAIR as the host state. Despite the difficult global economic and geopolitical conditions, this represents a significant step forward for the FAIR project and for the excellent research that can be conducted at FAIR. FAIR's 'First Science' stage, for example, can provide completely new insights into the structure and behavior of matter and open up new possibilities for tumor therapy with high-intensity charged particles for the benefit of society. The scientific review evaluated FAIR's scientific program as compelling and world-leading in many aspects.

The international partners have also acknowledged the additional costs and want to make further commitments in a timely manner. Therefore, the current decisions are an outstanding signal for the site and its employees. But they are also an outstanding signal for science in Germany and Europe.

Further Information

Press release of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (in German)

Hessen's Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus today inaugurated the AI Innovation Lab at the Green IT Cube of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. Funded with approximately 10 million euros, the project serves as a focal point for companies, startups and academia with the central goal of providing access to an AI supercomputing infrastructure.

In the lab, AI systems and applications can be developed, trained, tested and evaluated. Users from research and application not only receive assistance in the design and implementation of AI projects and access to the infrastructure, but also support in the adaptation of alternative hardware architectures and can perform computationally intensive AI tasks. This enables companies to accelerate processes, make workflows more efficient, and develop leap innovations. Industries that benefit from computing infrastructure include finance, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and mobility and logistics. “Sustainable and state-of-the-art AI computing infrastructure is a prerequisite for the long-term economic success of companies. With the AI Innovation Lab, we are creating a center that is unique in Germany, which will increase start-up dynamics in Hessen, boost the state's innovative capacity and provide a competitive edge,” Hessen's Minister of Digital Strategy and Innovation Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus emphasized.

“Many Hessian start-ups use AI for their innovative business models — from agricultural technology to finance and environmental technologies. This is precisely why the AI Innovation Lab at the Green IT Cube plays a key role in the transfer from science to business. At the same time, we are strengthening Hessen as a start-up location for sustainable business ideas. We we need them to contribute to the economic transformation in Hessen: We want to facilitate the transformation to a climate-neutral economy and make Hessen the leading location for green start-ups,” said Hessen's Minister of Economics Tarek Al-Wazir, pointing out that one-third of start-ups in Hessen are already green start-ups.

To house the hardware of the future innovation lab in hessian.AI, TU Darmstadt has signed a framework agreement with GSI Helmholtzzentrum to use the water-cooled Green IT Cube, one of the most sustainable computing infrastructures in the world in terms of energy use. In its entirety, the AI Innovation Lab will be among the top 300 AI supercomputers in the world. With its 38 compute nodes and 304 GPUs (graphics cards) and half a petabyte of storage space, it provides an excellent infrastructure for research and development. The computers have a weight of about six tons. Several kilometers of cables were installed.

“The move of the AI Innovation Center into the Green IT Cube bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and application, because low energy consumption is a key prerequisite for the sustainable use of AI and the operation of high-performance data centers,” explained Angela Dorn, Hessen's Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts. “The Ministry of Science has therefore provided 5.5 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the expansion of the Green IT Cube into a research and transfer center for water cooling of mainframe computers.”

Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl, President of TU Darmstadt: “As a future-oriented building block of the strong AI ecosystem in Hessen, the AI Innovation Lab creates excellent framework conditions to transfer the excellent AI research in width and depth at TU Darmstadt and all universities involved in hessian.AI into applications. With the help of robust, secure and efficient AI systems, we want to develop solutions for global challenges in exchange with our partners in business and society. I am pleased that we can continue to realize this goal in hessian.AI thanks to the great support of the Hessian state government.”

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Mira Mezini, Co-Director of hessian.AI: “The AI Innovation Lab of hessian.AI, the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence, opens up new opportunities for Hessian companies, startups and academia in dealing with AI as a key technology. Access to large compute infrastructures and the offer of individual services from a single source in close connection to hessian.AI's cutting-edge research are necessary prerequisites for raising the potential for new AI innovations in Hessen and thus promoting AI sovereignty. It's great that with the help of the Hessian state government, we can further advance cutting-edge AI research and application in Hessen.”

“High-performance computing and the use of artificial intelligence play a major role in modern science and are rapidly gaining importance. Our sustainable data center Green IT Cube offers optimal conditions to further advance the development of AI and to link it to our research. The funding we have received as part of the REACT-EU program has allowed the expansion of spare capacities for use by external project partners and allows the development of important synergies like the one we are proud to inaugurate today,” says Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR.

Dr. Ulrich Breuer, Administrative Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, adds, “With our living Digital Open Lab, we provide an environment for the development, testing and upscaling of energy-efficient high-performance computing up to the scale of industrial demonstrators. In the framework of cooperations with scientific institutions and companies, in particular startups, we offer a platform to contribute to green computing and the development of AI-based technologies. We are pleased to welcome hessian.AI as a partner to our campus.”

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Johannes Kabisch, Chief Scientific Officer of Proteineer GmbH: “Proteineer GmbH uses AI on a large scale, for example to find new proteins for the production of mRNA therapeutics in huge data sets for our customers. The GPUs and computational nodes in the AI Innovation Lab will help us to significantly improve and accelerate these developments.”

Michael Wilczynska, Managing Director WIANCO OTT Robotics: “The further developments of the disruptive Cognitive AI solution EMMA include AI modules based on neural networks, which require a high level of computing power to train the models, for example to classify so-called wood defects in production batches and to automatically control the resulting evaluation in terms of the process. In addition to an outstanding AI computing infrastructure, the AI Innovation Lab also delivers a holistic range of development-supporting components that make the business location even more attractive and significantly increase its performance.”

“Machine learning and computationally intensive algorithms are the core of our products and research activities. The GPU cluster in the Green IT Cube provides the necessary computing capacity regionally to further expand our competitive advantage,” said Dr.-Ing. Stéphane Foulard, CEO of Compredict GmbH.

Dr. Andreas Knirsch, Head of Software, Wingcopter GmbH: “The computational infrastructure of the AI Innovation Lab could help us enormously to train and test our AI to the extent necessary for autonomous, but at the same time safe and reliable flights. The initiative strengthens our region and keeps know-how as well as experts in the country on a key future topic.”

“Given the ever-increasing complexity of DeepLearning models, the requirements for humans and machines to use the systems are also increasing. The AI Innovation Lab addresses both areas and creates a very good starting point for startups from the Rhine-Main region and beyond,” said Erik Kaiser, CEO of summetix GmbH.

Interlocking building blocks of the AI future agenda.

“Hessen has the potential to become the Silicon Valley of Europe, and we as the state government are investing in the future technology of AI in order to make Hessen future-proof in both the cities and the state. We are convinced that AI can only develop its potential if people have confidence in the development and use of AI. This applies to existing measures such as the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence hessian.AI or the Center for Responsible Digitalization ZEVEDI, as well as to our ‘AI Quality & Testing Hub’, which is unique in Germany. And with our funded Center for Applied Quantum Computing, Hessen is already preparing for the use of the next generation of supercomputers,” Sinemus concluded.

Further information

• Press release of the Hessian Ministry of Digital Strategy and Innovation (German)
• Website of the AI Innovation Lab

Dr. Daria Kostyleva received the Young Scientist Award for the discovery of several new isotopes beyond the proton drip line, the study of the three-proton decay of the potassium isotope ³¹K, and for her recent contributions to future medical imaging and possibly oncological therapies using radioactive beams as a member of the BARB collaboration (Biomedical Applications of Radioactive ion Beams).

The Young Scientist Award is bestowed annually by GENCO to outstanding young researchers working in the field of experimental or theoretical nuclear physics or chemistry. The winners are selected by an international jury. The award is endowed with 1,000 euros and is handed over during the NUSTAR annual meeting.

Additionally, the GENCO community honored with a Membership Award:

• Professor Dario Vretenar (University of Zagreb, Croatia) for outstanding contributions to contemporary theoretical nuclear physics and in particular a novel approach to nuclear structure and dynamics based on in-medium chiral perturbation theory for nuclear matter
• Dr. Jürgen Gerl (GSI/FAIR) for the development of in-flight gamma-ray spectroscopy of relativistic beams both at GSI and elsewhere and for his relentless effort for many years as NUSTAR technical coordinator
• Professor Luis Fraile (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) for pioneering the use of innovative fast scintillator materials and application to the fast-timing technique, which have led to a new era in the study of short-lived excited states of exotic nuclei at several facilities world-wide (CP)

Further information

• GENCO website

The delegation of the FAIR/GSI Management visited Prague and Řež to participate in the “FAIR Days Czech Republic”. The event started with an inauguration of the FAIR Seminar at the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague to students and faculty members of the university campus. Scientific Managing Director of GSI/FAIR Professor Paolo Giubellino and Technical Managing Director of GSI/FAIR Jörg Blaurock talked about the scientific content, potential discoveries, new technologies and technical challenges that await us in the construction and operation of this substantial international laboratory. Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, International Cooperations FAIR/GSI, presented the GET_INvolved Programme, enabling the participation of CTU students and researchers in internships and research within FAIR/GSI.

The Scientific Managing Director Professor Paolo Giubellino and other senior scientists participated in the FAIR-CZ Scientific Advisory Committee and reviewed the progress made by the researchers at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The NPI CAS coordinates the cooperation with FAIR on behalf of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. In parallel to the Scientific Advisory Committee meeting in Prague, the Technical Managing Director Jörg Blaurock, together with Jiri Janosec, Industry Liasion Officer - Czech Republic, and Dr. Pradeep Ghosh visited the Research Center Řež and company Vakuum Praha to meet the stakeholders and informed themselves about the competencies and capabilities available.

At the final session of the two FAIR Days, the joint management of FAIR presented the Project progress and contribution of the Czech Republic to the FAIR project. After that, the representatives from three institutions in the Czech Republic and FAIR/GSI signed three GET_INvolved Programme partnership agreements focused on facilitating the mobility of students, researchers and scientific/technical staff between the two countries. The Nuclear Physics Institute of CAS, represented by the director Ing. Dr. Ondřej Svoboda and by the head of the FAIR-CZ project, Dr. Andrej Kugler, the Czech Technical University in Prague, represented by rector Prof. Dr. Vojtěch Petráček, the Palacký University in Olomouc, represented by Ass. Prof. Dr. Vít Procházka. Prof. Paolo Giubellino and Jörg Blaurock signed on behalf of FAIR and GSI. The agreements focus on joint research projects, dedicated internships as part of the University curricula, and joint training programs. It also encourages collaboration between scientists and researchers from both countries in experiments at FAIR/GSI, fostering opportunities for students and researchers to gain valuable experience, advance their careers, and drive innovation and discovery in both countries. The signing ceremony was also attended by the vice president of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Dr. Ing. Ilona Müllerová.

Speaking at the ceremony, the representative of the Czech Republic at FAIR Council, Dr Andrej Kugler from NPI of CAS, said: "These agreements are a major step forward in strengthening the ties between our two countries and promoting collaboration in the fields of education, research and innovation. We are committed to working together to provide opportunities for students and researchers to gain valuable experience and advance their careers."

Professor Vojtěch Petráček, Rector of CTU in Prague, stated: "The Czech Republic has an excellent reputation in particle physics in the world, and the scientists and students of CTU in Prague also have their share in it. We participate in research in practically all major scientific projects around the world, and we are happy to be part of the ambitious FAIR project practically from the beginning."

The Scientific Managing Director of FAIR/GSI, Professor Paolo Giubellino, expressed his excitement about the agreements, stating, “Signing of these partnership agreements is yet another milestone in our long-standing partnership with the Czech Republic. FAIR/GSI is a Talent Factory and we look forward to working together to support the next generation of scientists and researchers and to continue to drive innovation.”

The Technical Managing Director of FAIR/GSI, Jörg Blaurock, stated, “The signing of these agreements is a positive step towards increasing collaboration between the Czech Republic and the International research facility FAIR/GSI in the field of education, research and innovation. It will open up new opportunities for students and researchers to gain valuable experience, advance their careers, and help drive innovation and capacity building in both countries." (BP)

The GET_INvolved Programme

The GET_INvolved Programme at FAIR/GSI currently has a four partner-funded program for the Czech Republic: Nuclear Physics Institute at the Czech Academy of Science, Charles University, Czech Technical University in Prague and Palacký University in Olomouc. More information on the opportunities will soon be made available on the website.

Further information

Press release CAS

Czech Republic as Aspirant Partner of FAIR

NPI CAS, Řež

CTU Prag

UPOL Olomouc

In the framework of the ALICE Masterclass, the students were able to gain an insight into the scientific work and data analysis . Under the expert guidance of the scientists on site, they analyzed the ALICE experiment data taken in proton-proton collisions as well as collisions of lead nuclei. To conclude the day of research, they discussed their results with other participants in a joint video link to other research institutions. A virtual visit to the ALICE measurement setup at CERN, as well as an on-site visit to the linear accelerator UNILAC and the large experiment HADES on the GSI/FAIR campus was also part of the day's program.

“I was excited by the unique opportunity to work with real measurement data from ALICE, and in such an impressive environment as GSI,” says Masterclass participant Nico Moch, who traveled from North Rhine-Westphalia especially for the event. “It was a fascinating insight into the beginnings of our universe for me.”

ALICE is one of the four large-scale experiments at the LHC collider at the CERN research center in Geneva and deals in particular with heavy ion collisions of lead atomic nuclei. When lead atomic nuclei collide with unimaginable impact in the LHC, conditions are created similar to the first moments of the universe. During the collisions, a so-called quark-gluon plasma is created for a very short time - a state of matter that existed in the universe shortly after the Big Bang. This plasma transforms back into normal matter within fractions of a second. The particles produced in the process provide information about the properties of the quark-gluon plasma. Thus, the measurements can peer into the birth of the cosmos and reveal information about the basic building blocks of matter and their interactions.

The relationship between GSI and ALICE is traditionally very close: The two large ALICE detector systems Time Projection Chamber (TPC) and Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) were designed and built with significant contributions of GSI’s ALICE department and Detector Laboratory. Today scientists from both departments focus on the TPC, which is the centerpiece for track reconstruction in the central ALICE barrel setup and is also indispensable for particle identification. Scientist from GSI's IT department contribute strongly to the new data acquisition and analysis software O2, and the GSI computer center is an integral part of the computer network for data analysis of the ALICE experiment.

The Masterclasses are organized by the IPPOG (International Particle Physics Outreach Group), of which GSI is an associate member. Each year, more than 13,000 students from 60 countries take part in the events of about 225 universities or research centers for a day to unlock the mysteries of particle physics. All events in Germany are held in collaboration with the Netzwerk Teilchenwelt, of which GSI/FAIR is a member. The goal of the nationwide network for communicating particle physics to young people and teachers is to make particle physics accessible to a broader public. (CP)

Further information

• Masterclasses at GSI/FAIR (German)
• Physics Masterclasses of the IPPOG
• Research department ALICE at GSI/FAIR
• ALICE Collaboration

The work packages, which originally were targeted on the cooperation of Russian and European research facilities, have been reorganized and focused on European projects, and the cooperation with Russian institutes was stopped. Key aspect of the agenda of the Annual Meeting was the discussion of the adapted working packages with focus on heavy-ion physics at FAIR, neutron physics, synchrotrons, lepton-collider, high-power laser, detector development and programs to support Ukrainian institutes and scientists.

FAIR/GSI participates in this EU project through the development of detector systems, read-out electronics and software for the CBM experiment, and by the development of Monolythic Active Pixel Sensors. Moreover, the organization of a detector school for students is in preparation. EURIZON will be financed until the beginning of 2024 (i.e. mid of 2024 including the prolongation of WP9) via the HORIZON 2020 Research and Innovation Programme of the European Union. (CP)

Further information

• Website of the EURIZON project

Kilonovae are giant explosions occurring when two neutron stars orbit each other and finally collide. The occurring extreme physical conditions are responsible for creating heavy elements, e. g. the atoms in gold jewelry and the iodine in our bodies. Furthermore, kilonovae produce light, which allows for the observation of the explosions with telescopes even at cosmic distances.

But there is still a great deal we do not know about this violent phenomenon. When a kilonova was detected at 140 million light-years away in 2017, it was the first time scientists could gather detailed data. Scientists around the world are still interpreting the data from this colossal explosion, including Albert Sneppen and Professor Darach Watson from the University of Copenhagen, as well as Privatdozent Andreas Bauswein and Dr. Oliver Just of GSI’s Theory research department.

One of the open questions concerns the geometrical shape of the kilonova, i.e. the propagation velocity of the explosion in different directions. This problem has been addressed by the international research team led by Sneppen and Watson. The researchers have analyzed the velocity of the explosion in different directions: along the line of sight — that is, the velocity of the material moving towards our Earth — and perpendicular to it.

Along the line of sight, the researchers take advantage of the Doppler effect known from approaching fire trucks. Just as the pitch of the siren changes at high speed, the properties of the light from the kilonova explosion, or more precisely from the so-called spectral lines, can be used to determine the velocity. The velocity perpendicular to the line of sight results from the size of the emitting area, which can be derived from the brightness and color of the kilonova.

The spherical shape is a mystery

The analysis surprises: The explosion spreads equally fast in all directions. The kilonova from 2017 is shaped like a sphere. “You have two super-compact stars that orbit each other 100 times a second before collapsing. Our intuition, and most previous models, say that, due to the enormous angular momentum in the system, the explosion cloud created by the collision must have a rather asymmetrical shape,” says Albert Sneppen, PhD student at the Niels Bohr Institute and first author of the study published in the journal Nature. How the kilonova can be spherical is a real mystery.

The GSI team in particular contributed simulations of the explosion to test different scenarios and theoretical interpretations to the publication. The researchers were able to show that, even under somewhat speculative assumptions, there is no mechanism that will necessarily lead to a spherical explosion, although some simulations fit the observation quite well. “Therefore, one possibility could also be that it is pure coincidence. In any case, the observation is exciting because it helps to better understand models of the kilonova explosion and thus the details of element synthesis in these events,” says Oliver Just. Andreas Bauswein adds: “With further measurements of neutron star mergers, we will certainly be able to better assess this result. We expect that with new observatories now available, many additional kilonovae will be discovered in the coming years.”

A New Cosmic Ruler

The shape of the explosion is also interesting for an entirely different reason: “Among astrophysicists there is a great deal of discussion about how fast the Universe is expanding. The speed tells us, among other things, how old the Universe is. And the two most commonly used methods that exist to measure it disagree by about a billion years. Here we may have a third method that can complement and be tested against the other measurements,” says Albert Sneppen.

The so-called “cosmic distance ladder” is the method used today to measure how fast the Universe is growing. This is done simply by calculating the distance between different objects in the universe, which act as rungs on the ladder. “If they are bright and mostly spherical, we can use kilonovae as a new way to measure the distance independently – a new kind of cosmic ruler,” says Darach Watson and continues: “Knowing what the shape is, is crucial here, because if you have an object that is not spherical, it emits differently, depending on your sight angle. A spherical explosion provides much greater precision in the measurement.”

The study is a first result of the newly founded HEAVYMETAL collaboration, which was recently awarded an ERC Synergy grant. (CP)

About kilonovae

• Neutron stars are extremely compact stars that consist mainly of neutrons. They are typically only about 20 kilometers across, but weigh one and a half to two times as much as the Sun. A teaspoon of neutron star matter weighs about as much as Mount Everest.
• When two neutron stars collide, the phenomenon of a kilonova occurs. It is a radioactive, bright fireball that expands at enormous speed and consists mostly of heavy elements formed in the merger and its aftermath. These newly formed elements are ejected into space and mix with gas clouds, which form a new generation of stars and planets.
• Element synthesis in kilonovae was predicted in 1974. In 2017, detailed data from a kilonova was obtained for the first time, when the detectors LIGO (in the USA) and Virgo (in Europe) succeeded in measuring gravitational waves from a neutron star merger and thus indicating the position of the kilonova in the sky. Telescopes then discovered the kilonova AT2017gfo close to a galaxy 140 million light years away.

Further information

• Publication in scientific journal Nature
• Press release of the University of Copenhagen

The Science Years are an initiative of Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) and Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD). This year's topic Universe fits particularly well with the future accelerator center FAIR, which is currently being built in international cooperation at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and has the motto "The Universe in the Laboratory". At FAIR, matter that usually only exists in the depth of space will be produced in a lab for research. Scientists from all over the world will be able to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. (BP)

Further Information

GSI/FAIR activities during the Science Year 2023 (constantly updated)

About the Science Year 2023

The “mirrors” exist for only a fragment of time but could help to reduce the size of ultra-high power lasers, which currently occupy buildings the size of aircraft hangars, to university basement sizes. (CP)

Further information

• Press release of the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
• Scientific publication in the journal “Communications Physics”

Professor Karl-Heinz Kampert from the University of Wuppertal gave account of Hans Gutbrod’s pioneering work at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where he built, together with Arthur Poskanzer and Hans-Georg Ritter, the GSI-LBL 4π detector “Plastic Ball”. They discovered the collective behavior of nuclear matter ("flow"), which remains one of the most important observables in heavy-ion physics today.

Hans Gutbrod and the Plastic Ball continued their investigations at the CERN accelerator SPS, where he was the spokesperson for the groundbreaking SPS heavy-ion experiments WA80/93/98. Thomas Peitzmann, then a postdoctoral researcher and now a distinguished professor at Utrecht University, shed light on this period in a talk entitled “A Universal Light Experience”.

Together with Jürgen Schuhkraft and others, Hans Gutbrod also laid the foundations for the LHC experiment ALICE. The early “ALICE years” were conveyed by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Jürgen Schuhkraft’s successor as ALICE spokesperson and today’s Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. He made it clear that without Hans Gutbrod’s contribution ALICE would not look the way it does today. In particular, his influence on India's contribution to ALICE cannot be overstated, as emphasized in a video commentary by Professor  Subhasis Chattopadhyay of the VECC Kolkata.

Hans Gutbrod was appointed director of the shortly before founded SUBATECH in Nantes in 1995, where he also served as spokesperson for ALICE-FRANCE, while being deputy- spokesperson of ALICE and project leader of the Dimuon Spectrometer of ALICE.  In a short video presentation, Professor Pol-Bernard Gossiaux of Subatech, made clear that Hans Gutbrod was a driving force in the development of the institute.

When Hans Gutbrod decided to return to GSI in March 2001 to work on the “Future project of GSI”, he made significant contributions to the design of the FAIR project as leader of the Joint Core Team. This very productive time was recounted in a richly varied and pictorial way by the former scientific director of GSI Professor Horst Stöcker in talk entitled “FAIR in Europe — from the roots to today — 50 good years with Hans — in 50 minutes”.

All lectures were very much enjoyed by the participants of the symposium. At the end, Hans Gutbrod himself gave a short speech thanking all colleagues who accompanied him on his way. He also thanked the technical staff of GSI, LBL,CERN and Subatech for their efforts in the realization of the experiments and especially Professor Rudolf Bock, who was his PhD supervisor and his constant mentor. (CP)

In the ESA video, Dr. Dr. Jennifer Ngo-Anh, responsible at ESA for the successfully running ESA-FAIR cooperation on cosmic radiation research, and Dr. Anggraeini Puspitasari, who works as a post-doc in GSI biophysics, are among the speakers. ESA has been conducting high-level space radiation research at the GSI particle accelerator in Darmstadt for years. At the future accelerator center FAIR, even higher energies will be available for the simulation of cosmic rays, enabling groundbreaking new insights. Decisive indications for the possible benefit of artificial hibernation for radiation resistance were recently published by an international research team led by the GSI Biophysics Department in “Scientific Reports", a journal of the Nature Publishing Group. The publication received much attention from the scientific community and the international media. (BP)

More information

ESA video „Hibernation. We research. You benefit.“

Scientific publication in in „Scientific Reports“

Press release "Safety in space: Synthetic hibernation could provide protection from cosmic radiation"

In 2023, "Kultur eines Digitalstadt e.V." is again inviting applications for three Artist-in-Science residencies for artists from all disciplines. The six-week studio residency at Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt is linked to the collaboration with a renowned Darmstadt research institute: the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI), the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research and the European Space Operations Center (ESOC).

GSI would like to promote interdisciplinary exchange and creativity together with the artist. The aim is to create new perspectives and inspire innovations in science and art. Through the artistic approach, complex scientific concepts can be conveyed to a broader audience. During expert discussions, in the open studio and at the final view, the research project of the residency can be experienced by all those involved and the public.

The residency of the artist in cooperation with GSI will take place from mid-June to early August 2023. Freelance artists from all disciplines can apply until February 23rd, 2023, and propose a project that can be carried out in cooperation with GSI. (KG/BP)

Further information

Project "Artist-in-Science Residence" and tender information

Dr. Arjan Vink, Head of the staff unit Grant Office and Project Manager for EDIH at GSI/FAIR: „We are very pleased, together with the EDITH consortium partners and in an international environment, to share our knowledge of high-performance computing and project funding with small and medium-sized companies and municipalities in Hesse. In addition, we aim to, in particular, advance sustainable computing through consulting and via research and development projects in our Green IT Cube data center.” (CP)

Further information

• Press release of Hessisches Ministerium für Digitale Strategie und Entwicklung (German)

GSI/FAIR have been collaborating with a consortium of Georgian research institutions in the fields of education, research and knowledge transfer for more than 20 years. They participate, for example, in the mutual academic exchange of students and in various scientific projects. Within the framework of the MoU, joint educational and scientific cooperation has been consolidated in the fields of particle physics, hadron therapy, biomedicine, applied research and supercomputing, among others. In the training of young scientists, the successful exchange program is to be continued and expanded with workshops, summer schools and block lectures. Expertise and advice will be provided for the construction of a Georgian Hadron Therapy Center at the Kutaisi International University. The parties will also work together to develop and strengthen existing SMART Labs under the existing Georgian-German Science Bridge (GGSB).

The signing took place during a visit to GSI and FAIR. Minister Chkhenkeli was accompanied by Professor Alexander Tevzadze, the Rector of Kutaisi International University, General Consule Giorgi Tabatadze, as well as Ana Sarishvili of the Georgian Ministry of Education and Science. The delegation, led by Site Manager Dr. Harald Hagelskamp, inspected the progress on the FAIR construction site on a bus tour and walked through the SIS100 tunnel construction as well as the future experimental site for Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM).

Following the signing of the contract, further discussions on the scientific content was conducted with Professor Thomas Stöhlker, Deputy Research Director of GSI and FAIR, as well as Professor Marco Durante, head of the Biophysics department. The visit was supported by Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, head of the staff unit International Cooperations, Dr. Irakli Keshelashvili from the Detector Lab as well as Berit Paflik of the PR department. (CP)

One of the applications that comes with the advent of high-intensity lasers is the generation of bursts of hard x-rays, gamma rays and particle beams, obtained from the interaction of ultrashort light pulses with matter. Scientists have quickly recognized that such sources exhibit new properties that make them very attractive compared to other more traditional and established particle sources. In this rapidly evolving field, a definite challenge lies in the precise understanding of the underlying processes that explain the coupling of the laser to secondary beams of particles and radiation. Gaining such understanding is complex since the interaction of the laser with matter takes place on ultrashort time scales, typically femtoseconds (10^-15 seconds), and in tiny volumes in the micrometer range, which makes it challenging to observe.

Dr. Johannes Hornung received his doctoral degree from the University of Jena for his experimental work done with the PHELIX laser at GSI/FAIR under the co-supervision of Professor Matt Zepf and Professor Vincent Bagnoud. In his thesis he focused on the interaction of high-intensity laser pulses with solid targets, a regime of interaction in reach of the most powerful laser system worldwide. In particular, Johannes Hornung used a non-invasive method, namely the spectroscopy of the light reflected off the target, to gain new insights on the laser-matter interaction and showed that quantitative information on the dynamics of such processes can be extracted from the collected data.

In a typical experiment, the ultrashort laser pulse is focused down to a few micrometers in a vacuum chamber onto a micrometer-thin foil. A particle burst emerges from this interaction. At the beginning of the interaction, the foil is quickly heated by the laser into a thin plasma slab that reflects a portion of the laser light, like a mirror. However, the plasma either expands into the vacuum or is being pushed by the radiation pressure of the laser in the opposite direction, or a combination of both happens sequentially. Under such conditions, the light reflected by the expanding or recessing plasma is Doppler shifted, carrying precious information of the exact interaction dynamics. The doctoral thesis of Johannes Hornung reports on the experimental study done at the PHELIX laser regarding this effect and proposes an improved model for the description of the laser-matter interaction. The model is backed by numerical simulations performed by Johannes Hornung using the resources of GSI/FAIR’s computing center Green IT cube.

The annual FAIR-GSI PhD Award honors an excellent PhD thesis completed during the previous year. Eligible for nominations are dissertations that were supported by GSI in the context of its strategic partnerships with the universities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Giessen, Heidelberg, Jena, and Mainz, or through the research and development program. In the framework of the Graduate School HGS-HIRe (Helmholtz Graduate School for Hadron and Ion Research), more than 300 PhD students currently perform research for their PhD theses on topics closely related to GSI and FAIR. GSI has a long-standing partnership with the award sponsor, Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH, which offers vacuum technology and pumps. Vacuum solutions from Pfeiffer Vacuum have been successfully used in GSI's facilities for decades. (CP)

During an introduction, the guests learned about the GSI research facilities and the construction of the international accelerator center FAIR. After an overview of the entire FAIR construction area from the viewing platform, the guests saw the progress on the FAIR construction site during a bus tour, guided by Dr. Hartmut Reich, Head of machine assembly.

The program included the underground accelerator ring tunnel SIS100, the central hub for the facility’s beamline and distribution (transfer building) and the buildings for the experimental caves CBM and NUSTAR. Another stop was the cryogenics building. Following the shell construction and the technical building services, the cryogenics is the first technical facility to be brought into the FAIR buildings. (BP)

Until now, there was no efficient way to freely adjust the wavelength, i.e. the colour, of high-power lasers, as a research team from DESY, the Helmholtz Institute Jena and the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research reports in the journal “Nature Photonics”.

More information is provided here, the original publication is available here.

At GSI/FAIR, the scientists are working on constantly improving particle therapy through new technologies and treatment procedures for the benefit of society. The new FLASH method is a highly promising approach. During the FAIR Phase 0 experimental period the scientists succeeded in performing a carbon ion FLASH experiment on the GSI/FAIR campus for the first time. In addition, GSI/FAIR joins forces in an international cooperation with participants from industry and science to advance medical-technical developments in the field of FLASH therapy. The goal is to pave the way to clinical application.

The cover story in “Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology” refers to a recent research paper by Professor Marco Durante, Head of GSI’s Biophysics, and Dr. Marie-Catherine Vozenin and Professor Jean Bourhis, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, which is entitled “Towards clinical translation of FLASH radiotherapy”. The authors describe the worldwide status of this highly innovative treatment method and evaluate possible perspectives for FLASH radiotherapy.

In their conclusion, they summarize: “At present, FLASH radiotherapy has largely sparked the imagination and interest of radiation scientists and oncologists. The advantages of ultra-short treatments at high doses of radiation go beyond the potential widening of the therapeutic window, because short treatment times could also improve the comfort of the patient and the workflow of clinical centers, even if imaging time will remain a limiting factor for accelerating such workflows”. They also provide an overview: “In translational and clinical research, studies on the dose and fraction dependence, tissue specificity, combined treatments and, of course, phase I trials are the highest priority. The future of FLASH radiotherapy will strongly depend on the results of these experiments and the answers to some key questions, including those we have discussed herein”.

The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, said: „GSI and FAIR are leading research centers in the research and development of FLASH therapy. I am very glad to see the current research placed so prominently in one of the most impactful scientific media for oncology showing the overall importance of this topic. This demonstrates once again how strongly our basic research boosts the development of new technologies and methods of high societal impact. Together with strong partners, we are working hard to ensure that our scientific breakthroughs will serve society.” (BP)

Further information

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology

Physics World

The FAIR construction site in Darmstadt is one of the largest research construction projects in the world. The progress is documented with drone footage. The "Longterm Dronelapse 2018-2021" has now been awarded first place in the category “Hyperlapse” at the Brazilian film festival "NO AR Drone Film Fest". 55 films from around the world were submitted to this dedicated drone film festival, of which twelve received an award. On their website, NO AR Brazil notes “to showcase and award artists who are resorting drones to create breath-taking imagery and innovative visual languages.” To reveal the dimensions of the construction progress, the filmmakers use a special film technique: With the help of GPS support, they superimpose the regularly created drone videos so that the buildings grow in front of the eyes of the viewers. (LW)

More information

 Awarded Drone Video
NO AR Drone Film Fest
 

In December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched into space on an Ariane rocket from Europe's Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana. JWST is the largest observatory ever sent into space and is an international collaboration of the U.S., European and Canadian space agencies NASA, ESA and CSA. JWST can look further into the past than ever before, observe the first galaxies, and will enable the expansion of knowledge about the birth of stars and planets and about planets outside our own solar system.

The technology of the satellite itself is unique and a masterpiece of engineering. For example, the observatory — which is the size of a tennis court — had to be folded up for launch on the Ariane 5 rocket and then unfolded again fully automatically in space. On July 12, 2022, the first scientific images were published, which caused excitement not only in the astronomical community. The talk will give an overview of the fascinating history of JWST: From the idea to construction and testing to launch, commissioning and the first scientific results.

Dr. Silvia Scheithauer studied physics at the University of Potsdam and received her PhD in engineering from the University of Bremen. Since 2006, she has been working at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg in the field of instrument construction as a systems engineer and project manager, including at the JWST.

While the lecture on the JWST is about expanding our knowledge frontiers and venturing into still unknown areas of space, the other lectures will deal with overcoming other frontiers: For example, new methods for visualizing radiation, the development of even more accurate time measurement using quantum technology, or the investigation of the synthesis of matter with the help of heavy ion collisions at the HADES detector of GSI and FAIR will be discussed. In addition to a look at the benefits of fundamental research in nuclear and particle physics for society, talks will also take a look at the complete crossing of physical boundaries, on the one hand fictitiously in Hollywood film productions, and on the other hand in the illumination of the very real sinking of the passenger ship “Titanic” by Professor Metin Tolan, the President of the Georg August University of Göttingen.

The lectures start at 2 p. m., further information about registration, access and the course of the event can be found on the event website at www.gsi.de/wfa (German)

The lecture series “Wissenschaft für Alle” is aimed at all persons interested in current science and research. The lectures report on research and developments at GSI and FAIR, but also on current topics from other fields of science and technology. The aim of the series is to prepare and present the scientific processes in a way that is understandable for laypersons in order to make the research accessible to a broad public. The lectures are held by GSI and FAIR staff members or by external speakers from universities and research institutes.

Current program

• Wednesday, 25.01.2023, 2 p. m.
  Das James-Webb-Weltraumteleskop: Ein neuer Blick in die Tiefen des Universums
  Silvia Scheithauer, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
   
• Wednesday, 15.02.2023, 2 p. m.
  Neue Entwicklungen zu Nachweis und Sichtbarmachung von radioaktiver Strahlung
  Kai Vetter, University of California Berkeley/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
   
• Wednesday, 15.03.2023, 2 p. m.
  Grundlagenforschung in der Kern- und Teilchenphysik – was ist der Nutzen für die Gesellschaft?
  Ulrich Wiedner, Ruhr Universität Bochum
   
• Wednesday, 26.04.2023, 2 p. m.
  Vom Schwerionenbeschleuniger zur Atomuhr: Wie Quantentechnologien neue Experimente möglich machen
  Peter Micke, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg
   
• Wednesday, 17.05.2023, 2 p. m.
  Stark, stärker, schwer! Was uns Schwerionenkollisionen über die Entstehung der Materie verraten
  Joachim Stroth, GSI/FAIR
   
• Wednesday, 21.06.2023, 2 p. m.
  Physik in Hollywood III – Die Rückkehr der Naturgesetze
  Sascha Vogel, science birds
   
• Wednesday, 19.07.2023, 2 p. m.
  Titanic: mit Physik in den Untergang (Dauer: 75 min)
  Metin Tolan, Präsident der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

FAIR's high energy density physics collaboration (HED@FAIR) spokesperson, Dr. Kurt Schoenberg of Los Alamos National Laboratory, notes, "demonstrating fusion ignition is a significant milestone in the search for alternative clean and carbon-free energies and enables the international public and private fusion research communities to begin optimizing inertial fusion energy as a viable economic concept, knowing that we still have a long and challenging road ahead of us." FAIR conducts research relevant to inertial fusion within its HED@FAIR Collaboration. It looks forward to collaborating with the global IFE effort by increasing research on energy transport, laser-plasma instabilities, and fast ignition to help make IFE a reality. (LW)

More information

National Ignition Facility achieves fusion ignition

A combined process of CNC milling and thick-film electroplating was developed to produce the spirals, which allows the exact reproduction of a free geometry while at the same time integrating the cooling sufficiently. The design frequencies of the cavities were achieved on instantly with deviations of only 8 and 6 per mil. This was enabled by verifying the design of the 36 MHz spirals with two prototypes made of plastic using 3D printing. The experience gained in this project will also benefit the new Alvarez accelerator currently under construction. After passing the factory acceptance test (FAT), both cavities will now be fully equipped and prepared for the upcoming high-performance tests. (CP)

Further information

• UNILAC accelerator

Hannah Elfner teaches and conducts research in a joint permanent professorship of Goethe University and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, where she is involved in the “Elements” cluster project, among other things. She is coordinating the theory departments at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum, where she previously headed a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group for several years.(BP)

More information on the appointment is available here.

The research project, with the participation of GSI scientists Annika Hinrichs, Claudia Fournier, Gerhard Kraft and Andreas Maier, was conducted as part of the "GREWIS-alpha" consortium funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. GREWIS, a German acronym, stands for “the genetic risks and anti-inflammatory effect of ionizing radiation.” The word “alpha” stands for the densely ionizing alpha particles that are emitted when radon and its daughter nuclei decay. The radiation biologist Professor Claudia Fournier from the Biophysics Department of GSI is the overall coordinator of this joint project, in which GSI is cooperating with TU Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt, and the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

“GREWIS-alpha” is intended to more and more refine questions concerning radon and provide new insights into very different aspects, for example regarding the physical and biological effects, but also regarding the damage after radon exposure and possible ways to better control and minimize radiation risks. Here, the current publication provides important insights.

The short-living progeny of the naturally occurring radioactive noble gas radon attach to other particles or droplets forming larger aerosol particles, adhere to the lungs when inhaled, and deposit their decay energy there, damaging sensitive lung tissue. Radon itself is directly inhaled. These progeny are considered responsible for more than 95% of the total effective dose and are, together with radon, classified as carcinogenic for lung cancer. Consequently, filtration of the progeny could significantly reduce the dose to the lungs. In the recent study, the researchers investigated the filtering properties of FFP2 masks and of surgical masks (II R) for radon and its decay products.

For the study, the masks were attached to a measurement device, which enabled determination of the different size fractions of radon progeny, ranging from very small decay products (so-called unattached progeny) to medium-sized decay products (so-called clustered progeny). In parallel, it measured the radon activity concentration during experiments. By comparing background measurements without mask and experiments with masks, the percentage of retained small decay products was determined for FFP2 (98.8 %) and II R masks (98.4 %). For medium-sized decay products, the retained fraction was 85.2 % for FFP2 and 79.5 % for II R masks. Radon was not filtered.

The results provide solid guidance that facemasks are effective in filtering radon progeny and will significantly reduce the concentration of radon progeny in the respiratory system, whereas radon is not filtered. Nevertheless, filtering can lead to lower doses to the lungs during radon exposure and thus to a reduced risk for lung cancer.

Besides general, natural occurring exposure of the public, this is also important for occupational exposure, for example in radon galleries or radon baths. The radioactive element radon is used in the form of baths or inhalations in these healing caves and baths to treat many patients, and it has met with success. The pain-relieving effects of low-dose radon therapies for patients suffering from painful chronic inflammatory illnesses have been known for centuries. These therapies are used for diseases of the locomotor system such as rheumatism and arthrosis, as well as diseases of the respiratory system and the skin, including neurodermatitis and psoriasis.

In these treatment facilities, enhanced levels of radon and progeny can be measured. This makes efficient ventilation necessary, but as the current findings show, the wearing of facial masks may also be an easy and cost-efficient method for dose reduction in the staff. Additionally, it can also reduce the exposure to airborne particles in general. (BP)

Further information

Publication in "International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health“

About GREWIS alpha  

Research on superheavy elements has been one of the strong pillars of the research program since GSI was founded in 1969. Six new elements and many new isotopes were discovered and their nuclear and atomic structure was studied. Chemical studies allowed comparing their behavior to that of their lighter homologs in the periodic table and with theoretical predictions. An outlook on new developments for the next years completes the article. (CP)

Weitere Informationen

• Scientific publication in Radiochimica Acta „Five decades of GSI superheavy element discoveries and chemical investigation”
• Research department: Physics of superheavy elements
• Research department: Chemisty of superheavy elements

GSI researcher Dr. Hans-Jürgen Wollersheim was honored with an adjunct professorship for the years 2022 and 2023 at the University of Delhi. He had completed his habilitation in 1993 and was teaching nuclear physics, detector physics, accelerator physics and nuclear astrophysics. In 1994, he was the representative of C4 professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. In 2004, he arranged a Memorandum of Understanding between the Inter University Accelerator Centre in New Delhi and GSI to intensify the collaboration between both laboratories. Several experiments in the field of nuclear structure and nuclear reaction were successfully performed with different Indo-German teams. From 2000 to 2009 he was manager of the international RISING project at GSI and later till 2013 manager of the PreSPEC project. As in-kind coordinator FAIR@GSI he was the FAIR liaison person for the collaboration between BMBF (Germany) and DST (India). His achievements in teaching and research were honored also by the nomination for a visiting professorship at IIT Ropar (2016-2018). (LW)
 

The huge cooling facility will supply liquid helium to two key FAIR building blocks, the FAIR ring accelerator SIS100 and also the Super Fragment Separator (Super-FRS). In the future, ions — charged atoms — will whiz around the curves of the SIS100 ring accelerator at up to 99% the speed of light, then collide with samples of materials to produce nuclear reactions. The Super-FRS is a giant sorting machine for newly produced, exotic atomic nuclei which can tell us about states in stars and other stellar events. With these and other large-scale devices, scientists at FAIR hope to bring the universe into the laboratory.

In order to guide the particles along their paths, strong magnetic fields are required in both cases, which can only be achieved through the phenomenon of superconductivity: Extreme cryogenic temperatures can cause the electrical resistance in some materials to nearly disappear, allowing high electrical currents to flow in the electromagnets. To achieve this, the magnets must be cooled to a temperature of four kelvin (- 269°C). For that purpose, the cryogenic system delivers a maximum flow rate of over 21,000 liters of liquid helium per hour, for a total helium storage of nine tons, with a maximum cooling capacity of 14 kilowatts at four kelvin.

“The delivery of the coldbox to the FAIR construction site is a milestone and a sign of the steady progress being made in the construction of FAIR. The coldbox is the heart of the cryogenic facility, the first high-tech system to be installed in the newly constructed FAIR buildings on the construction site. This will bring us a big step closer to our goal of accelerating particles to almost the speed of light. Linde Engineering is an important partner in this process,” says Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of FAIR and GSI.

“The FAIR cryogenic plant is one of the largest possible refrigeration plants that can still be built from one unit. For even higher cooling loads, several plants would have to be used in parallel,” explains Dr. Holger Kollmus, who as head of the Cryogenics Department at GSI/FAIR is responsible for the construction of the plant. “A special feature of the plant is the possibility to change the cooling capacity dynamically. Comparable plants, which are mainly used for the production of liquid helium, permanently run at full load. Since the required cooling capacity for the accelerator fluctuates depending on the operating condition, the plant is designed to adjust its pressures and mass flows accordingly to save energy and coolant. Efficient response to changing loads places high demands on the design and construction of the unit.”

As a contract partner, Linde Engineering is responsible for the production and installation of the helium cooling facility on site. Two large buildings are available at FAIR to house the plant components and now the coldbox. Several large pieces of equipment, such as compressors, have already been delivered and integrated into the plant in the past weeks. The coldbox, the largest and central component of the system, was manufactured by Linde Engineering at its Schalchen plant. From there, the unit was driven by transporter to Passau, brought to Aschaffenburg by ship and reloaded onto the final heavy goods transport to GSI/FAIR. Mechanical completion of the entire plant is scheduled for mid-2023. (CP)

Following a short introductory lecture, in short video feeds the students learned about the facilities and the research at GSI and got an insight into the construction of components and buildings of the future facility FAIR. The guided video tour took them to the linear accelerator UNILAC, the main control room and the heavy ion synchrotron SIS18. They learned how to produce new elements at the SHIP experiment, how to treat tumors with carbon ions, and how the large experiment HADES can be used to unravel the mystery of mass. The program also included a virtual visit to the test facility for superconducting FAIR magnets and to the viewpoint of the FAIR construction site. A drone flight over the construction field rounded off the event. Afterwards they had the opportunity to ask questions via a live chat, which was actively used by the participants.

The “Saturday Morning Physics” event series is organized by the Physics Faculty of the TU Darmstadt. It takes place annually and aims to encourage young people's interest in physics. In the events, students learn more about physics research at the university. Those who participate in all events receive the “Saturday-Morning-Physics” diploma. GSI and later FAIR have been among the sponsors and supporters of the series since its beginning. (CP)

Further information

• Website Saturday Morning Physics
• GSI/FAIR guided tours

Internationally outstanding postdocs are given the opportunity to establish their own research group at Helmholtz. An independent, multidisciplinary and international panel of reviewers has selected ten young research groups for funding this year. One of them will be headed by Peter Micke at the Helmholtz Institute Jena in partnership with Friedrich Schiller University Jena. With his group, he will build a new laser laboratory and connect it to the HITRAP facility at GSI. There, he will operate a sophisticated ion trap in which the ambient conditions are close to those of interstellar space. With the help of the GSI accelerators, heavy highly charged ions will be produced, then decelerated with HITRAP and finally trapped in an ion trap. Modern laser systems will then cool the ions close to absolute zero, allowing Peter Micke's group to precisely measure their hyperfine structure using so-called quantum logic spectroscopy. The special feature: this normally tiny energy splitting due to the alignment of the nuclear spin in the magnetic field of the electrons bound to the atomic nucleus is in the optical range for heavy highly charged ions. It can thus be measured with high precision using lasers. Moreover, heavy highly charged ions have in their atomic shell the strongest electromagnetic fields accessible in the laboratory. This provides an extraordinary opportunity to test fundamental laws of nature such as quantum electrodynamics under such extreme conditions, to better understand nuclear physics models, and even to search for previously unknown physics. 

"I congratulate Peter Micke and am delighted that his proposal was selected," says Prof. Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI/FAIR. "A Helmholtz Young Investigator Group leadership not only offers ideal opportunities for a scientific career, but also paves the way for new research approaches, such as quantum logic spectroscopy. This confirms that research opportunities at GSI/FAIR are outstanding and attract talented scientists."

Peter Micke earned his doctorate at Leibniz Universität Hannover with an experiment he set up at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. In this experiment, he and his colleagues were able to demonstrate quantum logic spectroscopy on highly charged ions for the first time. Peter Micke then spent another year as a postdoc at this experiment. He then moved to CERN as a Senior Research Fellow, working for the international BASE collaboration, which focuses on the study of matter-antimatter asymmetry through measurements of fundamental properties of the proton and antiproton. Since spring 2022, he has been working in Mainz, where the BASE collaboration operates one of its ion traps. Peter Micke will start the new Helmholtz Young Investigator Group within the next 11 months. (LW)
 

On the occasion of the successful commissioning and to agree on important aspects of further collaboration, a delegation of GSI/FAIR, consisting of the Scientific Managing Director Professor Paolo Giubellino and the Technical Managing Director Jörg Blaurock as well as staff members of the SIS100/SIS18 subproject, visited the facility in Salerno. Also on site were representatives of the management of the Italian National Nuclear Physics Institute (INFN, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare), where the test facility is assigned. The visit also included a meeting with the management of the University of Salerno, which, among other things, provides laboratory space and technical support for the development of the equipment.

The quadrupole modules for the FAIR ring accelerator are extremely complex. Key components are the superconducting quadrupole units. Each module contains two quadrupole units as well as other, technically highly sophisticated components. These include, for example, the thin-walled magnetic chambers cooled with liquid helium, the cryogenic ion catchers and the cryogenic beam position monitors. The value chain, i.e., the manufacturing stages of SIS100 quadrupole module production, thus includes numerous suppliers and locations. After production, the superconducting quadrupole units are sent to Bilfinger Noell in Würzburg, where they are integrated to superconducting quadrupole modules.

The integration of the quadrupole modules generates a complex system consisting of parallel hydraulic circuits for liquid and gaseous helium and a vacuum system whose walls have temperatures between four and ten Kelvin. Extreme demands are also made, for example on the positional fidelity of the components when cooling from room temperature to the 4.5 Kelvin operating temperature of the magnets. Although the cold mass is built on a carrier consisting of two separate support structures, their position in the cold state may only deviate from the nominal value by a maximum of 0.1 millimeters. The properties of each integrated module must therefore be examined and confirmed in a separate cold test.

The cold testing of 81 of the 83 SIS100 quadrupole modules was made possible on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research. The Salerno site offered ideal conditions for this. A cryogenic test facility for testing FAIR-SIS300 magnets had already been built within the campus of the University of Salerno.

Building on these good prerequisites, the local INFN team led by Dr. Umberto Gambardella has now developed, procured and built all the additional equipment necessary for testing the SIS100 quadrupole modules. In addition to the actual cryogenic system, measurement systems for the electrical circuits of the magnets and systems for monitoring superconductivity (quench detection) also had to be developed and built.

In the course of this year, the THOR cryogenic test facility was cold run and commissioned for the first time. For this purpose, the first SIS100 quadrupole module (FoS, First of Series) was brought to Salerno and assembled at the test facility. The Italian team had previously been trained at GSI to test the modules, and a continuous exchange of information has been set between the GSI and INFN groups.

The Italian scientific community and GSI/FAIR are closely linked in many areas. The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino says: Our collaboration with Italy is of great importance. Italian researchers are represented in many fields and collaborations at GSI and FAIR and are making excellent contributions. Italy and INFN in particular have a very strong scientific and technological participation in FAIR, contributing to both the accelerators and the experiments. We hope this involvement will eventually become a full membership. I am delighted about this further deepening at the test facility THOR and the enhancement of our successful cooperation.” (BP)

In the contract, Focused Energy commits to invest more than 100,000 Euros for the expansion of the PHELIX laser system at GSI. The researchers will use the funding to upgrade the laser so that the setup provides non-coherent nanosecond laser pulses. Those can be employed to create conditions for a more stable laser-plasma interaction, as laser-plasma instabilities are currently identified as one of the challenges on the path to inertial fusion energy.

“The collaboration represents an opportunity for us to use our unique PHELIX facility to precisely delineate the fundamentals of this promising form of energy generation,” Giubellino explains. “We encourage the advancement of research and development of application-related technologies also by commercial partners, which enables the exploitation of synergies and can contribute important impulses. This is an excellent example of how the FAIR broad scientific program, in this case the APPA plasma physics program, can provide fundamental science measurements of substantial societal impact.”

GSI and FAIR have a long-standing connection with Markus Roth, who is also a professor of laser and plasma physics at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Roth was previously a postdoc and member of research staff at GSI and has a long history of experiments conducted at GSI’s plasma physics. With the start-up Focused Energy, Roth and his colleagues now want to develop and commercialize fusion power plants and other laser-driven radiation sources, for example for non-destructive testing or for the detection of hidden substances. (CP)

Further information

• Website Focussed Energy
• Research department Plasma Physics/PHELIX

The opening address was given by Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhard Kraft, the founder and former head of biophysics department at GSI. Dr. Hartmut Eickhoff, chairman of the board of the association, welcomed the participants. The keynote speech was given by the physicist and former Christoph Schmelzer Prize awardee Prof. Dr. Katia Parodi from the Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich on the topic “New prospects in precision image-guided radiation therapy “.

In her PhD thesis entitled „Estimating the effects on the dose distribution through the Bragg Peak degradation of lung tissue in proton therapy of thoracic tumors“ award winner Dr. Veronika Flatten has investigated the influence of density inhomogeneities in lung tissue on the accuracy of the dose distribution. In her work, she has shown that the relevant information about density inhomogeneities can be extracted from routine diagnostic computed tomography images. Their influence can thus be taken into account in radiation planning without additional measurements on the patient.

For his work with the dissertation topic “Development and experimental validation of adaptive conformal particle therapy”, Dr. Timo Steinsberger has developed methods to compensate the movement of the tumor during irradiation; for this purpose, he has extended existing concepts for regular movement. Instead of assuming respiratory movements with always the same amplitude and frequency, he allows for more realistic, irregular tumor movements in radiation planning and has implemented the corresponding compensation algorithms in the radiation control system.

The master’s thesis of Christopher Cortes Garcia, entitled “Investigation of RF-signals for the slow extraction at HIT’s medical synchrotron” deals with improvements in the time structure of the ion beam extracted by the accelerator. Through a combination of theoretical and experimental work, he was able to establish a method that allows a significant reduction in the irradiation time while improving the irradiation accuracy.

The prize money for the dissertations is 1500 Euro each, for master's theses 750 euros. The award is named after Professor Christoph Schmelzer, co-founder and first Scientific Managing Director of GSI. The promotion of young scientists in the field of tumor therapy with ion beams has meanwhile been continuing for many years, and the award was presented for the 24th time. The topics of the award-winning theses are of fundamental importance for the further development of ion beam therapy and often find their way into clinical application. (BP)

About the Association

The Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy supports research activities in the field of tumor therapy with heavy ions with the aim of improving the treatment of tumors and making it available to general patient care. At the accelerator facility at GSI, more than 400 patients with tumors in the head and neck area were treated with ion beams as part of a pilot project from 1997 to 2008. The cure rates of this method are sometimes over 90 percent and the side effects are very low. The success of the pilot project led to the establishment of clinical ion beam therapy centers in Heidelberg and Marburg, where patients are now regularly treated with heavy ions.

Further information

Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy with Heavy Ions

Philipps University Marburg

Technical University Darmstadt

GSI and FAIR employees can get a copy at the foyer or at the reception in Borsigstraße. If you want to order the DIN-A2-sized calendar from FAIR and GSI, please contact  kalender(at)gsi.de  (Data Protection) directly via e-mail and receive the calendar by post. Please include the following information: your name, your address and the number of calendars you wish to order. We kindly ask for your understanding that because of the limited quantity a maximum of three calendars can be sent per request (while stocks last). (CP)

Warsaw University of Technology is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. There are 19 faculties covering almost all fields of science and technology. Faculty of Physics and Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology have a long-standing collaboration with GSI in Darmstadt, which is now upgrading to FAIR. It is also strongly involved in the construction and scientific program of FAIR, particularly strong in the fields of nuclear and hadron physics and the development of new technologies.

In future, up to ten students and doctoral candidates per year will profit from this new partnership: In the framework of short-term internships or research visits lasting several years, they will be able to learn and work in the pioneering research environment at GSI/FAIR, which will, among others, nominate mentors for them and help them, if required, to find accommodation for the duration of their stay. The program participants can also participate in GSI/FAIR events, including symposia and lectures and the GSI’s summer program for students.

The GET_INvolved Programme partners will form a joint jury for the selection procedure. Internships can last between three and six months and require at least a bachelor's degree. Applicants for research visits must hold a master's degree, be a doctoral candidate or produce evidence of at least two years of research experience. Such visits can last up to two years.

“FAIR/GSI has been a talent factory, and through the framework of the GET_INvolved Programme, young students and researchers at Warsaw University of Technology will profit more easily and extensively from the FAIR scientific community’s technical knowledge and expertise while performing their training. I am delighted to sign this GET_INvolved Programme partnership with WUT, an institution of excellence with which we already carry very fruitful cooperation. This agreement will provide brilliant young scientists and engineers from WUT with first-hand exposure in an advanced international laboratory,” says Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR.

“I am delighted to welcome this initiative and acknowledge the long-standing cooperation between the Warsaw University of Technology and GSI/FAIR. WUT has been a reliable partner, and this relationship is even more strengthened with this corporation agreement on the GET_INvolved Programme. I am hopeful that with this signature agreement, we will be able to further our cooperation in all fields of engineering and technology and provide more opportunities for our young students and researchers at the international laboratory FAIR,” says Professor Mariusz Malinowski, Vice Rector of research, WUT, Warsaw. (BP)

Cooperation

WUT Warsaw and GSI/FAIR Darmstadt have worked on different levels for quite some time. WUT researchers, experts and students under the leadership of Professor Hanna Paulina Zbroszczyk are part of the two International collaborations at FAIR. A similar program in the framework of traineeship has been initiated since 2019 with specific research groups to support bright young minds and engage them in the science facility at FAIR Darmstadt. With "GET_INvolved", this is now being substantially expanded to all students and researchers at WUT..

About Warsaw University of Technology

The Warsaw University of Technology builds upon the traditions of Polish technical universities that used to function in Warsaw – the Polytechnic Institute founded in 1826 thanks to the efforts of Stanisław Staszic, and the School of Hipolit Wawelberg and Stanisław Rotwand established in 1895. Working uninterruptedly, the University has been producing generations of graduates and has had many scientific and technical achievements. It is not only the oldest but also the best technical University in Poland; in the ranking of Polish universities, it has taken first place in its category for fifteen years.

About GET_INvolved Programme

The GET_INvolved Programme provides international students and early-stage researchers from partner institutions with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training. The GET_INvolved Programme has currently more than 35 program partners worldwide.

Further information

Further details of the application procedure for students and researchers will be published shortly. Further information on the GET_INvolved Programme can be found on the program pages of the WUT and GSI/FAIR websites. For immediate queries, it is possible to get in touch with Prof. Hanna Paulina Zbroszczyk (hanna.zbroszczyk@pw.edu.pl), program coordinator at WUT or Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, (Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu), program coordinator on behalf of GSI/FAIR.

Spano is one of three Artist-in-Science-Residents who the association "Kultur einer Digitalstadt" has awarded for artists of all disciplines for the first time in 2022. The studio stay on the Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt is linked to the cooperation with a renowned Darmstadt research institute: Cooperation partners are the European Space Agency (ESA) / European Space Operations Center (ESOC), the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research and the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI). The international interest was immense: 158 artists from all disciplines from 59 countries applied for the three scholarships advertised in spring 2022.

Luca Spano takes stock of his residence: „I had a beautiful time at the institute. Their research digs into the fundamental questions of humanity, the materiality of our universe, as much as the most pressing philosophical ideas that hunt us. The environment at GSI is very collaborative and open-minded. Although I come from another field of research, the institute showed a large degree of openness. Art and science are very close to each other and they share many more contact points than what we usually think. I strongly believe bridging the two fields is needed. I’m not going to list the reasons, I will just say that the disciplines themselves, the people involved and the society at large can really benefit from this relationship.“

“In Luca Spano, the colleagues met a person who is open and curious, and who asked challenging questions in order to take new perspectives on research. Luca initiated discussions and thought processes and it became apparent that the approaches in science and art are very similar,” reports Kathrin Göbel, who supervised the residency at GSI/FAIR, about the intensive time of the exchange.

Luca Spano‘s work with GSI is part of “After the Last Image”, a project about the biological and technological limits of sight, and their role in the construction of reality. The work "Symphony of Chances" was created in six weeks of in-depth exchange with researchers from GSI/FAIR and intensive work in the studio.

„I met many researches at GSI, and it was a privilege to have very long and thoughtful conversations with them. A constant pattern started to appear since the first of these meetings. Nothing is fixed. Everything is constantly changing. So, the universe, our planet and us are constantly transforming. Everything is based on probabilities, or as I love to call them “chances”.

The goal of the experimental field is to repeat experiments one identical to the other, so they can test their theories, reaching a form of standardized certainty. They tune and control everything to repeat the performance. I had the feeling to be in front of an Orchestra, where everyone was practicing to reproduce perfectly a specific symphony. But like any performance of the same piece of music, any experiment is different from the other. It is a symphony that can approximate very closely itself, never being identical. And what this symphony does? This symphony creates chances to see events, chances to collect data, chances to test the theory. Yes, there is no certainty. An experiment is based on creating the setting to generate probabilities for something to happen. But it is not said. We know that something can trigger a specific reaction, but we don’t know if and when that is going to happen. It is a Symphony of Chances.“

Luca Spano's residency ended at the beginning of September with a spectacular exhibition in the Rosenhöhe studio. The work's interdisciplinary approach has created an ecology of text, images, sculptural artifacts and sound. It is the result of many conversations with physicists, the aesthetics of scientific research, the exploration of the hidden systems that shape our reality.

The first cycle of the artist-in-science residencies ended at the end of October. Kultur einer Digitalstadt draws a consistently positive conclusion: "During the six-week residencies of Alvaro Rodriguez Badel (with hessian.AI), Luca Spano (with GSI/FAIR) and most recently Swaantje Güntzel (with ESA/ESOC), there was an intensive exchange between the participating scientists and artists, which was surprisingly positive for everyone. The familiar methods (modeling, experimentation, trial and error and the interest in failure, also with regard to the question "is it a bug or a feature") enabled a lively and creative exchange. And the questions asked in science and art are similar. After all, both disciplines are about expanding knowledge into areas that are unexplored, and therefore (still) invisible. And always about investing the invisible, understanding it and making it more visible. By jointly addressing the “big questions” by artists and scientists and by publishing their discourse through round table discussions and exhibitions, it not only becomes available to society, but also enables participation. This is important, because people's culture is common property.”

The participants and organizers would like to thank all those active at GSI / FAIR who were involved in this project and who gave insights into their research and their personal perspectives on research: Oliver Keller, who worked with Luca Spano on a sound installation, Christian Sürder and Davide Racano who supported the realization of a work, Haik Simon, Joachim Stroth, Bettina Lommel, Francesca Luoni, Daniel Severin, Adrian Rost, Matthias Zander, Helmut Kreiser, Bastii Löher, Magdalena Gorska, Christian Schmidt, Lena Weitz, Gabi Otto, Paolo Giubellino and Kathrin Göbel.

The "Artist-in-Science-Residence" is realized with the support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, Merck’sche Gesellschaft für Kunst und Wissenschaft, Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt, and Digitalstadt Darmstadt GmbH as well as the participating institutes. (KG/BP)

Kultur einer Digitalstadt

„Kultur einer Digitalstadt“ (KeD) is an interdisciplinary project aimed at artists and people interested in culture from Darmstadt, the surrounding region and beyond. KeD sees itself as a platform from which different aspects of digitality can be observed, commented on and helped to shape from an artistic and cultural perspective. With the residence, KeD offers the opportunity to bring together the scientific and technical potential of the city with the equally comprehensive and relevant cultural and artistic tradition. Such a linking of artistic and scientific research on common themes and questions can make a significant contribution to understanding the world, people and their society.

In her dissertation "Time for Hyperons. Development of Software Tools for Reconstructing Hyperons at PANDA and HADES", Physicist Jenny Regina presented a detailed simulation study of hyperons in the PANDA detector, developments of time-based track reconstruction algorithms for PANDA and a library for kinematic fitting in the HADES experiment. A candidate for online track reconstruction algorithms on free streaming data based on a 4D Cellular Automaton has been developed and is benchmarked. It utilizes information from the PANDA straw tube tracker and is agnostic to the point of origin of the particle. The track reconstruction quality assurance procedure and results from the tracking at different event rates have also been presented. Finally, extrapolation algorithms for including hit information from additional detectors in the tracks are outlined.

In order to maximize the potential of the predecessor experiment PANDA@HADES, a kinematic fitting procedure has been developed for HADES that combines geometric the decay vertex information of neutral particles and track parameters such as momentum. Journal publications are prepared for each part and Dr. Regina has presented her work at several national and international conferences, as well as in plenary sessions at the PANDA collaboration meeting.

The PANDA Collaboration awards the PhD Prize to specifically honor students’ contributions to the PANDA project. Candidates for the PhD Prize are nominated by their doctoral advisors. In addition to being directly related to the PANDA Experiment, the nominees’ doctoral degrees must have received a rating of “very good” or better. Up to three candidates are shortlisted for the award and can present their dissertations at the PANDA Collaboration meeting. The winner is chosen by a committee that is appointed for this task by the PANDA collaboration. (BP)

Further information

About the doctoral thesis of Dr. Jenny Regina

About the PANDA Prize

The FAIR Project Associate Programme will allow industrial potential partners from FAIR Shareholders to directly GET_INvolved and work hand-in-hand with technical groups at FAIR/GSI in accomplishing integrated work-packages within the mega science project FAIR.

The FAIR Project Associate Programme was conceptualized in 2021 by FAIR Management as part of the GET_INvolved Programme. This program's main goal is to support, encourage, and help industrial partners from FAIR Shareholders’ nations to find mutually beneficial work packages that fit the project timeline and were strategically in everyone's best interests. This program includes representatives from FAIR GmbH and Shareholders and potential industrial partners who can supply the host lab GSI with the necessary human resources.

The pilot program seeks to identify appropriate projects and work packages where the participation of partners would directly benefit from the human resources of partner nations and associated enterprises. S2Innovation from Krakow, Poland, was chosen as the first partner in the pilot program because it was a success. There were additional partners in the trial phase as well.

The signing ceremony introduces a brand-new area of the program's portfolio that is geared toward companies like S2Innovation that have been chosen to collaborate on a particular work package at FAIR and would benefit from a clear structure for deploying skilled labor there. Up to 10 people (including students, researchers, and staff) will be able to work with the FAIR Project each year through this unique GET_INvolved Project Associate Programme with S2Innovation.

These people will have the opportunity to learn and work in the cutting-edge research environment at GSI/FAIR, which will, among other things, suggest mentors and supervisors for them and aid with their project onboarding.

In a joint jury with the FAIR sub-project directors, the partners will choose the work packages for which skilled workers from S2Innovation will be matched to carry out their projects at FAIR. The Office of International Cooperation will be in charge of managing the program's implementation.

"It is the perfect time for industrial partners from FAIR partner nations to join forces with FAIR/GSI, invest in future leaders, and provide their talent resources with an opportunity to explore the rich technology-driven innovation environment. This opportunity will also allow them to bring in their skills to specific work-packages to FAIR in a mutually beneficial framework like GET_INvolved Programme. I strongly support the initiative, and we wish that additional industrial partners will take the way and GET_INvolved with FAIR," says Dr Ulrich Breuer, Administrative Managing Director of GSI and FAIR.

"FAIR Project is entering into a new phase, soon the civil construction at FAIR very much advanced. Therefore, we need a strong engagement of our partners worldwide, especially skillful engineers and technicians, to coherently and carefully execute our plan for the installation and commissioning of state-of-art-technologies for our accelerators and experiments developed and produced proudly in different parts of the world. This planned execution would also require strong support and participation from our industry partners, who can quickly jump into specific work packages when necessary and contribute with their available resources. I am delighted that S2Innovation from Krakow has become the first among several others to join this common endeavor and be part of the GET_INvolved Programme," says Mr Joerg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR.

“The Polish Shareholder strongly supports the initiative of engaging industrial partners in the first-hand training and development of talented youth for the future FAIR facility. We are delighted to note that S2Innovation is one of the first companies that became part of this joint endeavor. The Polish Shareholder and Jagiellonian University believe that investment today in the training & research experience Programme of the younger generation is essential for the success of the FAIR project,” says Professor Zbigniew Majka, representative of Polish Shareholder at the FAIR Shareholders’ Council.

“S2Innovation is proud to become part of the “GET_INvolved Programme” through which we are hoping to build the basis for future larger collaboration. FAIR project creates unique opportunities for innovative companies like S2Innovation. It is a great satisfaction to help scientists to build such an amazing research facility, which one of the main goals is to investigate the evolution of the Universe.  The success of BIG Science projects, due to their innovative nature, requires very close collaboration between the partners. GET_INvolved program is a perfect way for new companies to understand the complexity of the project and build trust between them and FAIR team,” says Wojciech Soroka CEO of S2Innovation. (BP)

Background

In 2021 the FAIR Delegation on the invitation of the Polish Shareholder Jagiellonian University (JU) Krakow organized the "FAIR Days Poland". The “FAIR Days”, aimed to boost the Polish participation in FAIR. It was a very successful event with a number of important meetings, including such with the Vice Rector Research of the Jagiellonian University, with the Polish Academy of Sciences, with a very large and qualified delegation of Polish industries, with authorities and with representatives of the different universities which are participating in FAIR. A colloquium and the signature of cooperation agreements were also part of the program. In the specific meeting with the shareholder, Polish companies were introduced to opportunities to participate in open tenders with production and manufacturing capabilities and also through GET_INvolved Programme.

About „S2Innovation“

„S2Innovation“ is a polish company founded at the end of 2017 in Krakow on the basis of experience built during the construction of the SOLARIS Synchrotron - a unique electron accelerator in Central Eastern Europe and the largest investment in research infrastructure in Poland in recent decades. S2Innovation specializes in the development and maintenance of dedicated software for monitoring and control of research equipment or processes using both open-source tools as well as commercial software. Their mission is to support research institutions to work better, faster, and more efficiently using the most advanced software. The ambition is to participate in the leading scientific projects, which bring science to the next level.

About GET_Involved Programme

´The GET-INvolved Programme provides international students and early-stage researchers from partner institutions with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training. The GET_Involved Programme has currently more than 35+ partner Programme from partners worldwide.

Further information

Further details of the application procedure for students and researchers will be published shortly. Further information on the GET_INvolved Programme can be found on the program pages of S2Innovation and GSI/FAIR websites. For immediate queries, get in touch with Tomasz Ostatkiewicz at Tomasz.Ostatkiewicz@s2innovation.com, Key Account Representative, at S2INOVATION and Dr. Pradeep Ghosh, Head of International Cooperations on behalf of GSI/FAIR, atPradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu.

Scientists call the state, which hibernating animals enter, torpor. In this state, life-supporting functions of an organism are reduced: Body temperature is lowered, metabolism is reduced and body functions such as heart rate and respiration rate or oxygen uptake are significantly slowed down. At the molecular level, gene activity and protein biosynthesis are also reduced to a slower pace. In the study now published on synthetic torpor (i.e. a kind of artificially produced hibernation) and protection from ionizing radiation, the scientists demonstrated biological effects suggesting that synthetic torpor increases resistance to radiation. A proof that can be very useful in the long term for astronauts.

Space radiation is acknowledged as one of the main health risks for human space exploration. Harmful effects of space radiation are a major challenge, especially for future long-term missions. The majority of radiation dose absorbed by crews in manned interplanetary missions is produced by galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), high-energy charged particles, including densely ionizing heavy ions, produced in distant galaxies. The energy of these particles is so high that shielding of the spacecraft cannot stop them and lead to exposure rates over 200 times higher than the radiation background on Earth over a very long period. For these reasons, radiation countermeasures for future missions are being investigated.

“The connections between torpor and radioresistance represent a highly innovative research approach. Our results indicate that synthetic torpor is a promising tool to enhance radioprotection in living organism during long-term space missions. It could thus be an effective strategy to protect humans as they explore the solar system”, summarizes Professor Marco Durante, Head of the GSI Biophysics Division.

It is already known that naturally hibernating animals acquire radioresistance in this state. However, the recent study is so significant because it is the first time that a hibernation-like biological state was induced in a non-hibernating animal (rat) and radioresistance to high-energy heavy ions could be proved. In experiments at Japan's Gunma University Heavy-ion Medical Center, accelerated carbon ions were used to simulate radiation in space. The other in vitro cell experiments were performed at the GSI/FAIR campus in Darmstadt and were part of the FAIR Phase 0 experimental period.

The main results of the research team after irradiation and induction of a synthetic torpor proved the hypotheses: Synthetic hibernation may have protective effects on a lethal dose of C‑ions. In addition, synthetic hibernation reduces the tissues damage from total body irradiation.

Furthermore, GSI scientists were able to characterize the underlying mechanism in their studies on rat tissue cells. They showed that lower oxygen concentration in the tissues (hypoxia) and reduced metabolism at low temperature (hypothermia) could be two important factors in the prevention of cell damage. The immunohistological analyses indicated that the synthetic torpor spares the tissue from energetic ion radiation. In addition, changes in metabolism at low temperatures could also affect DNA repair.

A lot of research is still needed to investigate and better understand the radioprotective effect of synthetic torpor in organs. Currently it is not possible technically to hibernate a human in a safe and controlled way. However, research is progressing. Only recently, the neuronal pathways that control torpor are been unraveled. Now the current publication adds another important component.

The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, emphasizes that the international accelerator center FAIR, currently under construction at GSI, will offer unique opportunities for research in the field of cosmic radiation. “Already today, the GSI facility is able to produce beams of heavy nuclei as they occur in cosmic radiation. At FAIR, experiments with a much wider range of particle energies and intensities will be possible. This will allow researchers to study the effects of cosmic radiation on humans and on technical instrumentation, which are fundamentally necessary to make human Mars missions possible. I am very delighted that the European Space Agency ESA has a cooperation with FAIR since many years to foster this field of research." (BP)

Further information

Scientific publication in "Scientific Reports" (Englisch)

Many of Europe's biggest facilities in physics-related disciplines have just cemented a long-term deal to commit to sharing and processing open data. This agreement was signed at the “ESCAPE to the Future” conference, where partners of the European Science Cluster of Astronomy & Particle physics ESFRI research infrastructure (ESCAPE) project as well as members of the scientific community and the European Commission gathered at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science in Brussels (Belgium). GSI/FAIR also signed the ESCAPE collaboration agreement.

ESCAPE, initiated in 2019, has brought together a cluster of ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) projects and other world-class research organizations with the aim of implementing a section of a European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) to foster Open Science in astrophysics and particle physics. As the ESCAPE project, funded by the H2020 grant, is coming to its end, the members of the cluster shared their results and achievements, discussed the next challenges and presented an outlook for the future. The event represented the starting point of a new era: after the successful experience of the ESCAPE project, the nine core ESCAPE Research Infrastructure partners have signed a new Open Collaboration Agreement, which consolidates their cross-border action for the benefit of Open Science, the implementation of the EOSC and the establishment of new sustainable cooperative schemes within Horizon Europe for the benefit of the European Strategy for data and excellence science.

During the implementation period of the ESCAPE project, partners from the astronomy, astroparticle, particle  and nuclear physics communities have worked together on the development of software for Open Data management, in a cross-border and multi-disciplinary open environment, according to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles. The “ESCAPE to the Future” event serves as an end point of the H2020 funded project, where partners discussed the achieved goals and future work lines.

“Scientific Research is progressing towards the new paradigm of Open Science for more open, transparent, collaborative and inclusive scientific practices to enhance the impact of science in our society, fostered by the expansion of information and communication technologies. This is the fundamental motivation of the ESCAPE scientific community and it is also the challenge shared by pan-European Research Infrastructures (RIs) that are members of the ESCAPE science cluster,” explains Dr. Giovanni Lamanna, Coordinator of the ESCAPE project. “The successful work programme, the achievements and the ability of ESCAPE RIs to cooperate in the context of open data intensive science to lead to new insights and innovation are widely recognised. The ESCAPE RIs are willing to continue cooperative actions by joining their efforts. Bottom-up demands of the involved scientists not to interrupt but to continue the cross-fertilisation in science and innovation that ESCAPE has been able to build, are strongly considered. For these reasons a new ESCAPE open collaboration agreement is established.”

The new Open Collaboration Agreement, publicly announced during the “ESCAPE for the Future” event and signed by all the Directors of all the research infrastructure partners, will take effect from January 2023, and will also help continue the synergies and joint work of all five domain-based Science Clusters (see paragraph “ESFRI Clusters” below) involved in the implementation of EOSC. The agreement is also open to further research infrastructures to join. This agreement is expected to maintain the collaborative and human experience represented by the Science Cluster and strengthen the role and impact of astronomy and nuclear/particle physics in the field of open science and, more broadly, in the European Research Area. (ESCAPE/BP)

Science Clusters and EOSC

European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is a cloud for research data in Europe allowing for universal access to data; a single online platform where all European researchers will be able to: (i) find, access and re-use data produced by other scientists; (ii) deposit, analyse and share data they have been paid to produce. EOSC will help increase recognition of data intensive research and data science. Its architecture is developed as a data infrastructure common serving the needs of scientists, providing both common functions and localised services delegated to community level. EOSC will federate existing resources across national data centres, European e-infrastructures and research infrastructures by gradually opening up its user base to the public sector and industry.

ESFRI Cluster

Research Infrastructures have strong links with research communities and projects, manage significant data volumes and develop innovative data analytics tools, ensuring effective research data exploitation. Five ESFRI cluster projects were launched in 2019, within the H2020 framework of the European Union, providing a gathering point for various ESFRI projects and landmarks to connect to the EOSC. The five Science Clusters are ENVRI-FAIR for environmental research, EOSC-Life for life sciences, ESCAPE for astronomy, particle physics and nuclear physics, PaNOSC for multidisciplinary scientific analysis based on light and neutron sources facilities and SSHOC for social sciences and humanities. The ESFRI science cluster projects implement interfaces to integrate computer and data management solutions to create cross-border, interdisciplinary and open cooperation spaces for European researchers.

Partners

The first RIs that have signed the ESCAPE Open Collaboration agreement include ESFRI projects/landmarks and research infrastructures such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the KM3NeT Neutrino Telescope Research Infrastructure (KM3NeT), the European Gravitational-Wave Observatory (EGO-Virgo), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the European Solar Telescope (EST), the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), the Joint Institute for VLBI-ERIC (JIV-ERIC) and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO).

Further information

Project ESCAPE

News release ESCAPE

The one-hour events begin with a short lecture on the research topic of the scientists, after which they are available for a discussion with the students. All scientific topics related to GSI and FAIR are covered: Whether construction and operation of accelerators, work on detectors for measuring nuclear reactions, events in the universe, research into new, super-heavy elements or tumor therapy with ion beams — a total of twelve experts are available for all these and many more research areas. Career stages from PhD students to professors are represented to provide insight into career paths.

The events take place online as video conferences. High-school teachers can request appointments to "Meet a scientist" as a class. Classes can then dial into the events either as individuals or as a group. An overview of participating scientists, available times, and how to participate can be found at www.gsi.de/meet-a-scientist. Interested parties can register directly on the web or contact meetascientist(at)gsi.de with any queries. (CP)

Further information

• Website „Meet a scientist“

Kreiser was elected by the readers of the Vogel IT-Akademie publications. In total, over 1200 votes were received for the eleven nominated candidates. In addition to the Innovation category, an award was also presented in the areas Transformation, Sustainability and Efficiency. The award, which was bestowed for the first time, is intended to honor people in companies and the teams behind them who drive innovation and new infrastructure strategies.

GSI/FAIR’s Green IT Cube is a very energy-efficient and sustainable data center, its technology is based on cold water cooling of the computing racks and the reuse of the dissipated heat. Interested partners can deploy their computer systems in the racks as part of the living lab “Digital Open Lab” and operate them for the development, testing and upscaling of energy-efficient high-performance computers to the scale of industrial demonstrators on campus.

In doing so, GSI/FAIR are focusing on the Open Innovation Strategy and the Co-Innovation Strategy. It means that the Green IT Cube has become a living lab where new ideas, innovations and approaches can be tackled together with startups, companies and research institutes. GSI/FAIR are interested in implementing these new solutions in the Green IT Cube. The strategy not only promotes new innovations, but also creates the opportunity to expand the Green IT Cube with these new innovations. GSI/FAIR want to further develop and optimize concepts in order to operate data centers in a more efficient and eco-friendly way. (CP)

Further information

• News of the Vogel IT-Akademie regarding the Datacenter Strategy Summit 2022

The new building of the Helmholtz Institute Jena, a branch of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, was constructed in the immediate vicinity of the existing institute building on the campus of the Friedrich Schiller University (FSU) Jena. Several floors provide additional offices, seminar and laboratory areas, which are necessary for the increased number of employees as well as for the amount of laboratory and research equipment. The new four-story building provides around 550 square meters of additional floor space. Offices and a seminar room are available on the two top floors, while the two lower floors mostly house research laboratories in addition to building technology and supply services. The basement is connected to the already existing target laboratory.

The infrastructure, which has been additionally improved by the new building, is a guarantee for the cutting-edge research that will take place at the Helmholtz Institute in the future and has been conducted since the institute was founded in 2009. The research profile of the Helmholtz Institute Jena is characterized by physics at the interface between conventional accelerator technology and the rapidly developing field of laser-based particle acceleration. The institute offers outstanding research in the areas of the coupling of intense photon fields and the supporting development of adequate instrumentation. The institute benefits from the close connection to the FSU and its scientific expertise, as well as to the large research facility GSI with the international accelerator center FAIR which is currently under construction.

About 100 employees and associated researchers in ten research groups are currently working at Helmholtz Institute Jena. Furthermore, there is a graduate school ("Research School of Advanced Photon Science") with about 60 PhD students. In addition to the successful acquisition of third-party funding, the regional networking that the Jena location brings with its specialization in the field of photonics and optical technologies is particularly important. Successful collaborations with the Fraunhofer Institute for Optics and Precision Engineering and the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies are just two examples.

The Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure had announced an architectural competition for this new research building. A regional office emerged as the winner: the jury unanimously selected the design of the office "Osterwold°Schmidt EXP!ANDER Architekten" from Weimar, which had submitted the plans together with Impuls Landschaftsarchitektur Jena. Groundbreaking for the new building, which was constructed on a hillside location on a state-owned plot of land within the university site below the Landgrafen, took place in October 2019. The €8.9 million construction cost of the research building was fully financed by state funds from the Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture. (HI Jena/CP)

Further information

• Website of the Helmholtz Institute Jena

Following introductory information about the FAIR project, the campus development, the previous research successes and the current experiments, the SPD politician had the opportunity to visit the research facilities during a tour of the GSI campus. At the linear accelerator UNILAC and the experimental storage ring ESR, scientists provided insights into the functioning of the GSI accelerator facility. Afterwards, the guests visited the therapy unit for cancer therapy, the large experiment HADES, the energy-efficient supercomputing center Green IT Cube as well as the target laboratory, and had the opportunity to talk to researchers on site. 

The guests were given an overview of the activities around FAIR during a visit to the magnet testing facility for cryogenic magnets and the FAIR viewing platform. Afterwards, the guests took a tour of the FAIR construction site and got a close-up view of the construction progress. One highlight was the tour of the underground accelerator tunnel. Other stops on the bus tour included the transfer building, the CBM experiment cave and the buildings for the NUSTAR experiments. Dr. Harald Hagelskamp, the manager of the FAIR construction site, guided the politician through the site.

An open discussion and lively exchange about the activities of the works council with Jan Regler, the chairman of the works council of GSI and FAIR, rounded off the visit to GSI and FAIR, which lasted about five hours in total. (JL)

Karthein received the award for applying the superior phase-imaging ion cyclotron resonance technique to short-lived nuclides, reaching relative uncertainties of 10^-9, the application to neutrino-less double beta decay, and for pursuing new applications using radioactive molecules. The Young Scientist Award is bestowed annually by GENCO to outstanding young researchers working in the field of experimental or theoretical nuclear physics or chemistry. The winners are selected by an international jury. It is endowed with 1,000 euros and is awarded during the NUSTAR annual meeting.

Additionally, the GENCO community honored Dr. Emma Haettner of GSI/FAIR with a Membership Award for having a decisive role in recent improvements of the Fragment Separator FRS for experiments and for the development of the new medical-physics program using radioactive beams for improved PET imaging. (CP)

Further information

• GENCO website

The team of external experts was headed by the experimental particle physicist Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, who was director-general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN for six years, and the experimental physicist Professor Robert Tribble, deputy director for science and technology at Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA. The committee consisted of renowned experts, who have been assessing the project in great detail since April 2022.

The expert group evaluated the science program of FAIR as compelling, often world-leading: According to the expert report, there is no other facility now being planned or under construction that can carry out the full program of science planned for FAIR. Even in case of delays, it will still be possible for FAIR to tackle many of the outstanding questions in nuclear physics.

The committee suggests a stepwise approach for the realization of the project, bringing the facility progressively into operation. It has also recognized that, as a consequence of various unforeseeable developments additional costs are unavoidable to reach the first step of viable operation. The FAIR Council will now consider the steps to be taken based on the outcome of the review, including the implementation of a proposed cost cap for the realization of the first step.

The Scientific Managing Director, Professor Paolo Giubellino, said: “I am very proud that the scientific program of FAIR once again has been rewarded with a very positive response of an international committee with high standing. We are grateful to the international scientific collaborations for their outstanding job in preparing FAIR’s scientific program”.

The FAIR management is looking forward to the next realization steps, following the decisions of the FAIR-Council, in order to realize the first scientific experiments at FAIR as early as possible. (red)

More information

Report of the international group of experts

Neutron stars are remnants formed during stellar collapse in a supernova explosion. They have extremely strong gravitational fields, exceptionally intense magnetic fields, and consist of matter with very high density, making them important natural laboratories for fundamental physics. In binary systems consisting of two neutron stars, mergers of these extreme objects can occur: The two high-density stars collide at about 20% of the speed of light, leading to temperatures of several 100 billion kelvin. During the collision, considerable amounts of neutron-rich matter are expelled, in which heavy chemical elements such as silver, gold, platinum and many more are formed. The ejected matter evolves into a fireball, which is visible as a so-called kilonova.

“Kilonova science is emerging as a new field in astrophysics, offering an enormous discovery potential for understanding neutron stars, the origin of the heavy elements in particular, the physics of exotic heavy nuclei, and the phases of hot, ultra-dense, and exotic matter”, Bauswein explains his research focus. “The increasing sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors, also providing improved sky localisations for follow-up observations, and the next generation of telescopes, means that we expect an abundance of new kilonovae observations in the coming years. I look forward to exploring the research field in the best possible way together with my colleagues within the framework of the ERC Synergy Grant.”

The research project HEAVYMETAL (How Neutron Star Mergers make Heavy Elements) aims to make a big step in explaining kilonova explosions by spectroscopically dissecting their emissions and connecting them quantitatively to the physical properties of the neutron star merger. In doing so, HEAVYMETAL will probe the origin of the heavy elements, and delineate the nuclear and astrophysical pathways that created them — the so-called “r-process”. The research team will try to decipher the details of the observed spectra and use that information to gain unprecedented insight into the physical processes of the neutron star merger.

HEAVYMETAL brings together experts from different fields related to kilonova research who, by working together, can exploit synergies in the ambitious goal of explaining element synthesis: Andreas Bauswein and his team at GSI/FAIR have a long and high impact track record in connecting advanced hydrodynamical simulations to r-process nucleosynthesis, kilonova modelling and the properties of high-density matter. Already in 2017, Bauswein succeeded in securing an ERC Starting Grant of 1.5 million euros with his project GreatMoves on the simulation of neutron star mergers. In addition to Bauswein, Professor Darach Watson, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Professor Padraig Dunne, University College Dublin, Ireland, and Dr. Stuart Sim, Queen's University, Belfast, UK, are also members of the research team funded by the ERC Synergy Grant.

Watson has been a key player in gaining and interpreting kilonova data and has worked in observational astronomy for two decades. Dunne is a leading experimental physicist in the area of laser plasma spectroscopy with a focus on laser plasmas of heavy elements. Sim is an expert in the modelling of radiation in explosive environments and in the development of codes designed to simulate detailed radiation-matter interactions and photon transport in rapidly expanding matter ejecta.

“We are very proud to have gained the support of the European Union for this cutting-edge research project,” says Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. “International and interdisciplinary collaboration has always played a major role in our work. The implementation of many scientific projects is hardly conceivable without worldwide collaborations and the use of synergies between researchers. This starts with individual research areas such as the study of kilonovae in this group of experts and continues with the construction of our future research facility FAIR, which is being built in international collaboration between many researchers and nations.” FAIR is currently under construction in Darmstadt and will be connected to the GSI accelerator facility. In the future, it will be possible at FAIR to study states of matter similar to those occurring in the interior of stars, stellar explosions and neutron star mergers in the laboratory, which directly links to the HEAVYMETAL project.

ERC Synergy Grants are awarded by the European Union to research groups of two to a maximum of four scientists in any research area, exclusively on the basis of scientific excellence. The decisive factor for the grant is that the research in question cannot be carried out by the individual researchers alone, but only through joint cooperation. (CP)

Weitere Informationen

• ERC Starting Grant „GreatMoves“ by Andreas Bauswein
• Press release on Synergy Grants of the ERC
• Press release about kilonova discovery

Dr. Harald Hagelskamp, head of the FAIR construction site, Emmanuel Rosi, head of the FAIR Project Management Office, and Dr. Ingo Peter then accompanied the guest to the magnet testing facility and the FAIR view point. During a bus tour, he was given an overview of the entire FAIR construction field and the activities in the northern and southern construction areas. During the tour of the underground SIS100 accelerator tunnel and the CBM experiment, both of which are completed in shell construction, as well as the transfer building, which forms the central hub of the facility beamline, and the NUSTAR experiment, the guests were able to gain a direct impression of the progress of construction work. 

Afterwards, Dr. Holger Becker had the opportunity for a detailed exchange about current and future plans at GSI and at the FAIR project in a video conference with Prof. Dr. Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Director of GSI and FAIR, and Jörg Blaurock, Technical Director of GSI and FAIR, as well as Dr. Ulrich Breuer, Administrative Director of GSI and FAIR. (LW)
 

In his PhD thesis titled „Application of pulsed UV laser systems for cooling of high-relativistic ion beams and laser spectroscopy of Be-like krypton ions” Dr. Sebastian Klammes focused on ion beam cooling at particle accelerator facilities. Ion beam cooling with lasers is one of the indispensable techniques for the production of high-quality ion beams with a narrow velocity distribution and of a particular importance to the SIS100 ring accelerator at the international accelerator facility FAIR. During his research, the storage ring ESR served as a pilot and test facility for laser cooling of high-energy and intense ion beams.

In his work, Klammes used a pulsed UV laser system to successfully demonstrate broadband laser cooling of relativistic and bunched carbon ions (C³⁺). The laser system was converted to a transportable version and enhanced with a state-of-the-art data acquisition system. For the precise examination of theoretical models for the description of the atmic structure of complex many-electron systems, experiments on laser spectroscopy of krypton (Kr³²⁺; a krypton atom with four electrons) were performed at ESR. The scope of the thesis also comprised participation in the laser cooling of oxygen ions (O⁵⁺) at the storage ring CSRe in Lanzhou, China.

The SPARC PhD Award has been presented annually since 2018 and comes with a prize money of 300 euros. The award honors the best PhD thesis within the collaboration concerning atomic physics with heavy ions at the research facilities of GSI and FAIR. SPARC stands for Stored Particles Atomic Physics Research Collaboration. Currently, more than 400 members from 26 countries belong to the collaboration. They experiment with the existing atomic physics facilities at GSI and prepare new experiments and setups at the future FAIR accelerator. (CP)

Further information

• Website of the SPARC Collaboration

GSI/FAIR present as a strong innovation partner for start-ups in the Darmstadt transfer ecosystem. GSI as a long-standing facility with the international mega construction project FAIR as an additional innovation driver showcase an extensive portfolio of intellectual property (IP), know-how and technical problem solving competence, which enables an optimal economic utilization for various applications of the respective innovations.

Access to this broad portfolio for industrial use is to be achieved not only through IP licensing and transfer agreements and joint R&D projects, but also through the route of spin-offs. The goal is to promote the establishment of start-ups or spin-off companies whose activities are based in whole or in part on GSI/FAIR knowledge and technologies. The staff unit Technology Transfer supports GSI/FAIR employees as well as external persons who want to establish such a company.

At the exhibition booth, GSI/FAIR present technologies, competences and cooperation offers in the areas of energy efficiency, material research, electronics and IT/software, for example the offer for start-ups to use the living lab “Digital Open Lab” for R&D projects in the supercomputing center Green IT Cube. GSI/FAIR’s Green IT Cube is a very energy-efficient and sustainable data center, its technology is based on cold water cooling of the computing racks and the reuse of the dissipated heat. Interested partners can deploy their computer systems in the racks as part of the Digital Open Lab and operate them for the development, testing and upscaling of energy-efficient high-performance computers to the scale of industrial demonstrators on campus.

Start-up & Innovation Day is where founder spirit and the power of innovation meet business, academia and government. For a whole day, innovation projects and (tech) start-ups present themselves at the fair, from initial ideas or early innovations to knowledge- and technology-based start-ups that have already successfully entered the market. Numerous network partners and start-up support organizations from the start-up scene of the Rhine-Main region will also be on site with booths, demonstrating the region's enormous innovative power.

Interested parties can visit the event free of charge. Tickets are available from the organizers at Technical University of Darmstadt. (CP)

Further information

• Technology transfer GSI/FAIR
• Innovation & Start-up Day
• GSI/FAIR as exhibitor

Heavy quarkonium is a non-relativistic system made by a heavy quark and a heavy antiquark that has been at the root of the development of the strongly interacting quantum physics called quantum chromo dynamics. It has a pattern of separated energy scales qualifying it as special probe of complex environments and consequently it plays an important role at the frontier of our knowledge from particle to nuclear physics and cosmology. It is, however, difficult to be addressed in theory, thus the field is continuously crafting cutting-edge advanced tools and techniques.

In the last decades, this field has seen a plethora of surprising discoveries that have greatly expanded our perception of the variety of states that exist in nature. Tetraquarks, pentaquarks, hadro-molecules, and doubly-heavy baryons are the newest members of the particle zoo, and the study of these states will lead us to a deeper understanding of the strong interactions.

Members of all the collider experiments were present, from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to the Beauty Factory in Japan and the Tau-Charm factory in China, and provided an innovative and unconventional interface of new ideas, new data, new theories and prospects for new experiments.

The QWG chose to convene at GSI/FAIR in strong appreciation, support and expectation for the upcoming FAIR facility. The future PANDA experiment (antiProton ANnihilation at Darmstadt) at FAIR will offer a broad physics program, covering different aspects of the strong interaction and will play a key role for quarkonium physics.

The meeting contributed considerably to the preparation of the PANDA experiment which develops and is constructed inside a very international framework and is comparable to high-energy physics experiments. Results in this field will impact on the ability to do precision physics and control strong systems. New tools will be of use for a wider community. (CP)

Further information

• Website of QWG

Since 2008, a framework agreement has formed the basis of the close scientific cooperation between Goethe University Frankfurt and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. Now the framework agreement has been renewed and updated under legal and science policy aspects. The framework agreement on strategic cooperation between the two institutions aims to strengthen research and development for the FAIR particle accelerator. One focus is on accelerator and heavy ion physics as well as “green” IT technology, which are anchored in the agreement as specific research areas.

In the scientific network of the Rhine-Main region, the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the Goethe University have been cooperating closely for many years. There are eight jointly appointed professors, for example in theoretical physics and accelerator physics, as well as numerous cooperation projects, for example the Helmholtz Research Academy Hesse for FAIR (HFHF), a think tank for basic physics research, and the graduate academy GRADE Center for Hadron and Ion Research, which is located at Goethe University. The GSI's Green IT Cube, a particularly energy-efficient high-performance computing centre, was also developed by scientists from Goethe University and GSI.

Professor Enrico Schleiff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt, explains: “GSI, with its large accelerator facility FAIR, which is currently being built, has been an extremely important strategic cooperation partner for Goethe University Frankfurt for many years. In GRADE and the Helmholtz Research Academy HFHF, for example, we jointly qualify the next generation of young, talented researchers and open up opportunities for them to establish themselves scientifically. Furthermore, last year we launched the priority project ELEMENTS, funded by the state of Hesse, in which Goethe University, the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and TU Darmstadt are involved.” In ELEMENTS, scientists experiment at particle accelerators to understand the matter in such extreme astrophysical objects like neutron stars and to describe it with theoretical models. 

President Schleiff is convinced: “We are connected with GSI through basic research in physics and mathematics, one of the defining research topics of Goethe University, which we have bundled in our profile area ‘Space, Time & Matter’: Around 150 professors and 1000 employees work here and educate 10,000 students. Together with GSI, we want to further advance cutting-edge research in this area. But the new cooperation agreement goes far beyond cooperation in research and thus also offers room for new cooperation formats right into administration.” 

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, explains: “With FAIR, a worldwide unique accelerator facility for research in particle and nuclear physics is being built at GSI, with which we will gain new insights into the structure of matter and the development of the universe. The close partnership with Goethe University will further promote our scientific exchange of experience and expand basic research in this fascinating field of science. In addition to pure knowledge gain, we also expected highly exciting scientific results from biomedical radiation research and materials research. And high-tech new developments in the areas of detector and sensor technologies or in energy-saving supercomputers generate benefits not only for science, but also for the economy and society. We are glad to have such a strong research partner in Goethe University.” (JL)

Furter information

    Press release of Goethe University (only in german)
 

An international team at the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), a branch of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum in cooperation with the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has received the “Erwin Schrödinger Prize — Science Award of the Stifterverband” of the year 2021 for important advances in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The award ceremony took place during the Helmholtz Annual Meeting in Berlin. “The Science Award of the Stifterverband rewards scientifically or technically innovative achievements that have been made in frontier areas between different subjects of medicine, natural sciences and engineering. This curiosity and the will to join forces across borders also characterize our award winners today," said Professor Michael Kaschke, President of the Stifterverband, in his laudatory speech. The award ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in December 2021, but was postponed due to the Corona situation.

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, was also pleased about the scientists’ recognition: “The Helmholtz Institute Mainz offers the researchers in this interdisciplinary collaboration an environment to enable top performance. The results of this outstanding research team demonstrate the overriding importance of close global networking in the scientific community. I am therefore delighted that this great scientific achievement has been honored with the Erwin Schrödinger Prize.”

The group led by Professor Dmitry Budker, professor of Experimental Atomic Physics at JGU and Section Head at HIM, developed a technique to improve hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging. The new technique for observing metabolic processes in the body promises to be much cheaper and simpler than previous methods. MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, has become a standard method for medical examinations in recent decades. It can be used to examine soft tissues of the body such as the brain, intervertebral discs or even the formation of tumors.

The Erwin Schrödinger Prize 2021 went in detail to Dmitry Budker (physicist, HIM), James Eills (chemist, HIM), John Blanchard (chemist, HIM), Danila Barskiy (physical chemist, HIM), Kerstin Münnemann (chemist, University of Kaiserslautern), Francesca Reineri (chemist, University of Turin), Eleonora Cavallari (pharmaceutical and biomolecular scientist, University of Turin), Silvio Aime (biological scientist, University of Turin), Gerd Buntkowsky (physical chemist, TU Darmstadt), Stephan Knecht (physicist, TU Darmstadt and NVision, Ulm), Malcolm H. Levitt (chemist, University of Southampton) and Laurynas Dagys (chemist, University of Southampton). The prize is endowed with a total of 50,000 euros.

The Helmholtz Institute Mainz was founded in 2009 by GSI and JGU to further strengthen the long-standing cooperation between the two institutions. At its location in Mainz, HIM addresses questions concerning the structure, symmetry and stability of matter and antimatter in experimental and theoretical investigations. Basic funding is provided by the federal government and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The JGU supports HIM by providing infrastructure. (CP)

Furter information

• Press release of JGU

Big Science Business Forum 2022 will be the second edition of the single one-stop shop for European companies and other stakeholders to learn about Europe’s Big Science organisations’ future investments and procurements worth €37 billion. Following the success of the first edition, which took place in 2018 in Copenhagen, the forum will again offer businesses the chance to learn about business opportunities in the coming years, within a wide range of business areas and technologies.

Three of GSI/FAIR’s technology transfer proposals have been accepted for the dedicated technology transfer session and we look forward to finding partners to help us realize the enormous potential:

• ion-track membranes,
• RoSEN multidimensional dataset tool,  
• Digital Open Lab.

BSBF 2022 is the opportunity to meet representatives from Europe’s eleven Big Science organisations (like FAIR) and their key suppliers and technology experts; to network and establish long lasting partnerships, showcase their expertise and potential for the Big Science market by participating in the open exhibition area and get insight in how businesses can interplay with the Big Science market. (CP)

Further information

• Website of the Big Science Business Forum 2022

Each year, the Summer Student Program offers a glimpse into research at a particle accelerator. “The program outgrew my expectations far and beyond” said Julia Świątkowska, participant from Warsaw, Poland, at the end of the eight weeks of program. “The people were amazing, my project and the extra activities were unbelievably interesting. Overall, the experience at GSI opened my mind to a whole new world of science." 

All summer students worked on their own small scientific or technical project from ongoing research in a research group. The topics ranged from atomic physics and materials science to nuclear and astrophysics. Developments and tests of technical and experimental components for the FAIR accelerator facility, which is currently being built at GSI, and its future experiments were the main focus. “The program has been an incredible experience both in terms of what I have learnt and what I have experienced with people I will always consider my friends,“ said Pablo Garcia Gil from Vigo, Spain.

Many of the international students come back to Darmstadt after the Summer Student Program for a master or PhD thesis at GSI and FAIR. Already for the 40th time the Summer Student Program took place, which is organized in cooperation with the PhD school HGS-HIRe. In addition to scientific events, the program included a pedestrian rally, sports activities and self-organized ventures in the region. Accompanying lectures presented the broad research spectrum of GSI and FAIR and the scientific results achieved. (LW)

More information

Photo competition of the Summer Students

Six new elements were discovered at GSI from 1981 to 1996. Some of the research instruments that made these discoveries possible are now on public display on Museum Island in Munich. 
To create a new element, two elements that occur naturally on Earth are used. For example, element 110, darmstadtium, was created by fusing nickel (element 28) and lead (element 82) (28+82=110). For this purpose, ions are brought to about 10% of the speed of light with a particle accelerator at GSI and then shot onto thin foils in a target wheel. The high speed overcomes the enormous repulsion of the two atomic nuclei and they can fuse to form a new element. Such a target wheel is now on display at Deutsches Museum, as is one of the detectors that was in use for years at the so-called SHIP velocity filter (Separator for Heavy Ion reaction Products) at GSI. Using a combination of very strong electric and magnetic fields, SHIP separated the electrically charged reaction products flying through the vacuum from the projectiles (nickel in this case) on the basis of their different velocities. After separation, the new elements were stopped in a silicon semiconductor detector, as now on display, and identified by measuring their characteristic alpha radiation. In this way, the six new elements Bohrium (107), Hassium (108), Meitnerium (109), Darmstadtium (110), Roentgenium (111), Copernicium (112) were discovered. (LW)

More information

Atomphysik-Ausstellung im Deutschen Museum (German only)

From September 19 to 24, 2022, the science festival “Highlights der Physik” will take place in Regensburg. Central elements of the event are the large hands-on exhibition and the science shows as well as a lecture program. For those who cannot be there, numerous live streams are offered. GSI and FAIR will also be represented with a stand and will offer knowledge and entertainment about the future accelerator facility FAIR — “The Universe in the Lab” — which is currently under construction at GSI in Darmstadt.

At the GSI and FAIR stand on Neupfarrplatz, two hands-on experiments will attract the public: Visitors can try out for themselves how a particle accelerator works and how to investigate the structure of matter to learn more about one of the largest construction projects for fundamental research. Those who cannot be on site in Regensburg can still participate: The exhibition can be visited on three days via live stream on YouTube. On Tuesday, September 20, the GSI and FAIR stand will be live.

The physics festival kicks off on September 19 with the big Highlights Show in the Donau Arena with science and entertainment for the whole family — with breathtaking experiments, demonstrated by top-class guests such as Harald Lesch. The festival week will conclude with a special evening lecture, in which Communicator Award winner Professor Metin Tolan will explore the question of whether scenes from James Bond films are physically possible at all.

The “Highlights of Physics” are organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Physical Society (DPG) and the University of Regensburg. The “Highlights of Physics” were launched in 2001 by the BMBF and the DPG. In the past years, they have attracted up to 60,000 visitors.

Admission is free to all events. Free admission tickets are required for the big “Highlights Show” in the Donau Arena, “James Bond im Visier der Musik” in the Audimax of the University of Regensburg and for all lectures. Tickets are available at highlights-physik.de/tickets.
In addition to the on-site visit, many events of “Highlights of Physics” will also be available online in a live stream and afterwards “on-demand”. (KG/BP)

Further information

• Website of "Highlights der Physik"

An international research team has succeeded in gaining new insights into the chemical properties of the superheavy element flerovium — element 114 — at the accelerator facilities of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. The measurements show that flerovium is the most volatile metal in the periodic table. Flerovium is thus the heaviest element in the periodic table that has been chemically studied. With the results, published in the journal “Frontiers in Chemistry”, GSI confirms its leading position in the study of the chemistry of superheavy elements and opens new perspectives for the international facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently under construction.

Under the leadership of groups from Darmstadt and Mainz, the two longest-lived flerovium isotopes currently known, flerovium-288 and flerovium-289, were produced using the accelerator facilities at GSI/FAIR and were chemically investigated at the TASCA experimental setup. In the periodic table, flerovium is placed below the heavy metal lead. However, early predictions had postulated that relativistic effects of the high charge in the nucleus of the superheavy element on its valence electrons would lead to noble gas-like behavior, while more recent ones had rather suggested a weakly metallic behavior. Two previously conducted chemistry experiments, one of them at GSI in Darmstadt in 2009, led to contradictory interpretations. While the three atoms observed in the first experiment were used to infer noble gas-like behavior, the data obtained at GSI indicated metallic character based on two atoms. The two experiments were unable to clearly establish the character. The new results show that, as expected, flerovium is inert but capable of forming stronger chemical bonds than noble gases, if conditions are suitable. Flerovium is consequently the most volatile metal in the periodic table.

Flerovium is thus the heaviest chemical element whose character has been studied experimentally. With the determination of the chemical properties, GSI/FAIR confirm their leading position in the research of superheavy elements. “Exploring the boundaries of the periodic table has been a pillar of the research program at GSI since the beginning and will be so at FAIR in the future. The fact that a few atoms can already be used to explore the first fundamental chemical properties, giving an indication of how larger quantities of these substances would behave, is fascinating and possible thanks to the powerful accelerator facility and the expertise of the worldwide collaboration,” elaborates Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. “With FAIR, we are bringing the universe into the laboratory and explore the limits of matter, also of the chemical elements.”

Six weeks of experimentation

The experiments conducted at GSI/FAIR to clarify the chemical nature of flerovium lasted a total of six weeks. For this purpose, four trillion calcium-48 ions were accelerated to ten percent of the speed of light every second by the GSI linear accelerator UNILAC and fired at a target containing plutonium-244, resulting in the formation of a few flerovium atoms per day.

The formed flerovium atoms recoiled from the target into the gas-filled separator TASCA. In its magnetic field, the formed isotopes, flerovium-288 and flerovium-289, which have lifetimes on the order of a second, were separated from the intense calcium ion beam and from byproducts of the nuclear reaction. They penetrated a thin film, thus entering the chemistry apparatus, where they were stopped in a helium/argon gas mixture. This gas mixture flushed the atoms into the COMPACT gas chromatography apparatus, where they first came into contact with silicon oxide surfaces. If the bond to silicon oxide was too weak, the atoms were transported further, over gold surfaces — first those kept at room temperature, and then over increasingly colder ones, down to about -160 °C. The surfaces were deposited as a thin coating on special nuclear radiation detectors, which registered individual atoms by spatially resolved detection of the radioactive decay. Since the decay products undergo further radioactive decay after a short lifetime, each atom leaves a characteristic signature of several events from which the presence of a flerovium atom can unambiguously be inferred.

One atom per week for chemistry

“Thanks to the combination of the TASCA separator, the chemical separation and the detection of the radioactive decays, as well as the technical development of the gas chromatography apparatus since the first experiment, we have succeeded in increasing the efficiency and reducing the time required for the chemical separation to such an extent that we were able to observe one flerovium atom every week,” explains Dr. Alexander Yakushev of GSI/FAIR, the spokesperson for the international experiment collaboration.

Six such decay chains were found in the data analysis. Since the setup is similar to that of the first GSI experiment, the newly obtained data could be combined with the two atoms observed at that time and analyzed together. None of the decay chains appeared within the range of the silicon oxide-coated detector, indicating that flerovium does not form a substantial bond with silicon oxide. Instead, all were transported with the gas into the gold-coated portion of the apparatus within less than a tenth of a second. The eight events formed two zones: a first in the region of the gold surface at room temperature, and a second in the later part of the chromatograph, at temperatures so low that a very thin layer of ice covered the gold, so that adsorption occurred on ice.

From experiments with lead, mercury and radon atoms, which served as representatives of heavy metals, weakly reactive metals as well as noble gases, it was known that lead forms a strong bond with silicon oxide, while mercury reaches the gold detector. Radon even flies over the first part of the gold detector at room temperature and is only partially retained at the lowest temperatures. Flerovium results could be compared with this behavior.

Apparently, two types of interaction of a flerovium species with the gold surface were observed. The deposition on gold at room temperature indicates the formation of a relatively strong chemical bond, which does not occur in noble gases. On the other hand, some of the atoms appear never to have had the opportunity to form such bonds and have been transported over long distances of the gold surface, down to the lowest temperatures. This detector range represents a trap for all elemental species. This complicated behavior can be explained by the morphology of the gold surface: it consists of small gold clusters, at the boundaries of which very reactive sites occur, apparently allowing the flerovium to bond. The fact that some of the flerovium atoms were able to reach the cold region indicates that only the atoms that encountered such sites formed a bond, unlike mercury, which was retained on gold in any case. Thus, the chemical reactivity of flerovium is weaker than that of the volatile metal mercury. The current data cannot completely rule out the possibility that the first deposition zone on gold at room temperature is due to the formation of flerovium molecules. It also follows from this hypothesis, though, that flerovium is chemically more reactive than a noble gas element.

International and interdisciplinary collaboration as the key to understanding

The exotic plutonium target material for the production of the flerovium was provided in part by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), USA. In the Department of Chemistry’s TRIGA site at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the material was electrolytically deposited onto thin titanium foils fabricated at GSI/FAIR. “There is not much of this material available in the world, and we are fortunate to have been able to use it for these experiments that would not otherwise be possible,” said Dr. Dawn Shaughnessy, head of the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division at LLNL. “This international collaboration brings together skills and expertise from around the world to solve difficult scientific problems and answer long-standing questions, such as the chemical properties of flerovium.”

“Our accelerator experiment was complemented by a detailed study of the detector surface in collaboration with several GSI departments as well as the Department of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics at JGU. This has proven to be key to understanding the chemical character of flerovium. As a result, the data from the two earlier experiments are now understandable and compatible with our new conclusions,” says Christoph Düllmann, professor of nuclear chemistry at JGU and head of the research groups at GSI and at the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), a collaboration between GSI and JGU.

How the relativistic effects affect its neighbors, the elements nihonium (element 113) and moscovium (element 115), which have also only been officially recognized in recent years, is the subject of subsequent experiments. Initial data have already been obtained as part of the FAIR Phase 0 program at GSI. Furthermore, the researchers expect that significantly more stable isotopes of flerovium exist, but these have not yet been found. However, the researchers now already know that they can expect to find a metallic element.

In addition to GSI/FAIR and JGU, the HIM, the University of Liverpool (UK), the University of Lund (Sweden), the University of Jyväskyla (Finland), the University of Oslo (Norway), the Institute of Electron Technology (Poland), the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA), the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (India), the Joint Atomic Energy Agency and the RIKEN Research Center (Japan) as well as the Australian National University (Australia) were involved in the experiment. (CP)

Further information

• Scientific publication in Frontiers in Chemistry 10, 976635 (2022)
• Website of the superheavy element research

Researching cosmic radiation and their effects on humans, electronics and materials is a decisive contribution to the future of human spaceflight, so that astronauts and satellites in space are provided with the best protection during the exploration of our solar system. Furthermore, it also contributes to detailed knowledge about the risks of radiation exposure on Earth. The establishment of the Summer School is a direct result of the close cooperation between ESA and FAIR on cosmic radiation research: For many years, ESA has been implementing space radiation research at the GSI particle accelerator in Darmstadt. The existing GSI accelerator facility already is the only one in Europe that can generate all of the ion beams that occur in our solar system, which range from the lightest one, hydrogen, to the heaviest, uranium. At the future FAIR accelerator center, even higher energy will be available for cosmic ray simulation, enabling groundbreaking new insights.

With these forward-looking research opportunities as a framework, the participants of the Summer School will be able to enhance their knowledge of radiation research in a unique combination of lectures and practical workshops. The Summer School will be held at ESA´s European Space Operations Center ESOC as well as at the GSI/FAIR campus in order to train students in basic heavy ion biophysics for both terrestrial and space applications. The ESA -FAIR Radiation Summer School thus contributes significantly to research and development in the field of biomedical and biophysical applications of heavy ions in Europe. Main topics of the two-week event are space research activities at ESA, space radiation physics, space radiation biology, applied physics at GSI/FAIR, particle accelerators and particle therapy.

The Summer School’s top-class scientific program, opened by Dr. Dr. Jennifer Ngo-Anh, ESA Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration programs, and Professor Marco Durante, Head of the GSI Department of Biophysics, includes lectures from experts such as former astronaut Thomas Reiter and former ESA Director General Johann-Dietrich Wörner, site visits to facilities in Darmstadt and practical training and research opportunities at GSI/FAIR. At the ESA-FAIR Radiation Summer School, participants will also take written exams and carry out teamwork, which will be evaluated and rated by the faculty. (BP)

Further information

ESA-FAIR Radiation Summer School

With the future requirements for FAIR, the operation of SIS18 will be fundamentally different from the current operation to supply experiments: To achieve the planned highest intensities in the five times longer SIS100, the SIS18 must accelerate and extract the ion beam four times within one second. This results in a repetition rate of 2.7 hertz, significantly higher than the rate of maximum one hertz that has been common in experimental operation so far. Operation with heavy ions with low charge states, as  intended for FAIR (only with them the highest intensities can be achieved), further increases demands on the devices.

To enable booster operation, which was previously not required to operate the current experimental program at GSI, various technical changes have been made over the past 15 years as part of an extensive upgrade program. In particular, the performance of the main power supplies and the high-frequency acceleration systems was improved to achieve the shortening of the acceleration cycle required for booster operation.

Realizing the high ramp rate of the magnetic field in the SIS18's deflecting magnets of ten tesla per second is very challenging. It requires the magnetic current to be brought up to a maximum current of 3500 amps at a rate of 19,000 amps per second. The current generated by the power supply must not deviate from the specified profile by more than 0.01 percent at any time. These requirements can only be met by special power supply units with outstanding control characteristics. The high-frequency facilities of SIS18 were extended by a group of broadband MA cavities, which together provide an accelerating voltage of 40 kilovolt in the frequency range from 0.4 to 1.6 megahertz. Only with these cavities, the energy of low charge state heavy ions can be increased sufficiently per revolution to follow the fast magnetic ramp.

Taking all devices together, the SIS18 reaches pulse powers in the range of 50 megawatts in booster operation. The special characteristic of the SIS18 is that, unlike other very fast-pulsed synchrotrons, it is not constructed as part of an oscillating circuit and thus always delivers the same pulses at a fixed repetition frequency. Instead, it offers the flexibility to change the settings of all devices from cycle to cycle to supply the various experiments.

In addition to the technical demands on the SIS18 equipment, booster operation also brings new challenges for the timing control systems due to its high repetition rate. For example, it must be ensured that the four injections from the linear accelerator UNILAC take place exactly when the SIS18 is ready for injection, without having to wait at this point as in normal operation. In order to demonstrate the booster operation, the control systems were adapted in such a way that the injections could be performed with a known procedure, previously used for the "multi-multiturn injection". With this intermediate step, a U²⁸⁺  beam could be accelerated and extracted at a repetition rate of 2.3 hertz for the first time.

After this first successful booster demonstration, further extensive developments in the control system for FAIR are required in the next step for the routine realization of booster operation. In particular, the timing system for the UNILAC must be renewed in order to combine the independent parallel operation of the UNILAC with those conditions that result from synchronization with the SIS18 in booster operation. (BP)

On a tour of the GSI/FAIR campus, the guests then took a look at the construction progress from the FAIR viewing platform. Other stops included the test stand for the superconducting magnets for the FAIR accelerator SIS100, the Green IT Cube — the high-performance computing center that is particularly energy-efficient thanks to water cooling and has been awarded the “Blue Angel” — as well as the the HADES experiment. (CP)

On a tour of the FAIR construction site, he then took a close look at the construction progress and visited the tunnel structure for the SIS100 accelerator, the building for the large experiment for compressed nuclear matter CBM and the so-called transfer building. On the GSI/FAIR campus, he visited the Green IT Cube — the high-performance computing center that is particularly energy-efficient thanks to water cooling and has been awarded the “Blue Angel” — as well as the experimental storage ring ESR and the HADES experiment. (CP)

FLASH experiments focus on very short and very high-intensity radiation pulses, where the treatment dose is delivered in sub-second timescales. The FLASH effect is a potential breakthrough in radiotherapy because ultra-high dose-rate irradiation can substantially widen the therapeutic window. In fact, pre-clinical data show that when the dose is delivered in less than a second it destroys the tumor but spares the surrounding healthy tissue. While this normal tissue sparing at high doses and short irradiation times has been demonstrated with electrons, photons, and protons, so far evidence with heavy ions is limited to in vitro cell experiments. Now the efficacy of the new FLASH radiotherapy using high-energy carbon ions delivered at an ultra-high dose rate was demonstrated for the first time in living organisms.

The scientists, including the head of the GSI Department of Biophysics, Professor Marco Durante, and his team, as well as researchers from the University of Naples Parthenope, the German Cancer Research Center DKFZ and the University of Heidelberg, present these first in vivo results in their current publication. The team with lead author Dr. Walter Tinganelli (GSI) has shown a 150 millisecond pulse of high-energy carbon ions reduces normal tissue toxicity compared to conventional irradiation in more than a minute and sterilizes the cancer (a mouse osteosarcoma). Furthermore, with great surprise, the investigators found that FLASH irradiation reduces the number of lung metastases generated by the primary tumor. FLASH with carbon ions is therefore not only able to spare the healthy tissue surrounding the tumour target, but may also elicit a systemic effect able to destroy distal metastasis.

Professor Durante, a renowned expert in the field of particle therapy and recently elected president of the international organization “Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG)” summarizes: “We demonstrated the FLASH effect with high-energy carbon ions for the first time in vivo. The results are important and very useful for understanding the FLASH mechanisms and for possible applications of the ultrahigh dose rate particle therapy in clinical settings. However, much more research needs to be carried out in order to translate this laboratory experiments in clinical settings. The goal is always to answer the central question: How should radiation be applied to get the most efficient, the best possible treatments in the fight against cancer?”

The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, is also delighted about the promising results, obtained during the FAIR Phase 0 experimental period: “Modern radiobiology will substantially benefit from beams with even higher intensities, such as we will have at the FAIR facility currently under construction. FLASH is a first example of this. The present results also show the great potential of carbon ion therapy, pioneered at GSI. Research on this highly relevant topic will continue in the coming years. The first stage of the FAIR experimental program, FAIR Phase 0, already offers outstanding opportunities in this field.” (BP)

Further information

Scientific publication in "Radiotherapy and Oncology"

Further lectures will deal with the modes of action and possible applications of nuclear spins as well as with the miniCBM experiment, which is already in operation at the GSI accelerator facility as a precursor for the large FAIR experiment to study compressed nuclear matter (CBM). At the end of the year in December, the scientific experiments during this year’s recent operational phase of the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility will be reported in the traditional Christmas lecture.

The lectures start at 2 p. m., further information about registration, access and the course of the event can be found on the event website at www.gsi.de/wfa

The lecture series “Wissenschaft für Alle” is aimed at all persons interested in current science and research. The lectures report on research and developments at GSI and FAIR, but also on current topics from other fields of science and technology. The aim of the series is to prepare and present the scientific processes in a way that is understandable for laypersons in order to make the research accessible to a broad public. The lectures are held by GSI and FAIR staff members or by external speakers from universities and research institutes. (CP)

Current program:

• Wednesday, 14.09.2022, 2 p. m.
  Großbaustelle FAIR: Fortschritt und Herausforderungen beim Bau eines Forschungsbeschleunigers der Spitzenklasse
  Jörg Blaurock, Technischer Geschäftsführer GSI/FAIR
   
• Wednesday, 19.10.2022, 2 p. m.
  Kernspins: Kleine Wechselwirkungen, große Ergebnisse
  Gerd Buntkowsky, Technische Universität Darmstadt
   
• Wednesday, 16.11.2022, 2 p. m.
  mCBM@SIS18 – Auf dem Weg zum großem FAIR-Experiment
  Christian Sturm, GSI/FAIR
   

• Wednesday, 14.12.2022, 2 p. m.
  Wer strahlte denn da? – Einblick in den wissenschaftlichen Experimentierbetrieb an GSI/FAIR in 2022
  Daniel Severin, GSI/FAIR, et al.
   

Information on scientific activities, the progress of the FAIR project and a tour were part of the program. Marcus Bühl got insights into newly developed and completed high-tech components for the accelerator facility FAIR. After that, a walking tour of the FAIR construction site was on the agenda. This included the underground accelerator ring tunnel, the central transfer building, the crucial hub for the facility’s beamline, and the buildings for the CBM experimental cave and the NUSTAR experimental caves. The test facility for superconducting accelerator magnets was also visited. There, mainly high-tech components for FAIR are tested, for example the dipole magnets for the ring accelerator SIS100.

GSI/FAIR must not be missing in the anniversary of the City of Science: After all, GSI has represented cutting-edge research in Darmstadt for more than 50 years, world-leading and at the same time rooted in the region, sharpening the profile of Darmstadt as a city of science. With FAIR, the groundbreaking course is set for the future: The FAIR accelerator center enables scientists to study the universe into the laboratory to address fundamental questions such as the origin of the chemical elements and the evolution of the universe.

With FAIR, the international dimension will be significantly expanded: From the very beginning, GSI has been bringing scientists from all over the world to Darmstadt. Many more will come here for the future international facility FAIR to carry out world class, excellent science. This is also a contribution to the visibility of Darmstadt as a science city at the international level.

The aim of the current anniversary campaign "Brought to the point" is to increase the visibility and tangibility of scientific institutions in Darmstadt. Similar to a baton, a symbolic "Knowledge point" has been on the road since June on a "Route of places of knowledge” in Darmstadt. At each location where the "Knowledge point" stops for one or more days, visitors can expect an exciting program. The campaign will last until October.

As part of the anniversary campaign, interested persons could already register for a tour of the unique particle accelerator facility at GSI/FAIR, which will take place on August 25. In the days around the "Knowledge point" visit, there are also fascinating things to discover and interesting facts to learn on Instagram and Facebook. Interested people have the opportunity to look behind the scenes of a research institute in a variety of ways and gain surprising insights into science at GSI/FAIR.

The "Knowledge point" tour and program are continuously updated and expanded on the website of the city of Darmstadt. There is an overview map showing where Darmstadt's places of knowledge are located. (BP)

More information

25 years City of Science (in German)

GSI/FAIR at Instagram

GSI/FAIR at Facebook

An international research team with participation by the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung succeeded for the first time to create an isolated four-neutron system with low relative energy in a volume corresponding to that of an atomic nucleus. The scientists have overcome the experimental challenge by employing a new method.

The experiment has been carried out at the Radioactive Ion Beam Factory RIBF at RIKEN (Japan) by a large international research team led by Technical University Darmstadt. Significantly involved besides GSI were scientists from TU Munich and the RIKEN Nishina Center. The experiment yielded an unambiguous signal for the first observation of the tetraneutron. The result has been published in the current issue of “Nature”.

The building blocks of atomic nuclei are nucleons, which exist as two kinds, the neutral neutrons and the charged protons, representing the two isospin states of the nucleon. To our present knowledge, nuclei made of neutrons only are not existing as bound nuclei. The only bound systems known made of almost only neutrons are neutron stars, which are very compact high-density objects in the universe bound by the gravitational force with typical radii of around 10 kilometers. Atomic nuclei are bound by the nuclear strong force with a preference to balance neutrons and protons, as known for the light stable nuclei we find on earth.

Better understanding of neutron-star properties

The study of pure neutron systems is of particular importance since they provide the only means to extract experimental information on the interaction among several neutrons and thereby on the nuclear force. If multi-neutron systems do exist as resonances or even bound states has been a long-standing quest in nuclear physics. The exploration of the so far hypothetical particles might furthermore provide information helping for a better understanding of neutron-star properties. If multi-neutron systems do exist as unbound resonant states or even bound states has been a long-standing quest in nuclear physics. The research team set out to undertake a new attempt by using a different experimental technique as compared to previous attempts. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) via the SFB 1245.

“This experimental break-through provides a benchmark to test the nuclear force with a pure system made of neutrons only", says Dr. Meytal Duer from Institute for Nuclear Physics at the TU Darmstadt. “The nuclear interaction among more than two neutrons could not be tested so far, and theoretical predictions yield a wide scatter concerning the energy and width of a possible tetraneutron state. We are currently planning to a next-generation experiment at R3B at FAIR, which will detect directly the correlations among the four neutrons with the R3B NeuLAND detector, which will give deeper insight to the nature of this four-neutron system”.

The experimental study of pure neutron systems is challenging because targets — which are the matter samples subject to the particle beam — solely made of neutrons do not exist. In order to create multi-neutron systems in a volume where the neutrons can interact via the short-range nuclear force (few femto-meter, 10^-15 meter), nuclear reactions have to be used. Here, the interaction of the neutrons with other particles involved in the reaction process poses a major problem, which can mask the properties of the pure neutron interaction. The scientists have overcome this problem by using a high-energy ⁸He beam. The ⁸He consists of a compact alpha particle (⁴He) which is surrounded by the additional four neutrons in a cloud of lower density. The alpha particle is removed from ⁸He in a high-energy reaction instantaneously, induced by a proton of the liquid hydrogen target. The remaining four neutrons are suddenly free and can form a four-neutron state.

“Key for the successful observation of the tetraneutron was the chosen reaction, which isolates the four neutrons in a fast (compared to the nuclear scale) process, and the chosen kinematics of large momentum-transfer, which separates the neutrons from the charged particles in momentum space”, says Professor Dr. Thomas Aumann, head of the research department “Nuclear Reactions” at GSI/FAIR and a professor at the Institute for Nuclear Physics of TU Darmstadt. “The extreme kinematics resulted in an almost background-free measurement. We now plan to employ the same reaction in an ⁶He experiment at the RIBF to make a precision measurement of the low-energy neutron-neutron interaction. A dedicated neutron detector for this experiment is currently being built at our university”. (TUDa/CP)

Further information

• Publication in scientific journal Nature
• Press release of the Technical University of Darmstadt

GSI is the birthplace of a new form of cancer treatment. This development was the result of many years of research in conjunction with GSI’s large ion-beam accelerator system. To date, ion-beam radiotherapy has been used to treat more than 440 patients for tumors in the head or neck region. The advantage of this new treatment modality is that the ion beam selectively damages tumor tissues while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues. Further research will focus on applying the new treatment method to other malignant tumors as well. An ion-beam radiotherapy center was constructed at the Heidelberg University Medical Center under the technical direction of GSI. Since its opening in November 2009 patients can be treated in clinical routine operation.

The Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy is closely linked to GSI/FAIR and supports activities for the research in the field of tumor therapy with heavy ions by providing nonmaterial and financial support. The major aims are further improvements of the tumor treatment and awarding these in the framework of the Christoph-Schmelzer-Award. The association pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes.

The "Tour der Hoffnung" is one of the largest, privately organized charity cycling tours, which has raised more than 42 million euros in the past 38 years, the organizers say. They emphasize, "All donations go to the last cent for the benefit of those affected, while the organizational costs are borne by sponsors. This clear separation has been enormously well received nationwide. This is an important reason why every year many celebrities from business, politics, show business and sports put themselves at the service of the good cause."

This year, around 160 participants, including well-known athletes, will be pedaling to raise funds for children with cancer. The 254-kilometer charity bike tour traditionally begins on August 11 with a prologue in and around Giessen and ends on August 13 in Fulda. This year's patron of the tour is once again Petra Behle, Olympic champion and nine-time world champion in biathlon. The captain of the field of riders is Klaus Peter Thaler, a multiple cross-country world champion from Gevelsberg. (BP)

Further information

Ion-beam radiotherapy in the fight against cancer at GSI/FAIR

Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy with Heavy Ions

Tour der Hoffnung (in German)

Radiation therapy is a proven approach to destroying tumours. However, it is possible that it might be able to do even more in the future – namely stimulate the immune system at the same time and so fight cancer even more intensively. Researchers led by TU Darmstadt and with participation of GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung have found that x-rays trigger a calcium signalling cascade in cells of the immune system. The results have now been published in the “Journal of General Physiology”.

Ionising radiation is successfully used in cancer treatment to kill tumor cells and is an important research topic of the GSI Biophysics Department. Over the past two decades, it has become clear that treatment success can be increased even further if the radiation treatment is combined with measures to stimulate the immune system. In this context, a new study being carried out with researchers from TU Darmstadt and GSI plus researchers from the clinics of the Frankfurt and Homburg universities is attracting attention.

The researchers report in the Journal of General Physiology that the desired stimulating effect on the immune system is triggered directly when T-cells are also irradiated by x-rays. Dominique Tandl, researcher at the Department of Biology at TU Darmstadt, and her co-authors, also including Claudia Fournier and Burkhard Jakob from GSI, demonstrate in the recently published study that clinically relevant doses of x-rays in T lymphocytes trigger a signalling cascade that is typical of the immune reaction that begins with the release of the messenger substance calcium (Ca2+) from internal stores.

Activated by what is known as store operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE), the concentration of Ca2+ in the cells begins to oscillate at a critical frequency, which in turn leads to the displacement (translocation) of a transcription factor from the cytoplasm into the cell nucleus. Once there, this transcription factor initiates gene expression, and the cell begins to make molecules that are important for the immune response, such as cytokines.

Since the irradiation of tumours invariably always affects the blood cells in the target tissue, medicine could utilise the stimulating effect of x-rays on T lymphocytes. The researchers hope that their studies will contribute to improving cancer treatment in the long term, as Professor Gerhard Thiel, head of the Membrane Biophysics Department at the Department of Biology at TU Darmstadt and co-author of the study, says. “It could be possible to enhance the killing effect of ionising radiation on tumour cells and at the same time to stimulate the immune system with the help of this radiation.” (TUDa/BP)

Further information

Press release of the TU Darmstadt

Scientific publication in "Journal of General Physiology“

The sophisticated and creative film technique convinced the jury: The time-lapse video produced by GSI/FAIR to show the developments on the construction site of the particle accelerator facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) was judged as an outstanding contribution in the category "Public Relations/Research and Science". The jury of the "WorldMediaFestivals | Television & Corporate Media Awards" honored the video with the "Intermedia Globe SILVER Award". 

The progress made on one of the largest construction sites for basic research worldwide is made particularly visible with the special GPS filming and processing technique of the "Longterm Dronelapse". Lars Möller from the interdisciplinary media production company "Zeitrausch" from Breuberg regularly flies the same routes over the FAIR construction site with a drone. The moving time-lapse videos filmed in the process are then combined into a single video. Time-lapse videos which have now been recorded over four years are superimposed in the World Media Festival award-winning video thanks to GPS support, so that the developments of the construction activities can be experienced in an impressive way. Last year's Longterm Dronelapse, which shows the development from 2018 to 2020, already won an award at the World Media Festival.

For 22 years, WorldMediaFestivals have been honoring excellence in television, corporate film, online and print at an international level. The awards are, according to intermedia, internationally recognized as a symbol of the highest production standards and one of the world's highest honors in visual competition. The jury decides based on creativity and effectiveness. (LW) 

More Information

Award-winning drone video Longterm Dronelapse

List of award-winning entries World Media Festival
 

Sigurd Hofmann was born on February 15, 1944 in Böhmisch-Kamnitz, Bohemia and came to Groß-Umstadt (near Darmstadt) shortly after the end of the second world war. He went to school there and attended the Max Planck High School until 1963. He then began studying physics at the former TH Darmstadt (now TU Darmstadt), where he received his diploma in 1969 and his doctorate in 1974 with Egbert Kankeleit. His scientific work, which he then began at GSI in Darmstadt, occupied him for almost 50 years. Most recently, he worked on a book on the current state of worldwide heavy element research and on the publication of a method for energy calibration of semiconductor detectors, which he had already developed in the 1990s - accuracy and scientific exactness were always important to him. After joining GSI in 1974, he devoted himself to investigating fusion reactions and radioactive decays in the group of Peter Armbruster and worked together with Gottfried Münzenberg. Sigurd Hofmann achieved international fame through the discovery of proton radioactivity from the ground state of lutetium-151 in 1981, a previously unknown decay mechanism. When analyzing the data, he benefited from his pronounced thoroughness and scientific curiosity.

At the same time, Sigurd Hofmann had begun work on the synthesis, unambiguous identification and study of the properties of the heaviest chemical elements, which were to shape his further scientific life. The first highlights were the synthesis of the new elements bohrium (Bh, Z=107), hassium (Hs, Z=108) and meitnerium (Mt, Z=109) in the years 1981 to 1984, with which GSI for the first time – and at the same time very prominently ¬¬– entered the international stage of this renowned research field. The semiconductor detectors, that Sigurd Hofmann had developed specifically for these experiments, were crucial here. Far ahead of its time, such detectors are now used worldwide to search for new chemical elements. At the end of the 1990s, Sigurd Hofmann took over the management of the heavy element group and - after instrumental improvements at the GSI linear accelerator UNILAC, the velocity filter SHIP, further detectors as well as the detection electronics – he crowned his scientific success with the discovery of the chemical elements darmstadtium (Ds, Z=110), roentgenium ( Rg, Z=111) and copernicium (Cn, Z=112) in the years 1994 to 1996. The concept "SHIP-2000", a strategy paper developed under his leadership in 1999 for long-term heavy element research at GSI, is today still current. In 2009 he was appointed Helmholtz Professor and from then onwards he was able to devote himself entirely to scientific work again. For many years he maintained a very intensive collaboration and scientific exchange with his international colleagues in Dubna, where he co-discovered element flerovium (Fl, Z=114) in a joint experiment.

For his outstanding research work and findings, he received a large number of renowned awards and prizes, of which only the most important ones can be mentioned here. Since 1996 he has been an honorary doctor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia), since 1998 honorary professor at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, since 2001 Dr. h.c. of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna and since 2004 Professor Laureate of the Josef Buchmann Foundation of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. In 1984 he received the Physics Prize of the German Physical Society (together with Gottfried Münzenberg, Willibrord Reisdorf and Karl-Heinz Schmidt), in 1996 the Otto Hahn Prize of the City of Frankfurt am Main (together with Gottfried Münzenberg), in 1997 the G.N. Flerov Prize of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna and in 1998 the SUN-AMCO Medal of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics; in 2011 he received the Nicolaus Copernicus Medal of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (Poland) and in 2011 the Medal of the City of Toruń and Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń (Poland).

Sigurd Hofmann was a diligent writer and speaker. He has been invited to speak at countless international conferences, authored a large number of review articles, books and book chapters, many widely cited publications etc. He also liked to present scientific results at public events, including as "Confessing Heiner" in the “Darmstadt Ziegelhütte” event location. In doing so, he was able to develop a thrilling picture of modern physics, but also of the big questions of cosmology and element synthesis in stars; he was also able to convey very clearly to the public how atoms can be made "visible".

Many chapters of his contemporary scientific life are recorded in his 2002 book “On Beyond Uranium”. His modesty and friendly nature were remarkable. You could always rely on him. His care, accuracy and deliberateness in all work was outstanding. His persistence was one of the foundations for the groundbreaking scientific achievements he achieved for GSI. He was always in the office or at the experiment, even late in the evening and on weekends, so that you could ask him at any time and always got detailed answers and competent advice. There was practically nothing in nuclear physics or GSI that he didn't know.

We are pleased that we have been able to work with an excellent scientist and colleague as well as an outstanding teacher and great person for so many years. Now we mourn Sigurd Hofmann. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family. We will remember him fondly. (JL)
 

The guests were welcomed by Jutta Leroudier from the Public Relations Department and Thomas Neff from the Theory Department, who was also a participant in the Chemistry Olympiad more than 30 years ago. After an introductory presentation on past research successes, current experiments and the status of the FAIR project, the program included a tour of the construction site platform and various research facilities. “It is a unique opportunity for the young people enthusiastic about chemistry to experience the large experiments and particle accelerators of GSI/FAIR, on site, to get an impression of the dimension of the experiments and to experience the discovery site of six chemical elements,” Marco Dörsam, the organizer of the excursion and state representative of the competition, was pleased.

After the official program of the visit, things got exciting for the young people once again. The team of supervisors around Marco Dörsam announced the winners of the individual competition categories. During the excursion, the students completed a theoretical exam and conducted comprehensive experiments in small groups. During this selection process, a total of ten young people qualified for the national final in Leipzig in September. “From now on, the excursion to GSI/FAIR will be a fixed program item in the 3rd selection round of the chemistry competition and we are happy that with GSI/FAIR we can offer such an excellent venue for our young people who are enthusiastic about chemistry,” says Marco Dörsam. (JL)

The symbolic laying of the foundation stone took place on March 29, 2022 with high representatives from politics, science and the building industry. Among others, the Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the Hessian Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts Angela Dorn, the Hessian Minister of Finance Michael Boddenberg, and the Lord Mayor of the Science City of Darmstadt Jochen Partsch took part in the ceremony. 

In the meantime, the structural work continues to take shape. The foundations of the MCR have been completed, the floor slab has been concreted and work on the basement ceiling has been finalized. The walls on the ground floor, where meeting rooms and offices for accelerator operations will be located in the future, have largely been built. Parallel to the structural work, the elevator system was commissioned. Upcoming tenders for roof sealing and metal construction work as well as for technical building equipment are currently being prepared and will be awarded in the near future.

When completed, the FAIR Control Center will be a crucial hub for the entire infrastructure on the GSI/FAIR campus. In the future, all accelerators of the GSI/FAIR facilities will be controlled from there. In addition to the MCR, the building will house around 200 office workstations, meeting rooms and a visitors' gallery. After its completion, the five-story building with a partial basement will have a total gross floor area of around 6000 square meters. (JL)

After an introductory presentation on the status of the FAIR project, campus development, previous research successes and current experiments, the guests visited the FAIR construction site. The tour took them to the underground SIS100 accelerator tunnel and the CBM experiment, both of which have completed shell construction, and the transfer building, which forms the central hub of the facility beamline. A stop at the shell construction area of the Super-FRS, which will sort exotic particles, and the future NUSTAR experiment area rounded off the comprehensive picture of the future international research facility. (LW)

Durante was elected president by the PTCOG Steering Committee, to which each clinical particle therapy center in the world sends representatives. The handover of the presidency took place during the recent PTCOG60 conference in Miami, USA. With Durante, for the first time a representative from Germany and also from research is appointed as president, after the position was previously held mainly by physicians or clinical medical physicists. As president, he will chair the PTCOG Governing Board.

“The appointment is a great honor for me and I am very grateful to fill this position for the next three years,” Durante said on the occasion of the election. “During my term, I would like to advocate for more focus on research within PTCOG. It is essential in order to further optimize particle therapy, which is already very successful as a therapy method and also gentle to the patients, and to make it available for additional conditions.”

The goal of particle therapy is to destroy tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy cells. Accelerated ions are better suited for this purpose than the conventionally used X-rays. They unfold their damaging effect at the end of their trajectory at a certain depth. This groundbreaking tumor therapy was developed at GSI's large accelerator facility. With great success, more than 440 people with tumors in the head and neck region have been treated with ion beams there in the past. At the existing research facility, as well as in the future with the FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) accelerator facility currently under construction in Darmstadt, researchers are working to improve the method through new technologies and treatment procedures.

PTCOG, founded in 1985, is a global non-profit organization of researchers and professionals in the field of radiation therapy with protons, light ions, and heavy charged particles. Its mission is to promote the science, technology, and practical clinical application of particle therapy with the goal of improving treatment of cancer methods to the highest possible standard in radiation therapy. To accomplish its objectives, PTCOG encourages education in the field and promotes other global activities, such as international conferences and meetings.

Marco Durante is head of the GSI Biophysics Research Department and professor at the TU Darmstadt Department of Physics, Institute of Condensed Matter of Physics. He studied physics and got his PhD at the University Federico II in Italy. His post doc positions took him to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Texas and to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan. During his studies, he specialized in charged particle therapy, cosmic radiation, radiation cytogenetics and radiation biophysics. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Galileo Galilei prize from the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (EFOMP), the Timoffeeff-Ressovsky award of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the Warren Sinclair award of the US National Council of Radiation Protection (NCRP), the IBA-­Europhysics Prize of the European Physical Society (EPS), the Bacq & Alexander award of the European Radiation Research Society (ERRS) and the Failla Award of the Radiation Research Society. Additionally, he has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant of the European Union for the continuation of his research activities. (CP)

Further information

• PTCOG website

From July 25 to September 2, the Italian artist Luca Spano will come to Darmstadt and, together with researchers from GSI and FAIR, will deal with the limits of vision and the visible. He investigates the perception of reality and the process by which we construct knowledge. “We produce images from data, we use our cultural background to imagine the unreachable, we create our beliefs,” says Luca Spano. “Every time we invent technology that changes how or what we can see, we change ourselves and the world around us.”

With the Artist-in-Science-Residence, GSI/FAIR establishes an interdisciplinary dialogue between artists and physicists, which offers the opportunity to pursue artistic questions and to reflect on them in a scientific context. From the artistic dialogue and in experimental workshops with the public and our scientists, images will be generated of what cannot be seen with the naked eye: the building blocks of matter and antimatter and their interactions. (KG/BP)

Further information

• About the artist Luca Spano
• Project „Artist-in-Science-Residence“

On June 12, a ceremony was held on the joint campus of the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI) and the international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) to commemorate the signing of an agreement on collaborative research (Memorandum of Understanding) in the area of nuclear physics. The agreement was made between the Japanese RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR), GSI and FAIR.

Chief Scientist Professor Takehiko Saito of RIKEN CPR has had ongoing collaboration with GSI/FAIR, and it was decided to take this partnership further with the establishment of a joint laboratory. The joint laboratory will be headed by Saito and Professor Christoph Scheidenberger of GSI/FAIR, with the aim of promoting collaborative research and expanding exchanges of researchers, including students.

The agreement also provides for the establishment of new research collaboration between RIKEN and GSI/FAIR, which will be carried out by researchers from three CPR laboratories, the Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics Laboratory led by Professor Toshiyuki Azuma, the Meson Science Laboratory led by Professor Masahiko Iwasaki, and the High Energy Nuclear Physics Laboratory led by Takehiko Saito.

The agreement was signed both on-site at GSI/FAIR and online. From GSI and FAIR’s side, Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, and Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, participated. From RIKEN’s side, Dr. Shigeo Koyasu, Director of CPR  participated. Additionally, Dr. Keitaro Ohno, State Minister for Cabinet Affairs in charge of Science and Technology Policy and Economic Security, visited GSI and FAIR on the same day and witnessed the signing, expressing his strong support for the cooperative relationship.

“Japanese research institutions in general and RIKEN in particular are strong and very valuable partners for GSI and FAIR. The cooperation with Japan’s highly qualified scientists has been extremely fruitful for us, as demonstrated by the many successful collaborations and research achievements, in the past and in the ongoing FAIR Phase 0 experiments. Many joint projects have been carried on by our scientists both in Japan and here. We hope for an intensified continuation in the future for which the signing of today’s agreement will pave the way”, says Professor Paolo Giubellino.

„Building on the previous joint activities between CPR and GSI, we hope that the signing of this MoU will further advance the collaboration,” added Dr. Shigeo Koyasu. (RIKEN/CP)

Further information

• Press release of RIKEN
• News on visit by Minister Keitaro Ohno

In his work, which was conducted under the supervision of Privatdozent Bastian Kubis at the University Bonn, Dr. Bai-Long Hoid studied the dominating theoretical uncertainties regarding the prediction of the muon anomalous moment, which are limited by calculations of hadronic vacuum polarization and hadronic light-by-light scattering.

Dr. Bai-Long Hoid successfully addressed a very complex problem and significantly advanced the theoretical tools that are required to carry out high-precision calculations for the relevant hadronic quantities in this low-energy regime. His scientific publications have received high recognition in the theory community and beyond.

The PANDA Collaboration bestowes PhD Prizes to specifically honor students’ contributions related to the PANDA project. Candidates for the PhD Prize are nominated by their doctoral advisors. In addition to being directly related to the PANDA experiment, the nominees’ doctoral degrees must have received a grade of “very good” or better. Up to three candidates are shortlisted for the award and can present their dissertations at the PANDA Collaboration Meeting. The winner is chosen by a committee that is appointed for this task by the PANDA Collaboration. (CP)

Further information

• Website of the PANDA Collaboration
• PhD thesis of Dr. Bai-Long Hoid

Following a welcome and an introductory talk about GSI/FAIR by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, and Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Ohno was then given an insight into the research facilities and infrastructure. In particular, existing collaborations with Japanese research institutions and ongoing experiments lead by Japanese scientists played a major role. The minister had the opportunity to meet many of the Japanese researchers currently working at GSI/FAIR.

In the Green IT Cube computing center, which is particularly energy-efficient due to its innovative water-cooling system for the computer racks, he learned about high-performance computing, experiment simulations, data analysis and sustainable computing. Afterwards, he visited the WASA experiment setup at the existing GSI fragment separator, which was installed and commissioned in cooperation with Japanese scientists during the recent months on the occasion of current measurements within the FAIR Phase 0 experiments. At the Experimental Storage Ring ESR, he learned more about atomic physics research headed by Japanese researchers in the framework of the ILIMA collaboration at FAIR.

On a bus tour of the construction site and a walk-through of the SIS100 accelerator tunnel, Ohno also was informed about the FAIR project and the progress of construction. Finally, in a joint video conference with the RIKEN research center, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between RIKEN, GSI and FAIR in the presence of the Minister. (CP)

Further information

• News on the MoU signing

The collaboration aims to allow the use of the latest technologies for patient radiation at ultra-high FLASH dose rates. The topic of FLASH radiation currently is in strong focus worldwide and is also a main research topic within GSI’s Biophysics Department, headed by Professor Marco Durante. The FLASH method is a new highly promising radiation experimental therapy method. The word “flash” refers to lightning. Fitting to that, in radiation medicine, this means ultra-short and high radiation. Traditional radiation therapy, as well as proton or ion therapy, deliver doses of radiation to a patient over a period of one minute or longer, whereas FLASH radiations are used to be delivered in just a few hundred milliseconds or even shorter. In the future, FLASH may potentially reduce side effects in healthy tissues and thus increase the therapeutic window. The benefit of FLASH radiation has been significantly demonstrated in many preclinical studies, especially for electron beam radiation. However, the promising effect is not yet fully understood from a radiobiological perspective.

To perform such FLASH radiation – that is, to apply a high dose in a very short time –, the clinical accelerators must be operated at the highest intensity level to provide the necessary dose rate. However, there is a crucial hurdle to overcome: particle therapy usually uses raster scanning, a method of radiation in which the beams are precisely modulated in intensity and guided exactly over the tumor using fast magnets, a technology developed at GSI Helmholtzzentrum in the 1990s. In addition, the energy is varied at the same time, because how deep the beam enters the tissue depends on the respective energy of the beam. With this method, the tumor volume can be treated in a tailored manner and with millimeter precision. However, this procedure is not possible for FLASH radiation due to time constraints; multi-energy raster scanning would take much too long. This is where the current research by GSI/FAIR, THM and Varian comes in.

The collaborators are focusing on FLASH therapy with protons. The aim of the cooperation is the development and validation of a new clinical workflow. Instead of raster scanning with approximately 30 to 60 different energy steps, only one single energy step is used. To ensure that the radiation can nevertheless be adapted to the tumor volume, a so-called patient-specific 3D range modulator ("3D-RM") is used to achieve a comparable result – but in a much shorter time in the millisecond range. This relatively compact 3D-RM, produced with high-quality 3D printers and optimized for the particular tumor shape consists of many pyramid-shaped basic structures, each with a microscopically well-defined contour. The range modulator is produced individually for each patient and is placed upstream in the beamline before the particles reach the body. This enables the desired tumor-adapted distribution of the dose. In the coming two years, the research team will work with Varian on establishing and optimizing this process scientifically and technically.

Dr. Uli Weber, Technical Project Manager from GSI Biophysics, is very happy about the new cooperation with Varian. "What matters most to me is to bring the new modulator technology into clinical use. And here Varian is the ideal collaborator because they are the world market leader in radiotherapy and, once it can be used safely, want to continue to test FLASH in clinical trials with selected institutions as early as possible.”

Together with the scientific-technical side, GSI’s Technology Transfer staff unit, headed by Dr. Tobias Engert, also developed the new cooperation. The goal is to ensure that the innovative ideas and technologies generated at GSI/FAIR can also be transferred into applications. For this purpose, the unit bundles all competencies and support services relevant to technology transfer. In the current cooperation between GSI, THM and Varian, Technology Transfer Manager Dr. Alicja Surowiec is responsible for this administrative project coordination, Dr. Uli Weber and Dr. Christoph Schuy for the scientific project coordination and project implementation at GSI.

On the part of the University of Applied Sciences Giessen, Germany (THM), the working group of Prof. Klemens Zink is responsible for the project. Already in the last 5 years, he has worked together with his PhD students and with Dr. Uli Weber from GSI on the further development and practical implementation of the idea of the range modulator and is now pleased that these ideas are finding their way into clinical application. In this context, the work of his doctoral student Yuri Simeonov, who has developed the principles for the clinical use of the modulator and has already received several awards for his work, deserves special mention.

The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Dr. Paolo Giubellino, was highly delighted by the new cooperation: "We are very proud to further advance radiotherapy together with such a globally renowned company as Varian. This international agreement builds a bridge between research institution, university and industry, enabling an extremely fruitful cooperation of powerful allies. Promoting this technology transfer bridge from fundamental science to industry is one of our fundamental missions as a research institution. Here, expertise in biophysics and medicine as well as engineering excellence come together in a promising way. New applications in tumor therapy are one of the research areas that can particularly benefit from the recently increased beam intensities of the GSI accelerators and from the unmatched beam intensities at the FAIR facility currently under construction." (BP)

The newly concluded cooperation agreement between the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the Worms University of Applied Sciences opens up two new branches of cooperation. Opportunities for innovation through cooperative collaboration have been identified for both the Business Computing and the Logistics Management degree programs.

The common goal of the contract partners is the expansion of dual study opportunities. The involved parties are optimistic to promote knowledge transfer in the areas of dual bachelor degree programs in business computing and logistics management in the near future. The target group consists of people who usually have little work experience yet and want to combine study and practice. However, it is also about fresh ideas from a generation that is very familiar with innovative technology and can provide completely new impulses.

“Our computer science and logistics courses are currently in high demand among young people and can be made more application-oriented through the cooperation with the GSI Helmholtzzentrum, theory and practice can be even better interlinked,” Prof. Dr. Jens Hermsdorf, President of Worms University of Applied Sciences, is pleased to say.

“Networking with the local universities is an important factor for us in order to sustainably attract young talent in science, but also in the area of application. The two dual courses of study together with Worms University of Applied Sciences are a new building block that expands our existing portfolio and opens up further training opportunities for young people,” says Dr. Ulrich Breuer, Administrative Managing Director of GSI and FAIR.

A cooperation with perspective and many facets

Both contractual partners strive for a trustful cooperation and are excited about these promising opportunities. “I consider the GSI Helmholtzzentrum particularly interesting as a partner, since it conducts fundamental research, and I look forward to training the future business computing specialists who will later support this important research via the IT and process side,” adds Professor Marie-Luise Sessler from the Department of Computer Science.

“Securing the recruitment and development of young professionals, especially in the IT sector as well as in logistics, is of great importance to us — the positive experiences with dual students and the tight job market among the graduates of these two fields of study are motivation for this cooperation in the Rhine-Hesse region,” explains Dorothee Sommer, head of the GSI human resources department. “For the management of our major project FAIR, the competences of both disciplines are a key for success.”

During the initiation to the cooperation, special thanks go to the GSI Human Resources Department for the excellent organization and to the coordinator for dual study programs at the University of Worms, Seyit Tokmak.

About GSI/FAIR: The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt operates a world unique accelerator facility for ions. Some of the best-known results are the discovery of six new chemical elements and the development of a new type of cancer therapy. The new international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), one of the largest research projects worldwide, is currently under construction at GSI. At FAIR, matter that usually only exists in the depth of space will be produced in a lab for research. Scientists from all over the world will use the facility for experiments to gain new insights about the building blocks of matter and the evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present. They will also develop new applications in medicine and technology. (Hochschule Worms/CP)

Further information

• Press release of the Worms University of Applied Sciences

Accompanied by Prof. Dr. Giubellino und Dr. Peter, Dr. Harald Hagelskamp, FAIR Site Manager, led Mr Larem, directly elected member of the Bundestag for the district of Darmstadt since 2021, and his scientific assistant at the constituency office, Annika Zecher, to the FAIR construction site. Via bus, they got an overview of the activities in the northern and southern construction areas.

While taking a tour through the underground ring tunnel for the future ring accelerator SIS100 and the CBM experimental cave, which are both completed in shell construction, as well as of the transfer building, the central hub of the facility's beamline, the guests were able to gain a direct impression for future research on our campus. (BP)

The Summit was opened by Professor Dr. Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, and Alexander Rabe from the Eco Association of the Internet Industry. Numerous operators, planners and customers of data centers and server rooms came together to exchange ideas on forward-looking topics and to network with important players in the sector. Various strategy and technology sessions were offered to the internet industry.

The GSI/FAIR research campus in Darmstadt is an ideal location for an event on data centers: The high-performance data center Green IT Cube of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is one of the most powerful scientific data centers in the world. It will provide enormous computing capacities for experiments at the accelerator facilities of GSI and, in the future, FAIR. The GSI/FAIR Digital Open Lab has also been established at the Green IT Cube. In this living lab (Test Data Center), computing and storage systems can be optimally tuned to an efficient cooling system with the respective application-specific requirements for performance capabilities, temporal load distributions and the like, and in different operating modes and system configurations.

The Digital Open Lab (Test Data Center) is available for industry and research partners. The offer to private and public partners includes, for example, the provision of the infrastructure and IT competences of GSI and FAIR for joint development around the topics of HPC, Big Data and ultra-fast data acquisition, including software developments and products. Access to HPC systems and projects for external partners via collaboration projects is also possible, as is an offer of services in the data center, such as the provision of rack space. The AI innovation lab currently being set up at the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence hessian.AI will be located at the Green IT Cube with its AI computing infrastructure. This was announced recently by the Hessian Ministry for Digital Strategy and Innovation.

At the Data Center Expert Summit 2022, Dr. Helmut Kreiser, head of the Green IT Cube, reported on the special features of the Green IT Cube and the Digital Open Lab. He explained how energy-efficient the data center is and what tasks it performs on the GSI/FAIR campus. It sets standards in IT technology and energy saving: Thanks to a special cooling system, it is particularly energy and cost efficient. The Green IT Cube cools its computers with an innovative air and water method. As a result, the energy required for cooling is less than seven percent of the electrical power used for computing, instead of 30 up to 100 percent, as is the case in conventional data centers with air-cooling. The high-performance concept has already won several awards for innovation and environmental friendliness, including the Blue Angel eco-label of the German government. (BP)

Statements on the Data Center Expert Summit 2022

Professor Dr. Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director GSI and FAIR: “We are delighted that this important data center conference with its top-class guests takes place at our facility. The Green IT Cube high-performance computing center is an outstanding example of how innovative, broadly usable developments and new cutting-edge technologies evolve out of basic research. It is an important goal for us to work together with partners from industry and business to provide new impulses for promising research and development projects”.

Patrick Burghardt, State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry for Digital Strategy and Development and CIO of the Federal State of Hesse: “High-performance computing capacities are the basis for innovative projects and products: whether in industry, agriculture, healthcare, energy supply or mobility. Data centers are the spine of digitization. Together with gigabit-capable networks and high-performance mobile networks, they provide the infrastructure and the foundation for digital transformation. Because we are aware of this, we have dedicated a separate target to data centers in the Hessian Digital Strategy. We want to strengthen the high-performance data infrastructures in Hesse and develop them into a pioneer in the field of energy-efficient, sustainable data centers and green IT, so that the Hessian data ecosystem can develop its enormous application potential in a fruitful way. With the Hessian Data Center Office and in contact with the data center operators and the municipalities we want to contribute to ensuring that innovative sustainable solutions secure the progress and future of Hesse as a business location”.

Further Information

High-performance computing center Green IT Cube

GSI/FAIR Digital Open Lab

eco Association of the Internet Industry

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”.

Throughout the Universe, neutron stars are born in supernova explosions that mark the end of the life of massive stars. Sometimes neutron stars are bound in binary systems and will eventually collide with each other. These high-energy, astrophysical phenomena feature such extreme conditions that they produce most of the heavy elements, such as silver and gold. Consequently, neutron stars and their collisions are unique laboratories to study the properties of matter at densities far beyond the densities inside atomic nuclei. Heavy-ion collision experiments conducted with particle accelerators are a complementary way to produce and probe matter at high densities and under extreme conditions.

“Combining knowledge from nuclear theory, nuclear experiment, and astrophysical observations is essential to shedding light on the properties of neutron-rich matter over the entire density range probed in neutron stars,” said Sabrina Huth, Institute for Nuclear Physics at Technical University Darmstadt, who is one of the lead authors of the publication. Peter T. H. Pang, another lead author from the Institute for Gravitational and Subatomic Physics (GRASP), Utrecht University, added, “We find that constraints from collisions of gold ions with particle accelerators show a remarkable consistency with astrophysical observations even though they are obtained with completely different methods.”

Recent progress in multi-messenger astronomy allowed the international research team, involving researchers from Germany, the Netherlands, the US, and Sweden to gain new insights to the fundamental interactions at play in nuclear matter. In an interdisciplinary effort, the researchers included information obtained in heavy-ion collisions into a framework combining astronomical observations of electromagnetic signals, measurements of gravitational waves, and high-performance astrophysics computations with theoretical nuclear physics calculations. Their systematic study combines all these individual disciplines for the first time, pointing to a higher pressure at intermediate densities in neutron stars.

The authors incorporated the information from gold-ion collision experiments performed at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt as well as at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the USA in their multi-step procedure that analyses constraints from nuclear theory and astrophysical observations, including neutron star mass measurements through radio observations, information from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission on the International Space Station (ISS), and multi-messenger observations of binary neutron star mergers.

Including data of heavy-ion collisions in the analyses has enabled additional constraints in the density region where nuclear theory and astrophysical observations are less sensitive. This has helped to provide a more complete understanding of dense matter. "In the future, improved constraints from heavy-ion collisions can play an important role to bridge nuclear theory and astrophysical observations by providing complementary information," said Dr. Arnaud Le Fèvre, co-author from GSI.

Especially experiments that probe higher densities while reducing the experimental uncertainties have great potential to provide new constraints for neutron star properties. New information on either side can easily be included in the framework to further improve the understanding of dense matter in the coming years. “In particular, the experiment for Compressed Baryonic Matter CBM at the new FAIR facility will play a significant role and contribute new insights,” explains Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. “CBM will provide unique opportunities to produce and study nuclear matter at densities comparable to those in the interior of neutron stars or in neutron star mergers.” The international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) is currently under construction at GSI. (TUD/CP)

Further information

• Scientific publication in the journal Nature
• Press release of the Technical University Darmstadt
• Press release of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics

Specifically, a co-funding mechanism for the GET_INvolved Programme at GSI/FAIR will be established, which aims to offer young students and early-stage researchers a unique opportunity to learn and experience first-hand-work in all areas of the laboratory through technical or scientific projects related to research at GSI/FAIR.

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is celebrating its 175 years of imparting technical education and contributing to the development of several countries. The current agreement is also a milestone for IIT Roorkee because this is 100^th agreement.

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI und FAIR, says: “FAIR and GSI are proud to be a talent factory and India is one of FAIR's founding members, so I am delighted to see the formalization of the collaboration between IIT Roorkee and FAIR/GSI. The GET_INvolved Programme partnership with IIT Roorkee will be another step forward towards providing young students with access to first-hand training and fostering the growth of early-stage researchers, which is a fundamental element of our mission.”

Professor Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director IIT Roorkee, says: “The collaboration between GSI/FAIR and IIT Roorkee will accelerate knowledge sharing and capacity building between the two countries. The formalization of our agreement could not have taken place at a more opportune time than during the visit of our Prime Minister to Germany. I wish all the success to the GET_Involved program which has a great potential as a platform for our students and faculty members across various disciplines to utilize and contribute to the state-of-the-art international facility.” (BP)

India at FAIR

IIndia as the third-largest contributor among the countries that are working as partners to build this facility has major roles to play. Indian companies will supply and design critical items such as ultra-stable power converters, co-axial power cables for powering the magnets, beam stoppers, ultra-high vacuum chambers and superconducting magnets for the FAIR accelerator system. Indian scientists are also working on the CBM and NUSTAR experiments. In CBM, the major responsibility of Indian scientists is to build a Muon detection system based on Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology. In the NUSTAR experiment, Indians are involved in building a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer (DESPEC Germanium Array) and Modular Neutron Spectrometer. BOSE Institute is representing the Republic of India at the Council of FAIR Shareholders.

Further information

For more information on the GET_INvolved Programme between IIT Roorkee and GSI/FAIR interested persons may contact the respective Programme coordinators: Professor P. Arumugam (IIT Roorkee, dean.ir@iitr.ac.in) and Dr. Pradeep Ghosh (GSI and FAIR, Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu).

About GET_INvolved Programme

The GET-INvolved-Programm provides international students and early-stage researchers from partner institutions with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training.

For the first time, comprehensive data on the search for dark matter using a global network of optical magnetometers has been published by an international group of scientists with key participation from the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM). According to the scientists, dark matter fields should produce a characteristic signal pattern that can be detected by correlated measurements at multiple stations of the GNOME network. Analysis of data from a one-month continuous GNOME operation has not yet yielded a corresponding indication. However, the measurement allows to formulate precise predictions of the characteristics of dark matter, as the researchers report in the prestigious journal Nature Physics.

GNOME stands for Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic physics searches. Behind it are optical magnetometers distributed around the world. With GNOME, the researchers particularly want to advance the search for dark matter – one of the most exciting challenges of fundamental physics in the 21st century. After all, it has long been known that many puzzling astronomical observations, such as the rotation speed of stars in galaxies or the spectrum of the cosmic background radiation, can best be explained by dark matter.

“Extremely light bosonic particles are considered one of the most promising candidates for dark matter today. These include so-called axion-like particles – ALPs for short,” says Prof. Dr. Dmitry Budker, professor at PRISMA+ and at HIM, an institutional collaboration of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. “They can also be considered as a classical field oscillating with a certain frequency. A possible theoretically predicted peculiarity of such bosonic fields is that they can form patterns and structures. As a result, the density of dark matter could be concentrated in many different regions – discrete domain walls smaller than a galaxy but much larger than Earth could form, for example.”

“If such a wall encounters the Earth, it is gradually detected by the GNOME network and can cause transient characteristic signal patterns in the magnetometers,” explained Dr. Arne Wickenbrock, one of the study's co-authors. “Even more, the signals are correlated with each other in certain ways – depending on how fast the wall is moving and when it reaches each location.”

The network meanwhile consists of 14 magnetometers distributed over eight countries worldwide: in Germany, Serbia, Poland, Israel, South Korea, China, Australia and the United States. Nine of them provided data for the current analysis. The measurement principle is based on an interaction of dark matter with the nuclear spins of the atoms in the magnetometer. The atoms are excited with a laser at a specific frequency, orienting the nuclear spins in one direction. A potential dark matter field can disturb this direction, which is measurable.

Figuratively speaking, one can imagine that the atoms in the magnetometer initially dance around in confusion, clarifies Hector Masia-Roig, a doctoral student in the Budker group and also an author of the current study. “When they ‘hear’ the right frequency of laser light, they all spin together. Dark matter particles can throw the dancing atoms out of balance. We can measure this perturbation very precisely.” Now the network of magnetometers becomes important: When the Earth moves through a spatially limited wall of dark matter, the dancing atoms in all stations are gradually disturbed – one of these stations is located in a laboratory at the Helmholtz Institute in Mainz. “Only when we match the signals from all the stations can we assess what triggered the disturbance,” says Hector Masia-Roig. “Applied to the image of the dancing atoms, this means: If we compare the measurement results from all the stations, we can decide whether it was just one brave dancer dancing out of line or actually a global dark matter disturbance.”

In the current study, the research team analyzes data from a one-month continuous operation of GNOME – statistically significant signals do not appear in the investigated mass range from one femtoelectronvolt (feV) to 100,000 feV. Conversely, this means that the researchers can narrow down the range in which such signals could theoretically be found even further than before. For scenarios that rely on discrete dark matter walls, this is an important result – “even though we have not yet been able to detect such a domain wall with our global search,” says Joseph Smiga, another PhD student in Mainz and author of the study.

Future work of the GNOME collaboration will focus on improving both the magnetometers themselves and the data analysis. In particular, continuous operation should be even more stable. This is important to reliably search for signals that last longer than an hour. In addition, the alkali atoms previously used in the magnetometers are to be replaced by noble gases. Under the title Advanced GNOME, the researchers expect this to result in considerably better sensitivity for future measurements in the search for ALPs and dark matter. (JGU/BP)

Further information

 Link to publication in Nature Physics

Group of Professor Budker

Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray (President and Vice-Chancellor), Dr. Malcolm Butler (Vice-President, Academic and Research), Dr. Adam Sarty (Associate Vice-President, Research), Dr. Lori Francis (Dean of Science), Dr. Ian Short (Chairperson) and Dr. Rituparna Kanungo (Astronomy and Physics Department) represented SMU Halifax. Professor Paolo Giubellino (Scientific Managing Director, Professor Karlheinz Langanke (Research Director), Professor Christoph Scheidenberger (Head of NUSTAR Department) and Dr. Pradeep Ghosh (Program Manager) represented GSI and FAIR.

The aim was also to outline the progress of the civil construction and the achievements of the FAIR's precursor program FAIR Phase 0 and exchange how the scientific collaboration can be ramped up and offer more training and research possibilities to young researchers affiliated with SMU Halifax. During the meeting, Professor Paolo Giubellino introduced the FAIR facility and the current status of the civil construction through an extraordinary time-lapse drone video of the construction site from 2018-2021 to distinguished guests from SMU Halifax in the meeting.

Professor Giubellino said, “We at GSI/FAIR are providing the opportunities for young minds to develop their talent, to get acquainted with advanced technologies and to get trained in an international environment so that they are ready to have an impact to the society at large. Science is made by the people, by brains. Our mission is to give them the opportunities to blossom. I am looking forward to welcome young scientists from SMU Halifax at FAIR”.

Professor Scheidenberger said, “For many years, SMU Halifax, GSI Darmstadt, and TRIUMF Vancouver have had closely aligned research priorities in the fields of nuclear reactions, nuclear structure and accelerator sciences. I’m pleased to learn that SMU Halifax and GSI/FAIR are formalizing their ongoing collaboration and expanding possibilities for mobility in research. The GET_INvolved Partnership agreement will offer more avenues, allowing future leaders to receive more skilled training”.

Dr. Summerby-Murray said, “This new partnership between Saint Mary’s University and our colleagues at GSI/FAIR represents our shared commitment to international research and collaboration. As scholars, we are linked by our desire to create knowledge, to explore frontiers and to demonstrate the significance of discovery and innovation to civil society. Our partnership is built around these shared values and our acknowledgement of the importance of providing opportunities for early-career researchers. Together, we are investing not only in advancing scientific inquiry but in the success of future scholars. I offer my congratulations to everyone involved in the launch of this important collaboration”. (BP)

Further informationen

For more information on the GET_INvolved Programme, interested persons can contact the respective coordinators: Dr. Pradeep Ghosh (GSI and FAIR, Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu) and Professor Rituparna Kanungo (Saint Mary’s University, ritu@triumf.ca, Rituparna.Kanungo@smu.ca).

About Saint Mary’s University

Saint Mary's University located in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada was founded in 1802 and is a national leader in international and intercultural education. The mission statements of the university include engaging in research and serving the community from the local to the international level. The university is a hub of subatomic physics research in Atlantic Canada. The university’s present nuclear physics research infrastructure is housed at Canada’s particle accelerator center TRIUMF in Vancouver.

About GET_INvolved Programme

The GET-INvolved-Programme provides international students and early-stage researchers from partner institutions with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training.

In the meantime, several experiments have been performed successfully to search for and study very special exotic atoms, especially mesic atoms and hypernuclei. The experiments build on a long-standing and intense collaboration between GSI and RIKEN, Japan's largest comprehensive research institution renowned for high-quality research in a wide range of modern scientific disciplines.

Regular atomic nuclei are made of protons and neutrons, which in turn are composed of a total of three up and down quarks. They form the nucleus and, together with the surrounding electrons, an atom. If one of the quarks in the nucleus is replaced by another type, a so-called strange quark, a hypernucleus is formed. Hypernuclei can be produced in energetic particle collisions at accelerators, and their decay can be observed in experiment setups such as the WASA detector and the FRS in order to study their properties in detail. They are particularly interesting because current theories expect them to determine important properties of neutron stars. In a similar way, an exotic atom can be formed if electrons in the surrounding atomic shells of nuclei are replaced by other charged particles, like for instance a meson. A meson is an unstable pair of a quark and an antiquark. Studying these exotic atoms could provide a hint to understanding the origin of the mass of matter in the universe. WASA@FRS allows to produce and study such exotic, very rare systems with very high experimental sensitivity and purity.

While the FRS is largely used for the separation and identification of exotic nuclei, the Super-FRS Experiment Collaboration takes advantage of its high momentum-resolution capabilities, which are unique in the world in the domain of relativistic proton and heavy-ion beams, thus allowing for unrivalled particle physics studies. The combination of a high-resolution momentum spectrometer with the “Wide Angle Shower Apparatus” WASA, which is designed to trace the tracks of large numbers of particles emitted in energetic nuclear collisions, opens a door to unprecedented experimental opportunities at the border line of atomic, nuclear and hadron physics.

The present experiments serve as pilot study for even further advanced science goals at the Super-FRS of FAIR, which is presently under construction. “The WASA research activities are largely driven by Japanese scientists. The cooperation with Japanese research institutions has been extremely valuable for GSI and we hope for an intensified continuation of this fruitful collaboration in the future”, says Paolo Giubellino. (CP)

Physicist Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo's work has helped to solve one of the biggest unsolved problems in physics in the 21st century: Where does the Cosmos produce heavy elements, such as precious metals gold and platinum? Together with other scientists, including Professor Almudena Arcones from Darmstadt, Martínez-Pinedo showed that these elements are created during the merger of neutron stars and that this process produces a distinct electromagnetic signal, a light curve, for which Martínez-Pinedo and colleagues created the term "kilonova." In 2017, such a kilonova was observed for the first time, following the detection of a neutron star merger in gravitational waves.

This scientific breakthrough is considered the birth of multi-messenger astronomy and opens up new scientific possibilities to understand the dynamics and nucleosynthesis of neutron star mergers. In the future, for example, the nuclear physics processes involved in the merger of neutron stars will be studied with unprecedented quality in the laboratory after completion of the international accelerator center FAIR currently being built at GSI in Darmstadt.

The Joint Committee of the DFG awarded the 2022 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize to ten researchers – five women and five men. They had previously been selected from 134 nominees. Of the ten prizewinners, four are from the humanities and social sciences, four from the natural sciences and the engineering sciences, and two from the life sciences. The prizewinners each receive prize money of €2.5 million. They are entitled to use these funds for their research work in any way they wish, without bureaucratic obstacles, for up to seven years. (TUD/DFG/BP)

Awarding of the Leibniz Prizes 2022

On 12 May 2022, the Leibniz Prizes was awarded in Bonn in front of an audience of invited guests. The event was also live streamed on the DFG’s digital channels and can be viewed again at: https://www.youtube.com/user/DFGScienceTV

Portrait film about Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo

On the occasion of the awarding of the Leibniz Prizes, portrait films of all prize winners were made.

Statements on the award for Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR: „I am extremely delighted about the great appreciation of the excellent scientific work of Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo. At the same time, the award is a proof of the outstanding opportunities in the research area of Darmstadt, at GSI and FAIR as well as at TU Darmstadt. With FAIR, we will be able to further extend the perspectives of such groundbreaking research as conducted by Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo and enable further important pioneering achievements.“

Professorin Tanja Brühl, President of TU Darmstadt: “Research personalities like Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo strengthen the role of the Technische Universität Darmstadt and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum, which together have become an internationally outstanding center of nuclear astrophysics. We are proud that with Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo another Leibniz prizewinner is helping to shape the research field of Matter and Materials at TU Darmstadt.“

About Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo

Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo studied at the Autonomous University of Madrid, where he received his PhD in Theoretical Physics. His further career took him to the California Institute of Technology, the universities of Aarhus, Basel and Barcelona, among others. Since 2005, he has worked at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, where he heads now the Nuclear Astrophysics and Structure Theory Department and in 2020 became one of the directors of the Helmholtz Research Academy of Hesse for FAIR. Since 2011, Martínez-Pinedo has held the professorship of Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics in the Department of Physics at TU Darmstadt. Martínez-Pinedo has received many awards; among others, he received an ERC Advanced Grant last year for the project "Probing r-process nucleosynthesis through electromagnetic signatures (KILONOVA)". He is a much sought-after speaker at international conferences, represents his field in important international committees, and publishes in prestigious scientific journals.

About the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is the most important research award in Germany. The Leibniz Programme, established in 1985, aims to improve the working conditions of outstanding researchers, expand their research opportunities, relieve them of administrative tasks, and help them employ particularly qualified early career researchers. A maximum of €2.5 million is provided per award. Prizewinners are first chosen from a slate of nominations put forward by third parties; the Joint Committee selects the actual prizewinners based on a recommendation from the Selection Committee for the Leibniz Program.

Awards are made to individuals who, with regards to the stage of their careers, have demonstrated superior achievements in their research areas both in a national and an international context and who show exceptional promise for future top-level accomplishments that will have a sustainable impact on the German research landscape. The prizes are not limited to certain research areas; the scientific quality of the previous work is the sole criterion for nomination. The prize may be awarded to individuals or research teams working at a research institution in Germany or at a German research institution abroad

More information

Photo gallery of the award ceremony

News release of the DFG

News release of the TU Darmstadt

Both graduates would like to expand their professional qualifications even further. “For the time being, I was taken on at GSI/FAIR in the metalworking shop, but for the future I am interested in a master craftsman training or an academic course of studies”, Paul Döbel reports. Merlin Weiland has similar plans: “I would like to complete further training as a technician.”

“Our two apprentices can be very proud of this great success. The result of Mr. Döbel and Mr. Weiland is, besides their high personal qualification, of course also a result of the work of our very competent and dedicated instructors,” explained Jasmin List from the Human Resources Development department of GSI/FAIR Human Resources. “The training of the next generation in the specialized professions employed on our campus is of great concern to us. We would like to invite all interested young people to apply for an apprenticeship with us.”

At GSI/FAIR currently 22 apprentices are trained as systems mechanics, electronic technicians, industrial mechanics, office managers or construction mechanics. Furthermore, two dual courses of studies belong to the training portfolio. Already in 2019, a GSI/FAIR apprentice was among the best of the year. (CP)

Further information:

• Apprenticeships at GSI/FAIR
• Current job offers

The polarization of electromagnetic radiation describes in which plane in space a wave oscillates. While everyday electromagnetic radiation, such as sunlight, is unpolarized, lasers produce polarized radiation. This is an important requirement for a wide range of experiments from solid-state physics to quantum optics. 

Additional polarizers, such as those being developed at the Helmholtz Institute in Jena, have the purpose of further improving polarization purity, but for a long time the limit of a few 10^-10, i.e., out of ten billion photons, only a handful have the unwanted polarization, could not be pushed any further. In 2018, Kai Schulze, first author of the paper now published in Physical Review Research, found that the divergence of synchrotron radiation is the reason for this limit. "So to get a further improvement in purity, we needed a source with better divergence," says the physicist, who leads work on vacuum birefringence at HI Jena and is jointly responsible for related DFG research projects at the University of Jena. "The commissioning of the European X-ray laser, European XFEL, in Schenefeld near Hamburg set the course for this."

Together with scientists from the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and the Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf, Schulze and his team developed an experiment setup at the European XFEL that set a new purity record of 8×10^-11 thanks to special polarizer crystals, a very precise alignment and a stable setup. This new purity record has already enabled a number of experiments on quantum optics in the X-ray range and on charge distribution in solids. However, special interest is devoted to the detection of the so-called vacuum birefringence.

The interaction of light with light was described as early as 1936 by Werner Heisenberg and Hans Euler, but has not yet been directly observed on Earth. "Vacuum birefringence is currently the most promising effect to directly detect light-light interaction," Schulze explains. "In this process, the polarization of a sample beam changes when it collides in vacuum with a very intense second light beam. The vacuum thus acts like a birefringent crystal, which also affects the polarization; hence the name. The effect is extremely small, but grows with decreasing wavelength of the sample beam. Precise polarizers in the X-ray range therefore provide a good tool to detect the effect."

The High Energy Density instrument at the European XFEL will provide the ideal conditions for such an experiment in the future, Schulze further explains. And the research team now has a setup with which the smallest polarization changes can be measured. The detection of vacuum birefringence would not only further underpin the foundations of quantum electrodynamics, but, if deviations from theoretical expectations emerge, also provide clues to previously unknown elementary particles (such as axions, or millicharged particles). "We hope to be able to launch the first experiments in the next few years."

Detection of the phenomenon would also be interesting for future experiments at the FAIR particle accelerator center. "If we succeed in measuring vacuum birefringence, this will help interpret the measurement data from FAIR. Among other things, vacuum polarization will play a role there, which is closely linked to vacuum birefringence," Schulze said. (LW)

More information

Original publication: Towards perfectly linearly polarized x-rays, Physical Review Research

After an introductory presentation on the status of the FAIR project, campus development, previous research successes and current experiments, the guests were invited to take a tour to the FAIR construction site and the research facilities at GSI/FAIR. One highlight was the walk-through of the underground ring tunnel for the future ring accelerator SIS100 which will be the heart of the FAIR facility. Furthermore the guests could visit the central transfer building, the crucial hub for the facility’s beamline, which is currently being built over several floors.

Another important focus was on the high-tech components developed specifically for FAIR. The guests were shown the testing hall, where new FAIR components are assembled and tested. The energy-efficient high-performance data center Green IT Cube was also visited. It is one of the leading scientific computing centers in the world, setting new benchmarks in IT technology and energy saving. (BP)

Following a welcome by the organizing Public Relations department and the deputy head of the Human Resources department, Mathias Mauer, the girls first went on an accompanied discovery tour to some stations on campus. They took a look at the experimental storage ring ESR, visited the treatment site for tumor therapy with carbon ions and marveled at the large detector setup HADES. The program also included a walk to the viewing platform of the large construction site for the future FAIR accelerator.

Afterwards, the girls learned more about individual work areas on campus in small groups. These included science activities in materials research, atomic physics and at the ALICE experiment, as well as numerous infrastructure facilities such as the target laboratory, cryogenics, the mechanical workshop and IT. In a special FAIR construction offer, some of the girls were also able to get a glimpse of construction activity on the large-scale site, getting up close and personal with excavators, cranes and lots and lots of concrete.

“We were very glad that the pandemic situation allowed us to conduct the event on site again this year,” explains organizer Carola Pomplun, who is a physicist herself and works in the Public Relations department at GSI and FAIR. “Last year we had a very successful online event on the occasion of Girls'Day, but it is still different for both the supervisors and the participants when you can get into personal contact, see the work ‘live’ and ask and answer questions directly. Many groups built or made something small on campus that could be taken home. The girls took up the offer enthusiastically and our spots were fully booked within a short time.”

“In addition to the possibility of working at GSI/FAIR as part of scientific study, for example for bachelor's, master's or doctoral theses, we also offer apprenticeships in seven professions as well as dual study programs,” says Mathias Mauer. “If the girls liked it here, I’d like to very much encouraged them to apply for those or for an internship as well.”

Girls’Day is a day of action all over Germany. On this day, businesses, universities, and other institutions all over Germany open their doors to schoolgirls from grade 5 and above. The participants learn about courses of study and training in professions in the areas of IT, natural sciences, and technology — areas in which women have rarely been employed in the past. GSI and — since its foundation — also FAIR have been participating in the annual event since the early days of Girls'Day. (CP)

Further information

Website of the nation-wide day of action "Girls'Day" (German)

With the Green IT Cube, GSI and FAIR have a very energy-efficient and sustainable data center, whose technology is based on the cold water cooling of the computer racks and the reuse of the dissipated heat. As a result, the energy used for cooling is equivalent to less than seven percent of the electrical power used for computing, instead of 30 to 100 percent as is the case in traditional data centers with air cooling. Originally envisioned as an environmentally friendly solution to house the computing capacity for the FAIR accelerator which is currently under construction, the facility has since attracted significant interest from a wide range of research and industrial sectors.

“The funding will enable research and development projects on a more sustainable operation of data centers, also together with industrial partners, and to exploit synergies. The partners will contribute their know-how and innovation potential,” says Professor Paolo Giubellino, the Scientific Managing Director of FAIR and GSI. “The expansion also allows partners from the scientific environment to use our data center space for their own research work. Just a few days ago, the Hessian Ministry for Digital Strategy and Development announced that the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence hessian.AI will use the space in our data center to establish an AI innovation lab.”

The project funds are part of the REACT-EU (Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe) program, which the European Commission distributes through the German federal states. Funding is provided for projects on direct Covid 19 pandemic response and for furthering sustainability. The state of Hesse is using the funds, among other things, to expand research and infrastructure facilities at universities and non-university research institutions. “This is a grant with an extremely small own contribution, but the funds must be spent in a relatively short period of time,” explains Dr. Arjan Vink, head of the GSI/FAIR Grant Office.

By the end of the year, two available floors of the Green IT Cube will be equipped with the necessary power and water cooling supplies, and one of these floors will be equipped with a total of 128 racks. Interested partners, such as hessian.AI (via the Technical University of Darmstadt), can then install their computer systems in the racks and operate them on the GSI/FAIR campus. A similar agreement already exists with Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, which uses several of the existing racks. Negotiations have already begun with other interested parties.

In order to begin communication with interested partners, the Digital Open Lab has been established by the Technology Transfer staff unit of GSI and FAIR as an environment for developping, testing and upscaling of energy-efficient high-performance computing to the scale of industrial demonstrators. It offers partners the infrastructure and in-house IT expertise for joint development projects, access to GSI/FAIR high-performance computing systems and rack space for their own systems, and it provides a living lab dedicated to future research and development projects and to the provision for third-party funded projects.

Funding for the Green IT Cube in particular can help strengthen future technologies and provide the infrastructure to increase innovation potential. Funding will also enable the procurement and testing of novel, as yet little-established systems that could enable particularly sustainable data center operations with low energy consumption. Research and development on such systems aims at contributing to efficient and energy-saving computing clusters in the future.

Originally, scientists use the Green IT Cube to perform simulations and develop detectors for FAIR. They also analyze measurement data from experiments at GSI's accelerator facilities and, in the future, at FAIR, which are used to gain fundamental insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe. The efficient cooling process makes allows the placement of the computers in the Green IT Cube in a space-saving manner. At present, two of the six floors are equipped with a maximum cooling capacity of four megawatts. When completed, the Green IT Cube will be able to achieve a cooling capacity of twelve megawatts. Due to saving energy and space, it is very cost-efficient. In addition, the waste heat of the Green IT Cube’s servers is already being used to heat a modern office and canteen building on the GSI/FAIR campus. The high-performance concept has already won several awards for innovation and environmental friendliness, including the Blue Angel eco-label of the German government. (CP)

Further information:

• Press release of the Hessian Ministry for Digital Strategy and Development
• High-performance computing center Green IT Cube
• GSI/FAIR Digital Open Lab

_{This project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the Union's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.}

The delegation included, in addition to the minister Professor Mikheil Chkhenkeli, also Levan Diasamidze, Georgian consul general in Frankfurt, Nikoloz Chkhetiani, Chairman of the board of the international charity foundation Cartu, Vakhtang Tsagareli, Director of Project Management and Operations at the international charity foundation Cartu and Professor Alexander Tevzadze, Rector of Kutaisi International University (KIU). Participants from GSI and FAIR were Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director, Dr. Ulrich Breuer, Administrative Managing Director, Dr. Ingo Peter, Head of Public Relations Department, Professor Marco Durante, Head of Biophysics Department, Professor Christian Graeff, Deputy Head of Biophysics Department, Dr. Christian-Joachim Schmidt, Head of Detector Lab and Dr. Irakli Keshelashvili, Staff Scientist at Detector Lab.

An important subject of the visit was the strengthening of scientific relations. This included the intensification and expansion of collaboration in the field of particle therapy using ions and protons as well as in detector and IT technologies. Possibilities for Georgian participation in the FAIR project were also discussed during the high-ranking visit. The promotion of young international scientists, for example via specific exchange and student programs such as the GET_INvolved program running very successfully at GSI/FAIR, was another important topic. The guests were impressed by GSI/FAIR's world-class research and its great potential for the future. They expressed their great wish for future cooperation.

The extensive two-day program for the Georgian visitors included an introductory presentation about the FAIR project, campus development, research successes and current experiments of the FAIR Phase 0 program. From the viewing platform, the guests were able to get an overview of the current FAIR construction activities on the 20-hectare construction field in the east of the existing GSI and FAIR campus.

The test facility where high-tech superconducting accelerator magnets (Series Test Facility, STF) for FAIR are tested, was also among the tour stops. The program also included the treatment unit for tumor therapy, the detector lab and the energy-efficient supercomputing center Green IT Cube. (BP)

In the framework of the ALICE Masterclass, 13 students were able to gain an insight into the scientific work and data analysis . Under the expert guidance of the scientists, they analyzed the ALICE experiment data themselves and discussed their results with other participants in a joint video link. A virtual visit to the ALICE measurement setup at CERN was also part of the day's program.

ALICE is one of the four large-scale experiments at the LHC collider at the CERN research center in Geneva and deals in particular with heavy ion collisions of lead atomic nuclei. When lead atomic nuclei collide with unimaginable impact in the LHC, conditions are created similar to the first moments of the universe. During the collisions, a so-called quark-gluon plasma is created for a very short time - a state of matter that existed in the universe shortly after the Big Bang. This plasma transforms back into normal matter within fractions of a second. The particles produced in the process provide information about the properties of the quark-gluon plasma. Thus, the measurements can peer into the birth of the cosmos and reveal information about the basic building blocks of matter and their interactions.

The relationship between GSI and ALICE is traditionally very close: The two large ALICE detector systems Time Projection Chamber (TPC) and Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) were designed and built with significant contributions of GSI’s ALICE department and Detector Laboratory. Today scientists from both departments focus on the TPC, which is the centerpiece for track reconstruction in the central ALICE barrel setup and is also indispensable for particle identification. Scientist from GSI's IT department contribute strongly to the new data acquisition and analysis software O2, and the GSI computer center is an integral part of the computer network for data analysis of the ALICE experiment.

The Masterclasses are organized by the IPPOG (International Particle Physics Outreach Group), of which GSI is an associate member. Each year, more than 13,000 students from 60 countries take part in the events of about 225 universities or research centers for a day to unlock the mysteries of particle physics. All events in Germany are held in collaboration with the Netzwerk Teilchenwelt, of which GSI/FAIR is a member. The goal of the nationwide network for communicating particle physics to young people and teachers is to make particle physics accessible to a broader public. (CP)

Further information:

• Website of IPPOG Masterclasses
• Website of Netzwerk Teilchenwelt (German)

Under the leadership of the University of Bochum, the researchers of the NRW-FAIR network want to play a major role in shaping the scientific work at FAIR, the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Darmstadt. From August 2022, the network will be funded by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia with around 16,5 million euros over a period of four years. 

In addition to the University of Bochum, the University of Bonn, the Research Centre Jülich and the University of Münster and the University of Wuppertal as well as the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research are involved in the NRW-FAIR network. In addition, an extension of the network to the universities of Bielefeld and Cologne is being considered.

The funding of the NRW-FAIR network underlines the relevance of the FAIR Scientific program. A major focus of the participating universities are the research pillars PANDA and CBM. “We are delighted that these major universities team up to strengthen their participation in FAIR,” says Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI/FAIR. “The NRW-FAIR network will significantly intensify our cooperation and will help us to fulfill the fundamental mission of our laboratory which is to provide scientists in research institutions all over the world with opportunities to conduct outstanding research.”

The long-standing cooperation between GSI/FAIR and the universities of North Rhine-Westphalia is reflected in the close collaborations already in place. The universities are involved both in working on scientific questions for FAIR and in developing experimental technology for FAIR.

The aim of the entire funding program of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is to sustainably strengthen existing topic-related and cross-location research networks of universities, universities of applied sciences and non-university research institutions, to expand them and to increase their visibility and international competitiveness. (LW)

More Information

Press release of the state government of north rhine-westphalia (German only)

Press release of Ruhr-Universität Bochum
 

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 and researchers – above all doctoral candidates – from EUt+ universities. The contract was signed yesterday at h_da by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, and Professor Arnd Steinmetz, President of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.

In future, up to ten students and doctoral candidates per year will profit from this new partnership: in the framework of short-term internships or research visits lasting several years, they will be able to learn and work in the pioneering research environment at GSI/FAIR, which will, among others, nominate mentors for them and help them, if required, to find accommodation for the duration of their stay. The participants of the programme can also take part in GSI/FAIR events. These include symposia and lectures as well as the GSI’s summer programme for students.

The partners will form a joint jury for the selection procedure. Internships can last between three and six months and require at least a bachelor’s degree. Applicants for research visits must hold a master’s degree, be a doctoral candidate or produce evidence of at least two years’ research experience. Such visits can last up to two years.

“The coming years are critical to significantly sharpen the science at FAIR as one of the best scientific laboratories in the world, along with the broad FAIR international scientific community,” says Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. “FAIR/GSI has been a talent factory, and through the framework of the GET_INvolved Programme, young students and researchers at Hochschule Darmstadt and EUt+ alliance partners in 7 European countries would considerably profit from the FAIR scientific community’s technical knowledge and expertise while performing their training.”

Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR: “Hochschule Darmstadt and the European University of Technology alliance (EUt+) are natural partners for FAIR/GSI. Through their ingenuity, FAIR/GSI scientists and engineers are constantly pushing the frontiers of technology. I am delighted to see that the GET_INvolved Programme partnership is established, as it will provide young brilliant engineers from alliance partners with first-hand exposure in a mega-science facility.”

“The new partnership with GSI/FAIR opens up completely new opportunities for students and young researchers from the whole EUt+. It is a further important step for h_da and shows our significance as a partner in the science and research landscape,” says Professor Arnd Steinmetz, President of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. (HDA/LW)

Further information

Details of the application procedure for students and researchers interested in the h_da/EUt+ and GSI/FAIR GET_INvolved Programme will be published shortly. Further information on the GET_INvolved Programme can be found on the programme pages of the h_da/EUt+ and GSI/FAIR websites. For immediate queries, please contact Dr Jorge Medina, EUt+ Coordinator, at coordinator-eutplus(at)h-da.de or Dr Pradeep Ghosh, Programme Coordinator on behalf of GSI/FAIR, at Pr.Ghosh(at)gsi.de.

Background

Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da) and GSI/FAIR have already been working together on different levels for quite some time. A similar contract in the area of internships and research visits has existed since 2014. With “GET_INvolved”, this is now being substantially expanded – among others to all students and researchers in the EUt+ alliance.

About the “European University of Technology” (EUt+)

EUt+ stands for “European University of Technology”, a joint project between h_da and seven partner universities throughout the whole of Europe. The European Commission is supporting the alliance in the framework of the European Universities Initiative, which aims to strengthen the European Education Area (EEA). Step by step, the universities want to grow closer together. EUt+ helps students to spend part of their studies at one of the partner universities. It is also increasing staff mobility as well as the number and volume of joint research projects. The European University of Technology unites 100,000 students and 12,000 staff. The participating institutions are connected by their shared focus on technologies that centre on human and environmental needs.

About GSI/FAIR

The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt operates a globally leading accelerator facility for research purposes. Around 1,600 staff work at GSI, who are joined each year by some 1,000 researchers from universities and other research institutes around the world. Their experiments at the facility enable them to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the Universe. They also develop innovative medical and technical applications. GSI is a limited liability company (GmbH). Shareholders are Germany’s Federal Government with 90%, the State of Hesse with 8%, as well as the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Free State of Thuringia with 1% each. GSI is a member of the Helmholtz Association, Germany’s largest research organisation. FAIR, an international accelerator facility for research with antiprotons and ions, which is being developed and built in cooperation with international partners, is currently under construction at GSI. It is one of the largest construction projects worldwide for international cutting-edge research. The FAIR project was initiated by the scientific community and researchers at GSI. The GSI accelerators will become part of the future FAIR facility and perform the first acceleration stage.

Links

GET_INvolved Programme
GSI and FAIR
European University of Technology
Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences

The FAIR accelerator facilities will provide particle beams of unprecedented intensity and precision, enabling scientist to perform unique experiments to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. Therefore, an integrated state-of-the art control center is needed to control and monitor the extremely complex accelerator facility. The control tasks will be performed by a specialized accelerator operation team exploiting sophisticated software tools including AI based processes. The future Main Control Room (MCR) is significantly larger than the existing main control room at the GSI facility, which is suitable to serve the GSI facilities but could no longer meet additional space and technical requirements for FAIR. The FAIR facility is about four times as large as the existing GSI facility and will enable the realization of a significantly higher number of experiments. In addition, with FAIR the parallel operation of experiments increases.

In addition to the main control room, more than 200 new scientific office workplaces will be established in the building, as well as meeting rooms for experiment collaborations and a visitors' gallery. The five-story FAIR Control Center, partial with basement, has a total gross floor area of approximately 6000 square feet.

At the same time as the foundation stone is being laid, FAIR's scientific program is already in its first stage of implementation, the so-called "FAIR Phase 0". Here, the researchers are using the GSI accelerator facilities, which have been significantly improved for their later use as pre-accelerators for FAIR and will be further technically upgraded. Thanks to the detectors and instrumentation already developed by the large international FAIR collaborations and the improved particle accelerators, it is already possible to enter new physics territory.

During the foundation stone ceremony, high representatives from politics, both the federal government and the state, as well as from science and the building industry gave greetings and symbolically laid the foundation stone for the FCC. The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, emphasized the great potential FAIR offers for research worldwide: “FAIR will open up outstanding research for decades involving a world-wide scientific community. With the FAIR facility, researchers from all over the world will be able to investigate key questions about the structure of the universe by producing the fundamental processes in the laboratory, but also to advance applications in medicine, materials research, and IT, for example. FAIR is also an ideal education site for the next generations of scientists and engineers. The current research program FAIR-Phase-0 already offers excellent research programs; in the coming years, FAIR will progressively enter into operation opening unique opportunities for science and technology.” (BP)

Statements on the foundation stone ceremony

Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Federal Minister of Education and Research, says: “The establishment of FAIR emphasizes Germany’s outstanding position in basic physical research. The construction of facilities like FAIR is an investment in the future of our country. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research supports FAIR in becoming a magnet for the world’s best scientists. Today’s laying of the foundation stone together with the federal state of Hesse is another important step in this direction.”

Angela Dorn, Hessian Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts, says: “FAIR is a worldwide unique facility, which is also of outstanding importance for the Hessian research landscape. The particle accelerator will allow to study the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. It is about fundamental knowledge, about whatever holds the world together in its inmost folds, as well as about developing new applications for technology and medicine. The international collaboration of the global research community on this project is an important foundation for its success, but it also holds challenges in light of the current world situation. We welcome the FAIR Council's constructive engagement with them to realize this outstanding scientific facility."

Michael Boddenberg, Hessian Minister of Finance, says: “The laying of the foundation stone for the FAIR Control Center creates the basis for groundbreaking scientific findings. It forms the interface to the international FAIR project and will sustainably strengthen our science and business hub through cutting-edge research. Together with the Federal Government and in cooperation with its international partners, the Hessian State Government has always supported GSI's research operations and the construction of FAIR. I would like to thank all those involved in the project who have contributed to the fact that we can celebrate this important construction progress together today.

Jochen Partsch, Lord Mayor of the Science City of Darmstadt, says: “The pioneering FAIR Control Centre project confirms our location's qualities as an important reference point for top international research and will boost research and science to a new dimension. I am proud to witness that the City of Science Darmstadt is further opening the door to the universe and offering the unique opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research.”

Volker Pohlschmidt, Managing Director of Bauunternehmung Karl Gemünden GmbH & Co. KG, says: “As the executing shell construction company for the construction of the FAIR Control Center FCC, we would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in this seminal building. We consider ourselves very fortunate that the public sector trusts in our range of services. It represents an important contractor for us, especially in times of crisis."

About FAIR

The international accelerator center FAIR, which is currently being built at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, will be one of the largest and most complex accelerator facilities in the world. The centerpiece is the ring accelerator SIS100 with a circumference of 1100 meters, which has already been completed in its structural shell. Connected to this is a complex system of storage rings and experimental stations. The existing GSI accelerators serve as pre-accelerators. Engineers and scientists work together in international collaborations to drive forward new technological developments in many areas, for example in information technology or superconductivity technology. In the future, about 3000 researchers from all over the world will be able to conduct cutting-edge research at FAIR. In outstanding experiments, they will gain fundamental new insights into the structure of matter and the development of the universe.

Further information

Additional images can be found at www.gsi.de/fcc-footage

FAIR’s socio-economic impact is the sum of the effects of the project on everyone and everything it has touched. Socio-economic impact refers to jobs for people in the Rhein-Main region, in Germany and abroad. It includes the education and training young people receive at FAIR under the mentorship of the master craftspeople in their workshops and from scientists and engineers. It means the impact of discoveries made at FAIR and GSI on innovative materials, medical treatments and energy. It includes, for example, positive effects through inventions like the energy efficient supercomputing center Green IT Cube at GSI/FAIR.

To measure and to prove these factors is a challenge. But FAIR is committed to finding ways to determine its socio-economic impact and to develop it positively. For this purpose, FAIR has received an EU grant to develop a methodology, with emphasis on the impact of innovation. The project is called CASEIA (Comparative Analysis of Socio-Economic Impact in ATTRACT), it will run until September 2024 and is funded with 120,000 €. CASEIA is part of ATTRACT that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Leading the study consortium is Dr. Sonia Utermann (FAIR). The other consortium members are Steinbeis Research Center Technology Management North East (Rostock), the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Karlsruhe) and the Human Sciences Research Council (Stellenbosch, South Africa).

CASEIA aims for its findings to be relevant for future strategic innovation programming at FAIR and other large research infrastructures, and to establish methodologies transferrable to other fields of socio-economic impact. (CP)

In the scientific journal Nature, the BASE collaboration at CERN reports on the world's most accurate comparison between protons and antiprotons: The charge-to-mass ratios of antiprotons and protons are identical to eleven digits. This new measurement improves the accuracy of the previous best value by more than a factor of four. The data-set, collected over a period of 1.5 years, also enables a test of the weak equivalence principle, which says that matter and antimatter behave the same under gravity. Researchers from GSI/FAIR are actively involved in the BASE collaboration.

Symmetry and beauty are closely related, not only in music, arts and architecture, but also in the fundamental laws of physics that describe our Universe. It is in some sense ironic that our existence seems to be a consequence of a broken symmetry in the best fundamental theory that exists, the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. One of the cornerstones of the SM is the charge, parity, time (CPT) reversal invariance. Applied to the equations of the SM, the CPT operation translates matter into antimatter. As a consequence of CPT symmetry, matter/antimatter conjugates have the same masses, charges, and magnetic moments, the latter of opposite sign. Another consequence of CPT is that once matter/antimatter conjugates collide, they annihilate to pure energy and other particle-antiparticle pairs, as observed in many laboratory experiments. In that sense, the existence of our Universe is not self-evident at all. We have reason to assume that in the Big Bang matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts. Why only matter remained, which makes up the celestial bodies in the Universe, has yet to be understood.

Another hot topic in modern physics is the question whether matter and antimatter behave the same under gravity. In their new paper, the BASE scientists compare the similarity of antiproton and proton charge-to-mass ratios as well as antimatter and matter clocks while the Earth was tracing the gravitational potential of the sun, which means, that they have simultaneously studied both questions in one measurement.

To perform their high-precision studies, the team led by Stefan Ulmer, chief-scientist at RIKEN, Japan, and spokesperson of the BASE collaboration, used a Penning trap, i.e. an electromagnetic container capable of storing and detecting a single quantum of charge. A single particle in such a trap oscillates with a characteristic frequency defined by its mass. Listening to oscillation frequencies of antiprotons and protons in the same trap allows the scientists to compare their masses. “By loading a cylindrical stack of several such Penning traps with antiprotons and negative hydrogen ions, we were able to perform a mass comparison in a measurement time of only four minutes, which means 50 times faster than previous proton/antiproton comparisons by other trap groups,” explains Stefan Ulmer. “Compared to our earlier measurements, we have substantially improved the experimental apparatus. That increases experiment stability and reduces systematic shifts in the measurements.” With this advanced instrument, the BASE team sampled a data set of about 24000 individual frequency comparisons in a time window of 1.5 years. By combining all the measured results, the researchers found that the charge-to-mass ratio of antiprotons and protons is identical, with a precision of 16 parts in a trillion, a number with 11 significant digits. This improves the precision of the best previous measurement, also from BASE, by more than a factor of 4: a significant advance in precision physics.

A particle oscillating in a Penning trap can be considered as a “clock”, an antiparticle as an “anti-clock”. Clocks at high gravitational potential go slower. During the long-term measurement of 1.5 years, the Earth, on its elliptic orbit, was exposed to different gravitational potentials of the Sun. With different gravitational behavior of antimatter and matter, the matter and antimatter clocks would experience different frequency shifts along Earth’s planetary trajectory. Analyzing their data, the BASE scientists were not able to find any frequency anomaly. This enabled them to set first direct and largely model-independent limits for anomalous behavior of antimatter in gravitational fields, or, in other words, confirmed the validity of the weak equivalence principle for clocks within the limit of measurement accuracy.

“To measure with even higher precision, we need to move the antiprotons from the accelerator environment of CERN's antimatter factory to dedicated calm laboratory space,” explains Christian Smorra, physicist at the Mainz based PRISMA⁺ Cluster of Excellence and deputy-spokesperson of BASE, the next steps. “For this purpose, the BASE team is currently constructing the transportable antiproton trap BASE-STEP.” The current plan is to move the antiprotons to a calm laboratory at CERN. If that was successful, the antiprotons can also be distributed to other trap labs. “We will use the transport trap to make even more sensitive tests with antiprotons. In this way, we want to make sure that no new physics with antiprotons will elude us.”

The BASE collaboration consists of scientists from RIKEN Fundamental Symmetries Laboratory, the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), the University of Tokyo, the GSI Helmholtzzentrum in Darmstadt, the Leibniz University Hannover, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) Braunschweig and ETH Zürich. The research presented now was performed as part of the work of the Max Planck-RIKEN-PTB Center for Time, Constants and Fundamental Symmetries. (MPIK/JGU/BP)

Further information

Scientific publication in Nature

BASE experiment at CERN

Press release of the Max Planck Institut for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg

Press release of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz

This time, the "Giersch Award for an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis", worth 6000 euros each, was presented to four young researchers for their completed dissertations who have demonstrated their exceptional scientific talent: Dr. Frédéric Julian Kornas („Global polarization of Λ hyperons as a probe for vortical effects in A+A collisions at HADES“, TU Darmstadt), Dr. Daria Kostyleva („Experimental Studies of Proton-Unbound Nuclei via In-Flight Decay Spectroscopy“, Justus Liebig University Gießen), Dr. Tabea Pfuhl („Influence of secondary electron spectra on the enhanced effectiveness of ion beams”, TU Darmstadt) und Dr. Lukas Weih („Multimessenger Approaches to Exploring Dense Matter in Neutron Stars“, Goethe University Frankfurt)

Another 24 promising young researchers, currently in the doctoral phase at universities in the region, were awarded a "Giersch Excellence Grant" of 2,500 euros each: Nora Weickgenannt, Jan Fotakis, Jan-Erik Christian, Carolin Schlosser, Marc Winstel, Tim Rogoschinski, Matthias Kleiner, Michael Jung, Patrick Müller, Thorsten Conrad, Manjunath Omana Kuttan, Simon Spies, Sabrina Huth, Jan Hoppe, Leon Kirsch, Verena Velthaus, Patrick Müller, Maximilian Wiest, Wilhelm Krüger, Simon Lauber, Julian List, Gabriella Kripko-Koncz, Esther Menz und Nico Santowsky.

The young scientists were chosen by a selection committee consisting of expert representatives of the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Technische Universität Darmstadt and chaired by Professor Henner Büsching. For pandemic reasons, the traditional award ceremony was not held in attendance form.

The Helmholtz Graduate School for Hadron and Ion Research "HGS-HIRe for FAIR" is a joint endeavor of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, the universities at Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Giessen, Heidelberg and Mainz together with FIAS to promote and support structured PhD education for research associated with GSI and FAIR. Currently, within this framework more than 300 doctoral students are working on their dissertations with a connection to GSI and FAIR.

The Giersch Foundation was established in 1994 by the founding couple Senator E.h. Professor Carlo Giersch and his wife Senator E.h. Karin Giersch and is committed to the fields of science and research, art and culture as well as the promotion of medical projects in the Rhine-Main area. (BP)

More information

Homepage of HGS-HIRe for FAIR

Mentoring Hessen supports women on their career paths in science and business. From the very beginning, since 1998, colleagues from GSI and FAIR have actively participated in Mentoring Hessen and its predecessor projects. GSI has also been a cooperation partner for over 20 years. Christina Trautmann, head of materials research, has been a member of the steering group for GSI since 2017.

In the past, there have always been exciting encounters between mentors and mentees. And sometimes mentees find their mentor's job so interesting that they successfully apply for a job or a doctoral position at GSI/FAIR at the end of the mentoring year. (KG/CP)

Further information:

• Website of Mentoring Hessen (German)

We condemn the war of aggression of Russia and the breach of international law by the Russian government. That is why we fully stand behind the sanctions imposed by the German government and its international partners. We are aware that they will have a strong impact on our own activities, but we believe that these measures are necessary in the current situation.

In accordance with the Alliance of German Science Organizations, GSI/FAIR will immediately suspend  all cooperation with Russian state institutions and business enterprises. Ongoing bilateral cooperation projects with researchers from Russian institutions will be suspended with immediate effect, furthermore we will not conclude any new bilateral cooperation projects. For multilateral projects involving Russia, which include the FAIR project, GSI/FAIR will coordinate with the other partners regarding further implementation of the international agreements. Adjustments of the measures will be made depending on the further development of the situation.

We are very saddened and concerned by the tragic events in the Ukraine. Also at GSI/FAIR, employees are affected by the war in Ukraine, whether directly, because families or friends live in the contested areas, or through professional or personal ties to Ukraine or Russia. Our thoughts go to all the people who are affected directly or indirectly, with our deepest sympathy and support in these difficult times.

Prof. Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director GSI/FAIR

Dr. Ulrich Breuer, Administrative Managing Director GSI/FAIR

Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director GSI/FAIR

The physicist Professor Dr. Hannah Elfner studies processes involving the very smallest particles in the universe, in particular strongly interacting particle in extreme conditions of temperature and density, when they form the so-called quark-gluon plasma, a state which was probably prevalent in the Universe shortly after the big Bang. For her outstanding research on these processes, which allow us to better understand the evolution of the Universe in its first instants, the physicist is now being honored by the Alfons and Gertrud Kassel Foundation as "Scientist of the Year" 2021 at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Hannah Elfner conducts research and teaches at Goethe University in Frankfurt and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt.

Mechanical engineer, pilot or physicist? The fact that Hannah Elfner decided to study physics after graduating from high school and that she was then soon determined to research the quark-gluon plasma is a stroke of luck for this field of research. For in her award-winning dissertation, the physicist already pointed out that the sequences in the quark-gluon plasma are far more complex than was assumed at the time. In 2016, she received the prestigious Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize for Young Scientists, among other prizes, for further insights into the extremely brief moment after the Big Bang.

At that time, she had already been researching for four years as Helmholtz Young Investigator in Frankfurt how heavy ion collisions, which experimental physicists can use to simulate processes after the Big Bang and in which the quark-gluon plasma is created, can be described with mathematical models. Appointed as one of the youngest female physics professors in Germany, Elfner occupies a dual position at the Goethe University, the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS). In the meantime, she teaches and conducts research in a joint permanent professorship of Goethe University and GSI, where she is involved in the "Elements" cluster project, among other things. For a few months now, she has also been coordinating the theory department at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum, where she previously headed a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group for several years.

Hannah Elfner is also a stroke of luck for her team of young scientists. In the laudation for the "Scientist of the Year" award, former and current employees impressively describe the individual attention that the physics professor gives to each and every one of her students and doctoral candidates - which is one of the reasons why Hannah Elfner is now being honored as "Scientist of the Year". University President Enrico Schleiff says: "Ms. Elfner is an excellent young scientist who is very committed to her subject and her team and whose expertise makes an ideal contribution to our research priorities. That this commitment is appreciated and supported by the Kassel Foundation naturally makes me particularly happy."

The Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino, also congratulates warmly on the award: "I am delighted about this special recognition of Hannah Elfner's scientific work. The theory department at GSI/FAIR, which Prof Elfner now leads, is an essential element for the overall success of our research Institution, constantly in close interaction with the experimental activities. The future accelerator center FAIR will provide researchers with unprecedented opportunities to study key processes defining our universe. Hannah Elfner's work is an important building block in this regard, providing essential tools for the understanding of the experimental result."

The Alfons and Gertrud Kassel Foundation awards the "Scientist of the Year" prize every two years to researchers at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and its related institutions who, in addition to their own outstanding scientific work, have also rendered outstanding services to the promotion of young scientists. Part of the prize money of 25,000 euros is therefore also to be used to promote young scientists. The award ceremony planned for early December has now been postponed until spring due to the pandemic. (BP/GU)

The FAIR Council and the GSI Supervisory Board are delighted that the international renowned scientist and former CERN experiment leader Professor Giubellino has accepted their proposal to stay in his position as Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. “We are convinced that with Professor Giubellino's leadership, the GSI/FAIR site will continue to stand for excellent science at the highest international level and will further expand this position in the coming years. The promising preparations of the future research operations at the FAIR facility are the result of the great commitment of the employees of GSI and FAIR, but in particular also his merit. In this context, the excellent research results of FAIR Phase 0 speak for themselves,” emphasized Ministerialdirigent Dr. Volkmar Dietz, who is director at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Chair of the GSI Supervisory Board and the FAIR Council.

Professor Giubellino looks forward to his second term with enthusiastic motivation. “The coming years are decisive for firmly shaping the science at FAIR as one of the top scientific laboratories in the world, involving the wide international FAIR scientific community. FAIR has an enormous potential to produce ground breaking results in a broad range of research areas. For me as a scientist it is a unique opportunity to work for its success”. As important goals for his upcoming term, he names to further define the science opportunities at FAIR and GSI and to create the conditions that the experimenters need for cutting-edge research.

In the recent years, Professor Giubellino led FAIR's scientific program into its first implementation, the so-called FAIR Phase 0, which enabled a restart of on-campus research at GSI/FAIR, allowing the scientific community to reach top science results and to strengthen their attachment to the campus. This first stage of the experimental program has been writing success stories for three years, even under difficult corona conditions: Thanks to the detectors and instrumentation already developed by the large international FAIR collaborations and the improved particle accelerators, it is already possible to enter new physics territory. The scientific output is impressively strong, many scientific milestones have been achieved, and numerous prestigious national and international prizes have been awarded to researchers at GSI and FAIR.

Together with Dr. Ulrich Breuer as Administrative Managing Director and Jörg Blaurock as Technical Managing Director, Professor Giubellino will continue to steer GSI and FAIR. In Professor Giubellino's second term, his focus will be on getting the experiments ready for the start of the FAIR facility. The promotion of young scientists for FAIR will also continue to play a decisive role, in close ties with partner universities in Hesse and Germany, through targeted international agreements and the establishment of support programs to pave the way for highly qualified young scientific and technical personnel to join GSI/FAIR. The international focus and visibility of GSI/FAIR is to be consistently advanced, according to Professor Giubellino, who, in addition to his scientific expertise, has extensive experience with international collaborations and has already assumed many key roles in multilateral research programs.

Since January 2017 Professor Giubellino is Scientific Managing Director of GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH (GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research) and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe GmbH (FAIR GmbH). The research track record of Paolo Giubellino is the physics of high-energy heavy ion collisions and the matter produced in them. After studying at Turin University and the University of California in Santa Cruz, he took part in many heavy-ion experiments at the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN in Switzerland. Since the early 1990s, he has held several senior positions at CERN’s ALICE experiment. In 2011 Professor Giubellino was appointed Spokesperson of ALICE. He has also worked at the Torino section of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN) since 1985. For his work he has received numerous awards. Among other things, he received the Lise Meitner Prize of the European Physical Society in 2014 as well as the Enrico Fermi Prize, the highest award bestowed by the Italian Physical Society (2013). He is member of the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, founded by the famous mathematician and astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange. In 2012 the Italian president awarded him the title of “Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana” for his scientific achievements. In 2016 he was elected into the Academia Europaea. (BP)

After introductory information on the FAIR project, the campus development, previous research successes and current experiments, the CDU politician was given insights into the FAIR construction activities on the 20-hectare construction field in the east of the existing GSI and FAIR campus.

Minister for Europe Lucia Puttrich was impressed by the globally unique research project: "The international accelerator center FAIR is one of the most impressive research facilities in the world. In addition to the federal government and the state of Hesse, European research funding programs have also supported the GSI Helmholtzzentrum and FAIR for many years. More than 27 million euros come from European funding. With the new particle accelerator, one of the world's largest facilities for fundamental physics research is being built in our state. This makes Hesse one of the top locations for science in Europe. Scientists from all over the world can already use the research facilities today. This is international cooperation in science in daily life and I am proud that we have contributed to the success of the project with our intensive promotion in Berlin and Brussels," said Minister for Europe Lucia Puttrich.

During their visit the guests had the opportunity to get an overview of the entire construction site and the activities in the northern and southern construction areas from the viewing platform on the edge of the construction site. Then they took a tour of the site, in which also participated FAIR Site Manager Dr. Harald Hagelskamp, to get a close-up view of the construction progress. The agenda also included a walk-through of the underground accelerator tunnel, completed in shell construction, and the transfer building.

The transfer building is the most complex building of the facility and the central hub of the facility’s beam guidance system. The large, 1.1 kilometer ring accelerator SIS100 will be the heart of the future facility. The ring closure, which took place in 2021, represents an important milestone in the realization of the entire FAIR project, and installation of the technical building equipment will start in the near future.

The FAIR facility will provide researchers from all over the world with unique experimental opportunities to produce and examine cosmic matter in the laboratory that usually only exists in the depth of space. In giant planets, stars, and also during stellar explosions and collisions, matter is subject to extreme conditions such as very high temperatures, pressures and densities. FAIR will enable scientists to create such conditions in the laboratory. To do so, they will bombard small samples of matter with ions (electrically charged atoms). These collisions will, for very short periods of time, create the cosmic matter at the tiny impact points. Scientists can thus gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present day. They also develop new applications in medicine and technology. (BP)

Within the framework of the ALICE Masterclass, 44 female students gained an insight into the work of physicists and into data evaluation. Under the expert guidance of the scientists, they analyzed measurement data from the ALICE experiment by themselves and discussed their findings in an international video conference with researchers at CERN, in India and in Greece.

ALICE is one of the four large-scale experiments at the LHC collider at the CERN research center in Geneva and deals in particular with heavy ion collisions of lead atomic nuclei. When lead atomic nuclei collide with unimaginable impact in the LHC, conditions are created similar to the first moments of the universe. During the collisions, a so-called quark-gluon plasma is created for a very short time - a state of matter that existed in the universe shortly after the Big Bang. This plasma transforms back into normal matter within fractions of a second. The particles produced in the process provide information about the properties of the quark-gluon plasma. Thus, the measurements can peer into the birth of the cosmos and reveal information about the basic building blocks of matter and their interactions. (CP)

Further information

• Website of the UN for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science

For the production of a newly developed and improved contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with hydrogen gas, the scientists* Dmitry Budker (physicist, HIM), James Eills (chemist, HIM), John Blanchard (chemist, HIM), Danila Barskiy (physical chemist, HIM), Kerstin Münnemann (chemist, University of Kaiserslautern), Francesca Reineri (chemist, University of Turin), Eleonora Cavallari (pharmaceutical and biomolecular scientist, University of Turin), Silvio Aime (biological scientist, University of Turin), Gerd Buntkowsky (physical chemist, TU Darmstadt), Stephan Knecht (physicist, TU Darmstadt and NVision, Ulm), Malcolm H. Levitt (chemist, University of Southampton) and Laurynas Dagys (chemist, University of Southampton) receive the Erwin Schrödinger Prize, which is endowed with 50,000 euros.

Nuclear magnetic resonance is one of the standard analytical methods used to determine the structure and dynamics of materials and living objects. Including magnetic resonance imaging, the method is used in chemistry, biochemistry and medicine, among other fields. In both methods, liquids are particularly well suited as contrast agents for examination. However, the methods used to date have reached their limits: The interaction of nuclear spins with their environment is very weak and the methods therefore have low sensitivity. This is where the new development comes in: To overcome this limitation, researchers have developed a series of so-called “hyperpolarization techniques”. These are chemical and physical techniques that can be used to prepare atoms and molecules in such a way that their magnetic resonance signals are amplified by a factor of about a million at a low cost.

Hyperpolarization techniques are complex and can currently only be used in a few clinics worldwide. This project only became possible thanks to the cooperation of a team of chemists, physicists, engineers, biologists and clinical practitioners. The team is made up of experts from Germany, England, Italy and the USA, and includes the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, the Helmholtz Institute Mainz, the Technical University of Darmstadt, the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, the University of Southampton and the University of Turin. The Helmholtz Institute Mainz, where the award winners conduct research, is jointly supported by the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

“The goal of our scientific work is to provide easy-to-produce, safe and long-lived hyperpolarized molecules for both medical applications and research purposes,” says Dmitry Budker, Professor of Experimental Atomic Physics at the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Section Head at the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM). “Our method represents a major step and a decisive improvement in this process. We were able to achieve this through interdisciplinary and transnational collaboration. We are very pleased and proud that our long-standing and intensive research collaboration has been recognized with the prestigious Erwin Schrödinger Prize.”

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Director of GSI and FAIR, says: “The impressive results of this outstanding research team vividly demonstrate the overarching importance of close global networking in the scientific community. The Helmholtz Institute Mainz offers the researchers in this special collaboration an environment to enable top performance. I am therefore delighted and proud that this great scientific achievement is being honored with the Erwin Schrödinger Prize and convey my congratulations to all the researchers involved.”

“The impressive research work of this international winning team shows once again what science can achieve when it collaborates across disciplines and national borders,” says Otmar D. Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association. “The enormous amplification of magnetic resonance signals represents a crucial improvement for medical applications. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the award winners.” 

“The internationally staffed research team has done an outstanding job of successfully bringing together expertise from different areas of the natural sciences,” said Michael Kaschke, president of the Stifterverband. “This highly committed, interdisciplinary approach has improved magnetic resonance imaging analytics for medicine and research in a decisive way. It is precisely these outstanding projects that we want to honor and make visible with this award.”

With the Erwin Schrödinger Prize, Helmholtz and the Stifterverband jointly honor outstanding scientific achievements. The prize is intended to honor interdisciplinary research that has been achieved in border areas between different subjects of medicine, natural sciences and engineering and with participation of representatives of at least two disciplines. (CP)

Further information

• Press release of the Helmholtz Association (German)
• Film on the award winners
• Website of the Erwin Schrödinger Prize

In addition to the superconducting dipole modules, the superconducting quadrupole modules are among the most important components of the SIS100. While there are only two different types of dipole modules, the series of quadrupole modules comprises eleven different types. Of these, two modules, for the areas of injection and extraction, have a particularly sophisticated mechanical design. Series production and cold testing of the 110 dipole modules were successfully completed in 2021, and has now begun for the quadrupole modules.

Essential components of the very complex quadrupole modules are the superconducting quadrupole units. Each module includes two quadrupole units. In addition to the quadrupole magnets in various configurations required for beam focusing, these also contain superconducting correction magnets, for example the "steerer" magnets required for path correction or sextupole magnets for correcting chromaticity, i.e. focusing differences caused by the energy distribution of the particles in the beam. These correction magnets are supplemented by additional superconducting magnets placed at the ends of the arcs.

All superconducting focusing and correction magnets are manufactured as a Russian Inkind contribution at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia. The development of the magnet technology was carried out jointly by GSI and JINR during the project's preliminary phase. While the further developed Nuclotron cable is used in the quadrupole magnets as well as in the dipole magnets, a new, special superconducting cable with insulated strands had to be developed for the correction magnets. The design of the various quadrupole units, based on the joint development, is carried out by the GSI design office.

All quadrupole units are tested in Dubna in both warm and cold conditions. For the cold test at 4 Kelvin (which corresponds to 4 degrees Celsius above absolute zero at around -273 degrees), a cryogenic test facility comprising six test benches was previously set up under a collaboration agreement. This facility is used to test both the superconducting magnets of the future accelerator center FAIR being built at GSI in Darmstadt and the NICA accelerator facility currently being built at JINR in Dubna.

After extensive acceptance tests, all quadrupole units manufactured in Dubna will be shipped to Bilfinger Noell in Würzburg, which has been contracted to integrate the quadrupole modules. In addition to the quadrupole units from Dubna, GSI provides numerous other cryogenic components for integration, such as beam position monitors, ion catchers, and thin wall quadrupole chambers, among many others. The production of these components was previously ordered by GSI from various companies. The most important task here is the synchronization of all activities in time, a special challenge due to the technical complexity of the trades.

In parallel, negotiations were held with the Italian National Nuclear Physics Institute (INFN, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) for the use of the superconducting test facility in Salerno for the SIS100 project and a collaboration agreement was signed. The series of SIS100 quadrupole modules integrated at Bilfinger Noell will be tested at the test facility.

After successful implementation of the high quality standards and quality assurance standards at JINR, the successful start of series production at JINR and series integration at Bilfinger Noell was achieved. 26 quadrupole units could be manufactured and tested at JINR in 2021 and provided to Bilfinger Noell for integration. At the same time, the integration of the modules was parallelized at Bilfinger Noell. GSI will accompany the cold testing of the series modules in Salerno by testing about 20 integrated quadrupole modules at the "Series Test Facility" (STF) on the Darmstadt campus. (BP)

Nuclear reactions taking place inside stars play a central role in their evolution. Measuring these reactions in laboratories here on Earth is needed to answer fundamental questions about the origin of the elements that make up our Universe. The ELDAR project will develop new approaches for charged-particle detection at two world-leading European laboratories, FAIR (Germany) and Gran Sasso (Italy), and forge new links between leading European science communities using different methods to study stellar scenarios that are intimately linked in nature.

At FAIR, ELDAR will use a novel and world-unique approach, studying reactions induced by stable and radioactive beams at the newly commissioned CRYRING@ESR heavy ion storage ring, using the recently installed CARME detector array. While the new FAIR accelerator is currently under construction, the CRYRING@ESR is already in operation at the existing accelerator facility of GSI and employed in the ongoing experimental program FAIR Phase 0. Measurement of reactions involving radioactive nuclei are critical to model and understand the wealth of new astronomical data from stellar explosions. ELDAR will make use of CRYRING@ESR to investigate key nuclear reactions that play an important role in stellar scenarios from the Big Bang to supernovae explosions.

At the low temperatures of slow stellar burning, nuclear reactions rates are too low to be detected above natural radioactive background on Earth. The LUNA accelerator, located underground at Gran Sasso, is the world-leading facility to study reactions that drive slow stellar evolution. ELDAR will build a new array to study charged-particle reactions at LUNA, making full use of the capabilities of this cutting-edge facility to study a key issue in globular clusters.

ERC Starting Grants support outstanding researchers at an early career stage showing great promise and an excellent research proposal under the EU’s Research and Innovation program, Horizon Europe. Grants worth on average €1.5 million will help ambitious researchers launch their own projects, form their teams of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students, and pursue their research ideas. Researchers from or closely connected to GSI and FAIR have been very successful in the past years in receiving ERC Starting or Advanced Grants. (CP)

Further information:

• SPARC Collaboration
• CRYRING@ESR project

Using a sophisticated filming technique that is not yet widely available, a time-lapse video was shot from the air showing the development of the past four years: For this so-called "Longterm Dronelapse", a drone was used to regularly fly the same routes over the huge construction site. The moving time-lapse videos filmed in the process over the course of four years have now been combined into a single video. Thanks to GPS support, they can be precisely superimposed so that the progress of construction activities becomes particularly clear.

Last year's Longterm Dronelapse, showing the development of 2018 to 2020, was awarded the "Intermedia-globe SILVER Award" by the World Media Festival. The jury of the "WorldMediaFestival | Television & Corporate Media Awards" judged the video to be an outstanding contribution in the category "Public Relations/Research and Science" and presented the "Intermedia-globe SILVER Award" for it. (LW)

More Information

Video: FAIR construction site in time-lapse - Longterm Dronelapse
News on Intermedia-globe SILVER Award

Following introductory information on the status of the FAIR construction project, the campus development, previous research successes and current experiments, the FDP politician, who was accompanied by Patrick Schütz, staff member of his constituency office, was given insights into the research facilities at GSI/FAIR and the FAIR construction activities. Oliver Stirböck is his parliamentary group's spokesman for digitization, for European policy and for Frankfurt as a financial site.

One central topic of the visit was sustainable digitalization. During a guided tour of the Green IT Cube, the guests were informed comprehensively about the high-performance data center and its infrastructure. The Green IT Cube on the GSI/FAIR campus provides enormous computing capacities for experiments at the accelerator facilities of GSI and, in the future, FAIR. It is one of the most capable scientific computing centers in the world. At the same time, it sets standards in IT technology and energy saving: Thanks to a special cooling system, it is particularly energy- and cost-efficient. Therefore, the energy required for cooling is less than seven percent of the electrical power used for computing. In conventional data centers with air cooling, this relation amounts to 30 up to 100 percent. The innovative cooling system also enables a compact and space-saving design. The Green IT Cube has already received numerous awards, including the Blue Angel, the eco label of the German government.

After the tour of the Green IT Cube, the guests had the opportunity to learn about the large experiment HADES and the current status of the FAIR construction project. They were able to see the progress on the construction site directly from the viewing platform and to take a look at the 20-hectare FAIR construction site with the completed ring tunnel of the large accelerator ring SIS100, the heart of the future accelerator facility. (BP)

An international team of researchers with participation of the Cluster of Excellence PRISMA+ of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) has successfully advanced a laboratory method to search for extremely light “axion-like” particles (ALPs), which are possible canditates for being the elusive dark matter. The researchers use nuclear magnetic resonance techniques in their experiments: by using a new setup, they have now been able to increase the sensitivity by five orders of magnitude compared to previous experiments, as they show in their article in Nature Physics, a leading journal in the field.

Little is known about the exact nature of dark matter. Today, extremely light bosonic particles, such as the so-called axions, axion-like particles, and dark photons, are considered to be promising candidates. These can be regarded as a classical field oscillating at a certain frequency. How large this frequency - and consequently the mass of the particles - is, is not yet known. That is why the researchers are systematically searching different frequency ranges with their experiments for evidence of dark matter. “There is still a lot of work to be done, because we have not yet checked a large mass range for ALPs,” says Prof. Dr. Dmitry Budker, a principal investigator at PRISMA+ and Section Leader at HIM, an institutional cooperation of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. “In doing so, we continue to rely on the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance, i.e., the fact that nuclear spins respond to magnetic fields that oscillate at a certain resonance frequency. We determine the strength of this resonance signal with a sensitive magnetometer.”

The basic premise of the experiments: A dark matter field also affects the nuclear spins of a sensor in this way. As the Earth moves through this field, the nuclear spins in the sensor behave exactly as they would in an oscillating magnetic field. The result is a nuclear spin signal caused by dark matter.

The Mainz scientists and their colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) use the noble gas xenon, or more precisely the isotope xenon-129, as a sensor. The magnetometer, which measures potential signals, is based on the element rubidium. There are two main special characteristics here: “We set up the experiment in such a way that the xenon atoms first amplify an oscillating field: so the effect triggered by a potential ALP field would be a factor of 100 larger,” describes co-author Antoine Garcon, a PhD student at HIM. “Moreover, our magnetometer - that is, the readout unit - is located in the same cell as the sensor gas, xenon. The stronger contact between the two, in addition to the stronger signal, increases the sensitivity of the measurement.”

“This is more or less the same principle underlying our ‘Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment’ research program - CASPEr for short - a collaboration between PRISMA+/HIM and Boston University in the US. However, the details of the technical implementation are quite different,” explains Dmitry Budker.

In the current work, the cooperation partners first showed that their idea basically works: They apply a weak oscillating magnetic field to simulate an ALP field and can thus detect the predicted signals exactly. In the next step, they determine the sensitivity of their experimental setup. As a result, it is five orders of magnitude better than in previous experiments.

After successful proof-of-principle, the scientists started the first series of measurements to search for dark matter. They were able to survey the mass range from a few femtoelectronvolts (feV) to almost 800 feV. Although they have not yet been able to find an ALP signal in this range, the much higher sensitivity has enabled them to formulate new and stringent limits with respect to the strength of the ALP interaction with normal matter. In addition, they were able to extend the search range by an order of magnitude towards higher masses compared to the earlier CASPEr experiments - further narrowing the search range for ALPs after the exclusion procedure. The setup could also be used for the search for dark photons. And here, too, the research team has succeeded in setting appropriate limits. Longer measurement times could further improve the sensitivity of their method, as the authors explain in Nature Physics.

A very similar experimental setup is described in another paper recently published in Science Advances. Again, Dmitry Budker is involved: “We use essentially the same spin amplifier, but for a different purpose. Instead of looking for the dark matter field, we are looking for a possible exotic interaction between a mass source and nuclear spins - a ‘fifth force,’ so to speak. The exotic interactions would arise from the existence of ‘new’ particles, which in turn might have a connection to dark matter.” In any case, in the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model, the new method offers exciting new approaches and perspectives. (JGU/BP)

Further information

Link to publication in Nature Physics

Group of Professor Budker

In her doctoral thesis, which she completed at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen in the research group of Professor Christoph Scheidenberger, Dr. Daria Kostyleva used a novel experimental method that allowed her to study atomic nuclei at the limits of stability, their internal structure as well as some of their characteristic properties such as lifetime, ground state and excited levels. To this end, nuclear reactions at the fragment separator FRS at GSI were used to produce very neutron-deficient argon, potassium, and chlorine isotopes, which are extremely short-lived: some of them have lifetimes as short as 10^-12 seconds (which is a trillionth of a second) or even shorter.

Because of their short lifetimes, these atomic nuclei decay in flight, emitting one, two, or three protons while transitioning to a more stable, longer-lived configuration. The protons can be detected with a special detector arrangement that Dr. Kostyleva contributed to develop. For the first time, this experimental method was used to detect the three-proton decay of an atomic nucleus: on ³¹K, a potassium atom with mass number 31, consisting of 19 protons and only 12 neutrons. Also for the first time, the detection of some previously unknown isotopes — ²⁸Cl, ³⁰Cl, ²⁹Ar, and the aforementioned nuclide ³¹K — was successful. For other nuclides, two-proton radioactivity was observed, a particular decay mechanism discovered at GSI in the early 2000s. For some of the studied nuclei, it was even possible to derive a level scheme, i.e., to describe the internal structure that forms under these extreme conditions.

Half-lives, binding energies and a wealth of other information could also be determined in a single experiment. These findings are particularly noteworthy because Dr. Kostyleva's experiments, to date, extend the farthest beyond the so-called proton dripline. As such, they provide a first insight into areas far beyond nuclear stability and into novel phenomena with the potential to our picture of the structure of atomic nuclei. The experiments open a perspective to gain a deeper understanding of the transition from the ordering effect of nuclear forces in atomic nuclei to a structureless assembly of nucleons at the dripline. The super-conducting Fragment Separator (Super-FRS), currently under construction at the international FAIR facility, is expected to provide further insights.

The annual FAIR-GSI PhD Award honors an excellent PhD thesis completed during the previous year. Eligible for nominations are dissertations that were supported by GSI in the context of its strategic partnerships with the universities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Giessen, Heidelberg, Jena, and Mainz, or through the research and development program. In the framework of the Graduate School HGS-HIRe (Helmholtz Graduate School for Hadron and Ion Research), more than 300 PhD students currently perform research for their PhD theses on topics closely related to GSI and FAIR. GSI has a long-standing partnership with the award sponsor, Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH, which offers vacuum technology and pumps. Vacuum solutions from Pfeiffer Vacuum have been successfully used in GSI's facilities for decades. (CP)

The guest of honor, Dr. Tomaž Boh, Director-General Science Directorate, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Republic of Slovenia, welcomed all participants to the Workshop. Professor Boštjan Zalar, Director of the Jožef Stefan Institute, delivered a welcome speech. Dr. Albin Kralj from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Republic of Slovenia, greeted the participants. The Scientific Managing Director of FAIR and GSI, Professor Paolo Giubellino, and the Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Jörg Blaurock, informed the workshop participants on the scientific objectives, the status and the recent advances of the FAIR project to kick off the information session. Dr. Jürgen Gerl of NUSTAR collaboration, one of the four experimental pillars of FAIR, and Dr. Jelena Vesić of the Jožef Stefan Institute presented the Slovenian contribution to the NUSTAR experiments.

In addition to the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), the event also involved representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and “Tehnodrom d.o.o.” with leading companies Cosylab and Instrumentation Technologies, as FAIR will play a significant role in the growth of the high-tech industry. Janko Bugar, CGO & Senior Business Development Manager, Cosylab, and Elvis Janežič, CEO, Instrumentation Technologies, presented all activities and contributions from the Tehnodrom consortium Slovenian companies participating in the FAIR project. The Workshop allowed the exchange of valuable information on the present status of activities at Campus GSI/FAIR and highlighted scientific and technical developments on the Slovenian side.

At the event it was highlighted how FAIR, in addition to promoting scientific research, is also of significance to the growth of the high-tech industry for Slovenia. Thus, many Slovenian high-tech companies develop and construct technological equipment through the consortium Tehnodrom. The leading partners in the consortium Tehnodrom are Cosylab and Instrumentation Technologies. Participation in the FAIR Project opens up exceptional research opportunities for Slovenian scientists and thus also extraordinary opportunities for cooperation with the Slovenian economy to develop new technologies and other products with high added value. (BP)

Further information

For more information on the GET_INvolved Programme, interested persons can contact the respective coordinators: Dr. Pradeep Ghosh (GSI and FAIR, Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu), Dr. Jelena Vesić (Jožef Stefan Institute, Jelena.Vesic@ijs.si) und Prof. Dr. Simon Širca (University of Ljubljana, Simon.Sirca@fmf.uni-lj.si).

About the Jožef-Stefan-Institute

The Jožef Stefan Institute is the leading Slovenian scientific research institute, covering a broad spectrum of basic and applied research. Natural sciences, biological sciences, and engineering are among the specialties of the team of roughly 1000 people. Production and control technologies, communication and computer technologies, knowledge technologies, biotechnologies, new materials, environmental technologies, nanotechnology, and nuclear engineering are among the topics covered. The Jožef Stefan Institute's aim is to accumulate - and disseminate - knowledge at the frontiers of natural science and technology for the benefit of society at large by pursuing education, learning, research, and high-tech development at the highest worldwide levels of quality.

About the University of Ljubljana

The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest higher education and scientific research institution in Slovenia. The university, which has a long history, was founded in 1919. It is Slovenia's biggest and most important educational institution. With 30 percent of all registered researchers, it is one of Slovenian biggest research institutions. In 23 faculties and three art academies, it has over 37,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and employs approximately 6,000 higher education instructors, researchers, assistants, and administrative employees.

About the GET_INvolved Programme

The GET_INvolved Programme provides international students and early-stage researchers from partner institutions with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training.

Why am I who I am? Is my personality genetically determined? Is my destiny fixed with conception? Or do I have a chance to change myself actively and independently? Yes, say systemic neurobiology and psychology today: In all stages of life, the environment influences the brain and thus the development and shaping of our personality. Whether we grow up and live in a diverse and green or a non-stimulating environment, whether we are socially secure or uprooted, even subtle influences such as light and month of birth have a measurable and sometimes significant impact on brain and personality.

In his lecture, Dr. Konrad Lehmann shows that you are the master of yourself, and how you can always take control of your own life by changing your environment. We have the possibility to change ourselves through our environment. We are free in our decisions and our personality and therefore responsible for our own brain. The modern understanding of the brain combines freedom, openness and responsibility. Lehmann calls this idea "neuro-humanism", and sets it against the doctrine of the heteronomy of man.

Dr. Konrad Lehmann calls himself a “brain communicator”; he teaches brains about the brain, so to speak. He studied biology at the University of Bielefeld and received his doctorate with a thesis in neurobiology. Since 2006, he has conducted research on the brain's adaptability and learning mechanisms at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, where he completed his habilitation in 2011. Since September 2019, he works at GSI/FAIR as a laboratory manager in the Biophysics Department. His research broadly revolves around how the mammalian brain adapts to different environmental conditions. In addition to a number of scientific publications, he has authored several books on the subject.

Other lectures in the course of the semester will focus, for example, on phenomena of the universe that evade our direct perception: black holes and dark matter. Two presentations will also deal with making tiny things visible via microscopy or making radioactivity visible at all. Finally, two lectures on machine learning in biomedicine and computer visualization will deal with the processing of data.

The German lectures will each begin at 2 p.m. For more information on access and the schedule of the event, please visit the event website at www.gsi.de/wfa.

The lecture series “Wissenschaft für Alle” is aimed at anyone interested in current science and research. The lectures will report on research and developments at GSI and FAIR, but also on current topics from other fields of science and technology. The aim of the series is to prepare and present scientific processes in a way that is understandable to people outside the field, thus making research accessible to a broad audience. The lectures are given by GSI and FAIR staff or by external speakers from universities and research institutes. (CP)

Current program:

• Wednesday, January 19, 2022, 2 p.m.
  Gestaltet, was Euch gestaltet! Oder: Für mein Gehirn bin ich selbst verantwortlich.
  Konrad Lehmann, GSI/FAIR
   
• Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 2 p.m.
  Schwarze Löcher und wie sie zu sehen sind
  Christoph Schürmann, Universität Bonn
   
• Wednesday, March 16, 2022, 2 p.m.
  Machine Learning in der Biomedizin – Beispiele und Perspektiven
  Fabian Theis, Helmholtz Zentrum München
   
• Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 2 p.m.
  Neue Entwicklungen zu Nachweis und Sichtbarmachung von radioaktiver Strahlung
  Kai Vetter, University of California Berkeley/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
   
• Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 2 p.m.
  Ein Bild sagt mehr als 1000 Daten – Wie Computervisualisierung unser Leben leichter machen kann
  Pascal Bormann, Fraunhofer-Institut für Graphische Datenverarbeitung, Darmstadt
   
• Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 2 p.m.
  Das Rätsel der Dunklen Materie: Dem unsichtbaren Universum auf der Spur
  Kathrin Valerius, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie KIT
   
• Wednesday, July 20, 2022, 2 p.m.
  Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst – Mikroskopie in der Strahlenbiologie
  Burkhard Jakob, GSI/FAIR

Giuliano Franchetti studied physics at the University of Padua in Italy. He conducted his PhD research at GSI in the accelerator physics department and received his doctorate from the University of Bologna in 1998, where he studied the physics of high-intensity ion beams from a theoretical point of view. Since 2000 he has been a scientist at GSI in various positions, currently he is actively involved in the beam physics of storage rings. In addition to his work at GSI, he gained broad experience with visits at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the European research center CERN, and the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics in Moscow/FAIR-Russia Research Center, among others. Dr. Franchetti is co-coordinator of the task "Pushing Accelerator Frontier" (WP5.2, iFAST) of the EU Network "Innovation Fostering in Accelerator Science and Technology”. He has been teaching at the Institute of Applied Physics at Goethe University Frankfurt since 2010 and since 2020 is a member of the Helmholtz Forschungsakademie Hessen für FAIR (HFHF).

"Being named an APS Fellow is a very special honor for me. I am very pleased and thankful for the great recognition from my colleagues worldwide," Giuliano Franchetti said on his appointment. "With my work, I will continue to contribute to current and future research at GSI and FAIR and to add new knowledge, especially in the field of storage rings. The combination of existing research structures and future FAIR storage rings creates an extraordinary research potential."

The APS is one of the world's most important and prestigious physics societies. Founded in 1899, the professional organization for physicists today has more than 55,000 members worldwide, from academia, national laboratories and industry. The APS is divided into numerous specialist groups covering all areas of physical research. APS members attain the status of a Fellow on the basis of a precisely defined nomination and evaluation process. Each year, the APS elects no more than one-half of one percent of the society’s membership as Fellows. This year, two APS Fellowships went to GSI/FAIR. In addition to Giuliano Franchetti’s fellowship, Professor Yury Litvinov from the Research Department Atomic Physics also received this prestigious award, once again confirming the exceptional quality of our human capital. (BP)

Further information

Website of APS

Visit IFJ PAN Krakow and Cyclotron Centre Bronowice

The FAIR/GSI delegation with Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director, Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director, and GET_INvolved Programme coordinator Dr. Pradeep Ghosh visited the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Krakow, where they met with Director Professor Tadeusz Lesiak and several department heads to learn about the institute's research activities. The meeting was very insightful for the Management as the skillset and experience of the researchers and engineers are considered as a powerful resource when comes to the commissioning and the installation of the FAIR components. There was also an opportunity to visit the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (in Polish - Centrum Cyklotronowe Bronowice, CCB), where the cyclotron facility serves as a perfect example of the application of fundamental science in tumor radiotherapy.

Signing Ceremony at Jagiellonian University Krakow

FAIR/GSI and Jagiellonian University authorities signed a cooperation document (“memorandum of understanding”) and an agreement on student and staff mobility within the framework of the GET_INvolved Program. At the event at the Collegium Maius in Krakow, Poland's oldest University in Poland was represented by Professor Piotr Kutrowski, Vice-Rector for Research at JU. The FAIR/GSI delegation included Professor Paolo Giubellino, Jörg Blaurock, and Dr. Pradeep Ghosh.

As a result of the new collaboration agreement, students and workers of the Jagiellonian University will be able to take benefit from the extensive research capabilities of the future FAIR accelerator center. Young researchers, in particular, will benefit from specialized internships for bachelor's and master's degree programs as well as joint research for PhD programs.

The signing of the agreement, which was also attended by several representatives from Jagiellonian University and the JU Faculty of Physics, Astronomy, and Applied Computer Science, was followed by a discussion on the role of Jagiellonian University in FAIR, which included Professor Piotr Salabura, Professor Zbigniew Majka, and Alicja Nowakowska, in addition to the FAIR/GSI delegation and Professor Kustrowski.

Meeting with representatives of industry and AGH ASIC development centers

An instructive session was organized at Jagiellonian University for representatives from several Polish firms that are either making high-tech products or are interested in participating in the mega-science project. The representatives of the industry had the opportunity to explain the significant qualities of their products and for the FAIR project. The firms Prevac, KrioSystem, Kordecki Automation and S2innovation offered themselves to the management during this event. Solaris - National Center for Synchrotron Radiation and AGH University of Science and Technology officials also spoke about their achieved results. Ms. Nowicka, the liaison officer for the Polish shareholders explained how industry representatives may have access to information about forthcoming bids and how they can actively search for interdisciplinary projects at FAIR.

Launch of FAIR Seminars at JU

The second day of the visit of the FAIR Delegation began providing an inaugural seminar about FAIR, which was a webcast live for all Jagiellonian University students and researchers. FAIR Seminars is a new initiative of the Jagiellonian University and the Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN to organize a series of monthly seminars on the FAIR project. This initiative aims to disseminate among Polish scientists, engineers and students the knowledge about the project of the FAIR accelerator center being built at Darmstadt, which will be one of the largest centers of this type in the world. The seminars will discuss the main research pillars of FAIR (NUSTAR, CBM, PANDA, APPA), the status of the project, and above all - the participation of Polish research groups in this project. This public session was the starting point of a series of FAIR seminars at Jagiellonian University.

Meeting with National Consortium FEMTOPHYSICS

The FAIR Management met with nominated representatives from the National Consortium FEMTOPHYSICS (NCF) (in Polish Krajowe Konsorcjum FEMTOFIZYKA), which is made up of 12 Polish institutions that collaborate on the FAIR experiments. The delegates got a unique opportunity to speak with the FAIR/GSI Management about their concerns and questions, as well as discuss important problems related to FAIR Experiments. This discussion was crucial in terms of scheduling the following steps for the FAIR Phase 0 experiments in 2022, as well as the Project's transition from construction to Day 1 experiments. 

The “FAIR Days Poland” hosted by the Jagiellonian University were very fruitful as all aspects of the FAIR Project were covered. Moreover, the signed agreements will enable scientists from the Jagiellonian University to significantly broaden the use of the research possibilities of the FAIR center. The prepared contract is particularly oriented towards young scientists by launching a dedicated system of apprenticeships, research internships and jointly conducted masters and doctoral dissertations. (BP)

About Jagiellonian University

The Jagiellonian University (JU) was founded on 12 May 1364 by the Polish king Casimir the Great. It is the oldest higher education institution in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. Jagiellonian University was nominated by the Minister of Science and Higher Education for international shareholder in FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe) GmbH. The Jagiellonian University has been coordinating and managing Polish participation in the FAIR program since 2010. The Jagiellonian University – Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science – is working on several large projects related to the design of FAIR’s scientific equipment.

About National Consortium FEMTOPHYSICS

The National Consortium of FEMTOPHYSICS was established to prepare a structure focusing on experimental research activities at FAIR. The area of substantive activities of the National Consortium FEMTOPHYSICS is research in the field of physics and its applications. The national consortium includes the following prestigious institutes (in alphabetical order): the AGH University of Science and Technology, the Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, the National Centre of Nuclear Research, the Cracow University of Technology, the Warsaw University of Technology, the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, the Gdańsk University of Technology, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (coordinating entity), Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce, the University of Lodz, the University of Silesia in Katowice and the University of Warsaw.

About GET_INvolved Programme

The GET_INvolved Programme provides international students and early-stage researchers from partner institutions with opportunities to perform internships, traineeships and early-stage research experience to get involved in the international FAIR accelerator project while receiving scientific and technical training. For more information on the GET_INvolved Programme, interested persons can contact the respective coordinators: Dr. Pradeep Ghosh (GSI and FAIR, Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu) and Professor Piotr Salabura (Jagiellonian University, Piotr.Salabura@uj.edu.pl).

Weiterführende Links

FAIR and Polish participation

Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

IFJ PAN, Krakow, Poland

Centrum Cyklotronowe Bronowice, CCB

GET_INvolved Programme

FAIR seminars at JU

National Consortium FEMTOPHYSICS

Professor Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo will receive the 2022 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). This is most important and highest endowed German research prize. Martínez-Pinedo is award for his outstanding work at the interface between astrophysics, nuclear physics and neutrino physics. He researches and teaches at the Institute for Nuclear Physics at the TU Darmstadt and at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt.

Physicist Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo's work has helped to solve one of the biggest unsolved problems in physics in the 21st century: Where does nature produce heavy elements, such as the noble metals gold or platinum? Together with other scientists including Professor Almudena Arcones from Darmstadt, Martínez-Pinedo showed that these elements are created during the merger of neutron stars and that this process produces a distinct electromagnetic signal, a light curve, for which Martínez-Pinedo and colleagues created the term "kilonova." In 2017, such a kilonova was observed for the first time, simultaneously by the "messengers" of light and gravitational waves.

This scientific milestone, in which Martínez-Pinedo was involved in a leading role, is considered to be the birth of multi-messenger astronomy, which opens up completely new scientific possibilities. In the future, for example, the nuclear physics processes involved in the merger of neutron stars  will be studied with unprecedented quality in the laboratory after completion of the  international accelerator center FAIR currently being built at GSI in Darmstadt. This opens up the opportunity to unravel the dynamics involved in the merger of two neutron stars from details of the gravitational wave and light curve signals and to address fundamental questions - such as how the transition of the merging neutron stars to a black hole proceeds, whether a new form of matter, "quark matter," is passed through during the merger, or whether merging neutron stars are the only place where heavy elements can be created in the astrophysical r-process. Most of the nuclei involved in the r-process are extremely short-lived, so their properties must be modeled theoretically in order to explore the r-process. In this, Martínez-Pinedo has taken a world-leading role in recent years.

Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo combines the expertise in the research fields of astrophysics, nuclear physics, and neutrino physics, which positions him to be a world leader in a highly interdisciplinary research field.

Another highlight of Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo's scientific career was the discovery of the neutrino-p-process, a nucleosynthesis process occurring during a supernova. More recently, the physicist has been working on the description of the interaction of neutrinos with matter in supernovae. At TU Darmstadt and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo heads the Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics groups. With his work at both research institutions, he has contributed significantly in establishing Darmstadt as a center of nuclear astrophysics worldwide.

The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize has been awarded annually by the DFG since 1986 to scientists working in Germany in a wide range of disciplines. Up to ten prizes can be awarded each year, each with a prize money of 2.5 million euros. The prize money is intended, among other things, to expand the research opportunities of the award recipients. The Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) today awarded the 2022 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize to ten scientists. They had previously been selected from 134 proposals. The prize money is intended, among other things, to expand the research opportunities of the award recipients; the award winners can use it for their research work for up to seven years according to their own ideas and without bureaucratic effort.

Professor Paolo Giubellino, the Scientific Managing Director of FAIR and GSI, says, “I am extremely delighted about this decision of the German Research Foundation and the great appreciation of the excellent scientific work of Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo. At the same time, the award is a proof of the outstanding opportunities in the research area of Darmstadt, at GSI and FAIR as well as at TUD. With FAIR, we will be able to further extend the perspectives of such groundbreaking research as conducted by Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo and enable further important pioneering achievements. Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo is one of the key players in the research community as a world-renowned expert on the formation of chemical elements in the universe."

"We congratulate the laureate Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo on this outstanding award," says Professor Tanja Brühl, President of TU Darmstadt. "He has initiated a paradigm shift in the study of the formation of heavy elements. Research personalities like him strengthen the role of the Technische Universität Darmstadt and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum, which together have become an internationally outstanding center of nuclear astrophysics. We are proud that with Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo another Leibniz prizewinner is helping to shape the research field of Matter and Materials at TU Darmstadt. With his expertise, he also strengthens the excellence cluster initiative ELEMENTS, funded by the HMWK, which we are developing together with Goethe University."

About Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo

Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo studied at the Autonomous University of Madrid, where he received his PhD in Theoretical Physics. His further career took him to the California Institute of Technology, the universities of Aarhus, Basel and Barcelona, among others. Since 2005, he has worked at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, where he heads now the Nuclear Astrophysics and Structure Theory Department and in 2020 became one of the directors of the Helmholtz Research Academy of Hesse for FAIR. Since 2011, Martínez-Pinedo has held the professorship of Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics in the Department of Physics at TU Darmstadt. Martínez-Pinedo has received many awards; among others, he received an ERC Advanced Grant last year for the project "Probing r-process nucleosynthesis through electromagnetic signatures (KILONOVA)". He is a much sought-after speaker at international conferences, represents his field in important international committees, and publishes in prestigious scientific journals. (TUD/BP)

Further information

Release of TU Darmstadt

Release of DFG

When we turn our head, our brain realizes this rotation primarily through the visual impression — that is, through what we see. Technical devices, on the other hand, rely on gyroscopes, i.e. rotation sensors. Among other things, these are important for navigation. In an airplane's autopilot, for example, a gyroscope detects the three different types of rotation that the plane can perform: It can roll, i.e. turn one wing down and the other up, pull the nose up or down (pitch), or turn relative to the ground (yaw). Gyroscopes are also important in vehicles on the ground, such as autonomous cars.

The research group led by Prof. Dr. Dmitry Budker published their idea of using color centers in diamonds as gyroscopes already back in 2012. Now the researchers have been able to provide practical proof. They recently published their results in the journal Science Advances.

Color centers in diamond already used to measure magnetic fields

“We and other groups have already used these color centers to measure magnetic fields for several years,” explains Budker, a physicist at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), which, in addition to the university, is also funded by the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. “In principle, the measurement of rotations works as with a magnetometer, but some challenges arise.” For example, the sensor must ignore fluctuating magnetic fields in order to measure rotations. Budker and his team were able to address this problem, however. On the one hand, they use nuclear spins instead of electron spins for gyroscopy, which have a much smaller magnetic moment and therefore lower sensitivity to magnetic fields. On the other hand, the scientists were able to shield external magnetic fields to a large extent and still maintain a very stable bias magnetic field internally to generate the measurement effect, which also hardly reacts to temperature fluctuations. Should fluctuating magnetic fields occur in the external space, the color centers do not “see” them. Dr. Peter Blümler from JGU addressed the questions and challenges surrounding this magnetic field. However, the experiments and the first proof were achieved by Dr. Andrey Jarmola and Budker's former PhD student, Dr. Sean Lourette, at the University of California at Berkeley.

Thus, the researchers report two innovations in their paper. First, they were able to realize their 2012 idea and use diamond color centers as gyroscopes. Second, they worked out a technical way to make it happen. However, there are still more challenges to overcome before the method is feasible in everyday applications. (JGU/CP)

Further information

• Link to publication in the journal Science Advances
• Group of Professor Budker

Unfortunately, due to the current pandemic situation the award ceremony that was planned for November 25 at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt had again to be cancelled, as already in 2020. However, a special seminar will be held beginning of 2022 were the awardees will be given an opportunity to present their work to the interested community. Also the two 2020 award winners, Dr. Alina Bendinger from the German Cancer Research Center DKFZ Heidelberg and Dr. Giorgia Meschini from the State Polytechnic University in Milan (Politecnico di Milano) will contribute to this seminar.

In her PhD thesis entitled „Normal brain tissue reaction after proton irradiation“ Theresa Suckert has investigated the damaging effects on the normal tissue in the brain after proton irradiation, a highly relevant topic for clinical applications of proton beams. She has analyzed the potential of tissue slice cultures as surrogate for in-vivo experiments, and she has gained important insights into the applicability of this approach to investigate radiation induced tumor and normal tissue response. Furthermore, based on a mouse model she has performed challenging experiments, aiming at the high precision irradiation of small, clinically relevant subvolumes of the mouse brain. Therefore, she has developed and implemented the complete, very complex workflow including imaging, treatment planning, positioning verification, dosimetry as well as tissue excision and preparation. This approach represents an essential basis for upcoming preclinical experiments aiming at the further elucidation of ion specific radiation response mechanisms.

Dr. Felix Horst has performed experiments to determine nuclear reaction cross sections of light ions in the therapeutically relevant energy range; his PhD thesis is entitled „Measurement of Nuclear Reaction Cross Sections for Applications in Radiotherapy with Protons, Helium and Carbon Ions”. He has performed these experiments at the medical ion beam centers at Marburg (MIT) and Heidelberg (HIT). His results allowed the optimization of nuclear reaction models and with that substantially improving the therapeutic dose calculations. The direct implementation of these improved models in treatment planning for patients treated with Helium ions at HIT highlights the particular clinical relevance. An additional part of the PhD thesis aimed at improved measurements of reaction cross sections of radiation induced positron emitters, which are relevant for an increased accuracy of range verification measurements based on the PET method. The PET method allows precise monitoring of patient irradiation with ion beams.

The prize money for the dissertations is 1500 Euro each. The award is named after Professor Christoph Schmelzer, co-founder and first Scientific Managing Director of GSI. The promotion of young scientists in the field of tumor therapy with ion beams has meanwhile been continuing for many years, and the award was presented for the 23rd time. The topics of the award-winning theses are of fundamental importance for the further development of ion beam therapy and often find their way into clinical application. (BP)

About the Association

The Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy supports research activities in the field of tumor therapy with heavy ions with the aim of improving the treatment of tumors and making it available to general patient care. At the accelerator facility at GSI, more than 400 patients with tumors in the head and neck area were treated with ion beams as part of a pilot project from 1997 to 2008. The cure rates of this method are sometimes over 90 percent and the side effects are very low. The success of the pilot project led to the establishment of clinical ion beam therapy centers in Heidelberg and Marburg, where patients are now regularly treated with heavy ions.

Further information

Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy with Heavy Ions e.V.

German Cancer Consortium

Technical University of Dresden

Justus Liebig University of Giessen

Physicists call the atomic nucleus of tin-100 doubly magic because it simultaneously has two shell closures. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to measure its mass. An international group of scientists at the European research centre CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) including physicists from GSI Helmholtzzentrum and University of. Greifswald has now succeeded in measuring the precise masses of the indium isotopes 99In, 100In and 101In, thus making it possible to draw conclusions for the mass value of tin-100. 

Similar to electrons in atomic shells, the building blocks of the atomic nuclei, protons and neutrons, quantum mechanically group together in nuclear shells. Full shells correspond to particularly high binding energies and stabilities. Thus, the shell closure numbers 8, 20, 28, 50, 82 and 126 are called “magic” numbers. The doubly-magic nuclei are particularly interesting. For these nuclei, both the proton number Z and the neutron number N indicate shell closures. And, among those doubly-magic nuclei, the nucleus of the tin isotope 100Sn is the most prominent: It is the heaviest nucleus for isotopes that have the same Z and N values, Z = N = 50. But so far, a direct experimental determination of its mass is extremely challenging. This is due to the difficulties in the production of 100Sn as well as in its short half-life of just about a second.

Directly adjacent to the doubly-magic 100Sn, we find the nuclei of the element indium, which have one proton less than the tin nuclei. It was now possible to perform precision mass measurements of the indium isotopes 99In, 100In and 101In with the ISOLTRAP setup at CERN. This was the first direct mass measurement for indium-99; the accuracy of the indium-100 and indium-101 mass values have been improved significantly. Ivan Kulikov, a PhD student at GSI and FAIR, was involved in the experiments and was assigned to CERN for four years.

The new results, published in Nature Physics, confirm values measured at GSI in cooperation with scientists from the Technical University of Munich. “Beta decay of 100Sn has been studied 13 years ago within the RISING gamma-spectroscopy project behind the FRS of GSI and then more recently and with a higher statistics at RIKEN in Japan within EURICA campaign. The observed discrepancy between those two results causes intense discussions in the community,” says Dr. Magdalena Gorska, the co-author of both measurements.
Yuri Litvinov, the principal investigator of the ERC project "ASTRUm", within which the researchers from GSI Atomic Physics division contributed to this experiment, explains:
 “By using the new mass value of 100In and with help of theoretical calculations performed by the group of Prof. Achim Schwenk at the TU Darmstadt, it became possible to draw a clear conclusion on the mass of 100Sn, favoring an older GSI measurement of C. Hinke et al. published in Nature.” 

Among other funding sources, this research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 682841 ‘ASTRUm’).

New possibilities to answer challenging questions in nuclear structure and reactions will be opened up with FAIR. The international accelerator facility, one of the largest research projects worldwide, is currently under construction at GSI. This research at FAIR is pursued by the NUSTAR Collaboration, which builds dedicated state-of-the-art experiments at the future in-flight fragment separator Super-FRS. (LW/Universität Greifswald)

Further information

Original paper: M Mougeot et al. (2021): Mass measurements of 99-101In challenge ab initio nuclear theory of the nuclide 100Sn, Nature Physics.
Press release of University of Greifswald

Through an introductory lecture and short video clips, the students had the opportunity to learn about GSI's facilities and research and the construction of components and buildings for the future international research center FAIR. The guided video tour took them to the linear accelerator UNILAC, the main control room and the heavy ion synchrotron SIS18. They learned how to produce new elements at the SHIP experiment, how to treat tumors with carbon ions, and how the large experiment HADES can be used to unravel the mystery of mass. The program also included a virtual visit to the test facility for superconducting FAIR magnets and to the viewpoint of the FAIR construction site. A drone flight over the construction field rounded off the event. Afterwards they had the opportunity to ask questions via a live chat, which was actively used by the participants.

The "Saturday Morning Physics" event series is organized by the Physics Faculty of the TU Darmstadt. It takes place annually and aims to encourage young people's interest in physics. In the events, students learn more about physics research at the university. Those who participate in all events receive the “Saturday-Morning-Physics” diploma. GSI and later FAIR have been among the sponsors and supporters of the series since its beginning. (CP)

Weitere Informationen:

• Webseite von Saturday Morning Physics

In his dissertation, Physicist Oliver Noll worked on the development of the PANDA electromagnetic calorimeter, which is one of the main subsystems of the PANDA experiment. Prior to Oliver Noll’s work no specific algorithm for the digital processing of the APFEL readout chip signals existed. In the thesis work, a detailed study of the APFEL pulse shape and noise components was performed. Within the PhD work also were carried out major contributions to the development, construction and operation of EMC prototypes, which were used in beam tests for proving the functionality of the PANDA EMC design and optimizing its performance.

The PANDA Collaboration has awarded the PhD Prize once per year since 2013 in order to honor the best dissertation written in connection with the PANDA experiment. Candidates for the PhD Prize are nominated by their doctoral advisors. In addition to being directly related to the PANDA experiment, the nominees’ doctoral degrees must have received a rating of “very good” or better. Up to three candidates are shortlisted for the award and can present their dissertations at the PANDA Collaboration meeting. The winner is chosen by a committee that is appointed for this task by the PANDA Collaboration. The PANDA Collaboration awards the PhD Prize to specifically honor students’ contributions to the PANDA project. (BP)

Further Information

About the doctoral thesis of Dr. Oliver Noll

About the PANDA prize

During the so-called second long shutdown (LS2), the CERN accelerator LHC (Large Hadron Collider) underwent extensive upgrades and can now collide lead nuclei at rates of up to 50 kilohertz in the ALICE detector. To fully exploit this potential, the measurement setup also had to be improved. For this purpose, the Time Projection Chamber TPC could be renewed and reinstalled at the ALICE detector. A new Muon Forward Tracker was also installed. In May, the largest pixel detector ever built — the Inner Tracking System ITS — took the seat of its predecessor between the beam pipe and the TPC. The final piece of the puzzle, the Fast Interaction Trigger FIT, was installed in July.

The TPC in particular represents a real innovation: The previous TPC readout chambers could process a maximum of three kilohertz. The new chambers use so-called GEM technology (Gas Electron Multiplier) and can read out data continuously — in contrast to the previous technology, which was based on multi-wire proportional chambers. The changed method is the only option to process the LHC's new high collision rates. As a consequence, this also required new software systems for data acquisition, calibration, reconstruction and analysis.

GSI has been involved in the development of new measurement instruments, in particular in the design and construction of the ALICE TPC, and in the ALICE scientific program from the very beginning. Also this time, GSI contributed significantly to the development of the new readout chambers. A substantial part of the chambers was built in collaboration between the ALICE research department and the detector laboratory at GSI. Staff from both GSI departments also assisted in the insertion of the chambers on site at CERN. Likewise, GSI’s IT department made key contributions to the new software systems. The GSI computer center remains an integral part of the computer network for data analysis of the ALICE experiment. The expertise from the upgrades is also relevant for the future operation of FAIR. For example, continuous data streams will also be read out at the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment.

The work on ALICE was part of a Helmholtz-wide initiative, including, next to GSI, also the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY): a large investment fund of the Helmholtz Association was devoted to upgrades of ALICE as well as the two other experiments ATLAS and CMS for the “Full Exploitation of the Large Hadron Collider”.

ALICE is one of the four large experiments at CERN's LHC collider and in particular investigates heavy ion collisions of lead atom nuclei. When the nuclei collide with unimaginable energy, conditions like those prevailing in the first moments of the universe are created. During the collisions, a so-called quark-gluon plasma is formed for a very short time — a state of matter that existed in the universe shortly after the Big Bang. This plasma transforms back into normal matter within fractions of a second. The particles produced in the process provide information about the properties of the quark-gluon plasma. Thus, the measurements can look into the birth of the cosmos and reveal information about the basic building blocks of matter and their interactions. (CP)

Further information:

• ALICE research department at GSI
• ALICE experiment collaboration
• News of CERN about LHC restart

Rather than there being a single ‘silver bullet’, different particles and their combination can provide a breakthrough in radiotherapy treatments in specific cases. This is one of the key messages of the review, which Professor Durante published together with the radiation oncologists Professor Jürgen Debus, Scientific Medical Director of the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) and Medical Director of the Clinic for Radio Oncology and Radiotherapy at the University of Heidelberg, and Professor Jay Stephen Loeffler, chair of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung had pioneered new approaches to radiation therapy at an early stage and was the first in Europe to start heavy ion therapy. This treatment method can meet the requirements of modern radiation therapy particularly well: Radiotherapy should have low toxicity in the entrance channel, where normal tissue exists, and thus spare healthy tissue, and be very effective in cell killing in the target region, in the tumor itself. In this regard, ions heavier than protons have both physical and radiobiological advantages over conventional X- rays. This is also underlined by Professor Durante and his colleagues in their review of the present status quo: “Charged particle therapy is the most advanced radiotherapy technique. Most of the patients are treated with protons, but heavy ions present additional biological advantages.”

More than 20 years ago, the clinical studies of an innovative cancer treatment with accelerated carbon ions began at GSI in Darmstadt. This was preceded by joint studies with the Clinic of Radiology and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, and the Helmholtz research laboratory in Rossendorf. It was a starting point of a success story that has led from fundamental research to a widespread medical application. In the meantime, there are a dozen carbon ion clinical centres in Europe and Asia, where the therapy is ongoing. And more are under construction or at the planning stage, including the first in the USA. Clinical results are promising, whereas new ions will be used in the future, like ⁴He, the more frequent of the two stable isotopes of helium or the stable isotope of oxygen ¹⁶O.

The authors of the review article not only provide with great expertise an overview of the rapidly developing research field of particle therapy, but also present the entire wide-ranging spectrum from the physics and technology of heavy ions to radiobiology and the application of new ions and technologies. They also identify the key factors that will determine the future success of particle therapy: So a heated debate on the cost- effectiveness is ongoing in the clinical community, owing to the larger footprint and greater expense of heavy ion facilities compared with proton therapy centers. Heavy ion therapy is more expensive than X- ray therapy. On the other hand, radiobiology suggests that heavy ions for example can be exquisitely effective against hypoxic tumors, i.e. tumor tissue with a poor oxygen supply, and improve the effects of immunotherapy.

Thus, for the future of particle therapy further R&D in accelerators and beam delivery is necessary to make the machines smaller and cheaper and to exploit new, fascinating treatment modalities such as FLASH and radioactive ion beams for image-guided therapy.

Finally, Professor Durante and co-workers suggest that a combination of light and heavy ions can provide optimal biological effects, and underline the necessity of more pre-clinical research in these fields. “The potential of heavy ions has not been fully exploited in clinics.”

Current research at GSI and FAIR is also contributing an important part to the future of particle therapy, always with the goal of further increasing the therapeutic window in radiotherapy. For example, in the current experiment period FAIR Phase 0 GSI and FAIR succeeded in performing a carbon ion FLASH experiment for the first time. This work is about ultra-short and ultra-high radiation, where the treatment dose is delivered in sub-second timescales. The aim of FLASH irradiation is to apply even less damaging a high dose in a short time.

In addition, Professor Marco Durante's current BARB project, which is funded and acknowledged by an ERC Advanced Grant, aims at the use of the same beam for treatment and for imaging during treatment and thus increase precision. Radioactive ion beams are the ideal tool. Only cutting-edge facilities such as FAIR can generate such intense beams. (BP)

Further information

Publication "Physics and biomedical challenges of cancer therapy with accelerated heavy ions" in Nature Reviews Physics

Yury Litvinov studied physics in St. Petersburg and is a scientist at GSI since 1999. In 2009, he went to the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg for two years, where he completed his habilitation. Since 2011, Litvinov is actively involved in FAIR's APPA/SPARC research activities. Among other responsibilities, he is the coordinator of experiments at the Experimental Storage Ring ESR, and since 2012 he acts as the head of the group "SPARC Detectors" for FAIR, which is a part of the "Atomic Physics" department. Since 2016, Litvinov has been Principal Investigator for the EU-funded ERC Consolidator Grant "ASTRUm" and since 2017 he holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Heidelberg.

“It is a great honor and I am very excited to receive this important recognition,” Litvinov said on the occasion of his appointment. “I will continue to strive to expand knowledge of atomic, nuclear and astrophysics with help of the research facilities, storage rings and traps available now at GSI and in the future at FAIR, as well as worldwide, and to pass this knowledge on to young researchers as part of my teaching activities.”

APS is the major professional organization for physicists in the United States. It has over 55,000 members from academia, national laboratories, and industry. The mission of the APS is to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics for the benefit of humanity, promote physics, and serve the broader physics community. Fellows are selected for their outstanding contributions to physics. Each year, the number of APS fellows elected is no more than one half of one percent of the membership. (CP)

Further information

• Website of APS

"The closeness of the publication of the two contents exemplifies the extraordinarily broad thematic spectrum of cutting-edge research at GSI and FAIR, from basic research to applied research. I am very pleased about the outstanding and broad-based science on our research campus," says the Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino.

Medical research is the subject of the article by Professor Marco Durante, Head of the GSI Biophysics Department , which he published together with two renowned radiation oncologists: Professor Jürgen Debus, Scientific Medical Director of the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) and Medical Director of the Clinic for Radio Oncology and Radiotherapy at the University of  Heidelberg, and Professor Jay Stephen Loeffler, chair of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The article describes the state-of-the-art of heavy ion radiotherapy that GSI first started in Europe. Clinical results from Japan and Germany are promising, but R&D in accelerators and beam delivery is necessary to make the machines smaller and cheaper and to exploit new, fascinating treatment modalities such as FLASH and radioactive ion beams for image-guided therapy. Durante and co-workers suggest that, rather than a “silver bullet”, combination of light and heavy ions can provide optimal biological effects, and underline the necessity of more pre-clinical research in these fields.

The article by Professor Takehiko R. Saito, leading scientist in the GSI/FAIR research pillar NUSTAR, which he published as first author together with several research colleagues, is about basic research. From GSI/FAIR, Vasyl Drozd, Dr. Shizu Minami and Professor Christoph Scheidenberger were involved.

The researchers are directing the attention to hypernuclei; these are nuclei that, in addition to protons and neutrons, contain a further nuclear building block with a so-called strange quark. The investigations of such hypernuclei by means of energetic heavy ion collisions have revealed some surprises in the case of the light hypernuclei with only a few protons or neutrons and a Λ-hyperon - the latter containing the strange quark - e.g. the unexpected existence of a bound state of two neutrons with such a Λ-hyperon. “Solving these puzzles will not only impact our understanding of the fundamental baryonic interactions with strange quarks but also of the nature of the deep interior of neutron stars. We summarize ongoing projects and experiments at various facilities worldwide and outline future perspectives,” the authors explain. (BP)

Further information

Publication "Physics and biomedial challenges of cancer therapy with accelerated heavy ions" in Nature Reviews Physics

Publication "New directions in hypernuclear pysics" in Nature Reviews Physics

All heavy elements on Earth today were formed under extreme conditions in astrophysical environments: inside stars, in stellar explosions, and during the collision of neutron stars. Researchers are intrigued with the question in which of these astrophysical events the appropriate conditions for the formation of the heaviest elements, such as gold or uranium, exist. The spectacular first observation of gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation originating from a neutron star merger in 2017 suggested that many heavy elements can be produced and released in these cosmic collisions. However, the question remains open as to when and why the material is ejected and whether there may be other scenarios in which heavy elements can be produced.

Promising candidates for heavy element production are black holes orbited by an accretion disk of dense and hot matter. Such a system is formed both after the merger of two massive neutron stars and during a so-called collapsar, the collapse and subsequent explosion of a rotating star. The internal composition of such accretion disks has so far not been well understood, particularly with respect to the conditions under which an excess of neutrons forms. A high number of neutrons is a basic requirement for the synthesis of heavy elements, as it enables the rapid neutron-capture process or r-process. Nearly massless neutrinos play a key role in this process, as they enable conversion between protons and neutrons.

“In our study, we systematically investigated for the first time the conversion rates of neutrons and protons for a large number of disk configurations by means of elaborate computer simulations, and we found that the disks are very rich in neutrons as long as certain conditions are met,” explains Dr. Oliver Just from the Relativistic Astrophysics group of GSI's research division Theory. “The decisive factor is the total mass of the disk. The more massive the disk, the more often neutrons are formed from protons through capture of electrons under emission of neutrinos, and are available for the synthesis of heavy elements by means of the r-process. However, if the mass of the disk is too high, the inverse reaction plays an increased role so that more neutrinos are recaptured by neutrons before they leave the disk. These neutrons are then converted back to protons, which hinders the r-process.” As the study shows, the optimal disk mass for prolific production of heavy elements is about 0.01 to 0.1 solar masses. The result provides strong evidence that neutron star mergers producing accretion disks with these exact masses could be the point of origin for a large fraction of the heavy elements. However, whether and how frequently such accretion disks occur in collapsar systems is currently unclear.

In addition to the possible processes of mass ejection, the research group led by Dr. Andreas Bauswein is also investigating the light signals generated by the ejected matter, which will be used to infer the mass and composition of the ejected matter in future observations of colliding neutron stars. An important building block for correctly reading these light signals is accurate knowledge of the masses and other properties of the newly formed elements. “These data are currently insufficient. But with the next generation of accelerators, such as FAIR, it will be possible to measure them with unprecedented accuracy in the future. The well-coordinated interplay of theoretical models, experiments, and astronomical observations will enable us researchers in the coming years to test neutron star mergers as the origin of the r-process elements”, predicts Bauswein. (CP)

Further information

• Scientific publication in „Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society“

The Management of GSI and FAIR congratulates warmly on the Nobel Prize: "We are very delighted for Giorgio Parisi, who, in addition to his Nobel Prize-winning contributions, has been recognized for outstanding science in the field of elementary particle physics, as it is also conducted on our campus at GSI and FAIR."

The Italian Giorgio Parisi has been working on the physics of elementary particles in addition to and in time before his now awarded work on "disorder and fluctuations in physical systems". Together with the Italian physicist Nicola Cabibbo, he made an important contribution to the understanding of the phase transition between quark-gluon plasma and hadronic matter and made fundamental discoveries on the structure of hadrons, in particular on "glueballs", in the framework of the APE collaboration (Array Processor Experiment at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN, in Italy). His pioneering paper with Italian physicist Guido Altarelli on "Asymptotic freedom in parton language" (Nucl.Phys.B 126 (1977) 298-318 ) is one of the most cited papers in all of nuclear and particle physics, with more than 7500 citations, and has laid the foundations for our understanding of the role of gluons in collisions between elementary particles and/or atomic nuclei at high energy. It has led to the "DGLAP" equations, which are central to the quantitative description of the vast majority of high-energy collisions.

Giorgio Parisi's scientific approaches will continue to have a lot of weight in research at the future FAIR accelerator center: The work with Cabibbo is an important milestone for the physics on the quark-gluon plasma and thus directly linked to the physics program of the CBM experiment. The work with the APE collaboration and in particular that with Altarelli, also forms the basis for research planned at the PANDA experiment.

Parisi also gave the opening lecture to the scientific program at the 2018 "Quark Matter Conference" in Venice, the most important international conference in this field, entitled "Some considerations on the quark-gluon plasma". The first part of the talk was on the Cabibbo-Parisi paper cited above and the question of thermalization in complex systems, which is still relevant today, thus preparing the ground for important discussions at the conference. The second part dealt with the structure of complex systems, the research area now awarded the Nobel Prize.

The Nobel Prize Committee's statement honoring Giorgio Parisi's achievement states: “Around 1980, Giorgio Parisi discovered hidden patterns in disordered complex materials. His discoveries are among the most important contributions to the theory of complex systems. They make it possible to understand and describe many different and apparently entirely random materials and phenomena, not only in physics but also in other, very different areas, such as mathematics, biology, neuroscience and machine learning.”

This range is also emphasized by the Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Paolo Giubellino: “The decision of the Nobel Prize Committee shows how closely apparently distant fields of research are related and how important the basic methodologies are for the complex description of very different scientific phenomena. They advance each other and cross-fertilize each other. Basic research is therefore quite crucial. I am extremely pleased about this exceptional appreciation for the scientific work of my colleague and friend."

A native of Rome, Parisi graduated in physics from La Sapienza University in Rome in 1970, where he has been a professor of quantum physics since 1992. He works in various subfields of physics, such as high-energy physics, quantum chromodynamics, phase transition theory, statistical mechanics, mathematical physics, biophysics and others. (BP)

GSI and FAIR employees can get a copy at the foyer or at the reception in Borsigstraße. If you want to order the DIN-A2-sized calendar from FAIR and GSI, please contact  gsi-kalender(at)gsi.de  (Data Protection) directly via e-mail and receive the calendar by post. Please include the following information: your name, your address and the number of calendars you wish to order. We kindly ask for your understanding that because of the limited quantity a maximum of three calendars can be sent per request (while stocks last). (LW)

All known atomic nuclei and therefore almost all visible matter consist of protons and neutrons, yet many of the properties of these omnipresent natural building blocks remain unknown. As an uncharged particle, the neutron in particular resists many types of measurement and 90 years after its discovery there are still many unanswered questions regarding its size and lifetime, among other things. The neutron consists of three quarks which whirl around inside it, held together by gluons. Physicists use electromagnetic form factors to describe this dynamic inner structure of the neutron. These form factors represent an average distribution of electric charge and magnetization within the neutron and can be determined by means of experimentation.

Blank space on the form factor map filled with precise data

“A single form factor, measured at a certain energy level, does not say much at first,” explains Professor Frank Maas, a researcher at the PRISMA⁺ Cluster of Excellence in Mainz, the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung Darmstadt. “Measurements of the form factors at various energies are needed in order to draw conclusions on the structure of the neutron.” In certain energy ranges, which are accessible using standard electron-proton scattering experiments, form factors can be determined fairly accurately. However, so far this has not been the case with other ranges for which so-called annihilation techniques are needed that involve matter and antimatter mutually destroying each other.

In the BESIII experiment being undertaken in China, it has recently proved possible to precisely determine the corresponding data in the energy range 2 to 3.8 gigaelectronvolts; as pointed out in the article published in the current issue of Nature Physics by the partnership, this is over 60 times more accurate compared to previous measurements. “With this new data, we have, so to speak, filled a blank space on the neutron form factor ‘map’, which until now was unknown territory,” points out Frank Maas. “This data is now as precise as that obtained in corresponding scattering experiments. As a result, our knowledge of the form factors of the neutron will change dramatically, and as such we will get a far more comprehensive picture of this important building block of nature.”

Truly pioneering work in a difficult field of research

To make inroads into completing the required fields of the form factor ‘map’, the physicists needed antiparticles. The international partnership therefore used the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider II for its measurements. Here, electrons and their positive antiparticles, positrons, are allowed to collide in an accelerator and destroy each other, creating new, other particle pairs – a process known as ‘annihilation’ in physics. Using the BESIII detector, the researchers observed and analyzed the outcome, in which the electrons and positrons form neutrons and anti-neutrons. “Annihilation experiments like these are nowhere near as well-established as the standard scattering experiments,” adds Frank Maas. “Substantial development work was needed to carry out the current experiment – the intensity of the accelerator had to be improved and the detection method for the elusive neutron had to be practically reinvented in the analysis of the experimental data. This was by no means straightforward. Our partnership has done truly pioneering work here.”

Other interesting phenomena

As if this was not enough, the measurements showed the physicists that the results for the form factor do not produce a consistent slope relative to the energy level, but rather an oscillating pattern in which fluctuations become smaller as the energy level increases. They observed similar surprising behavior in the case of the proton - here however, the fluctuations were mirrored, i.e. phase-shifted. “This new finding indicates first and foremost that nucleons do not have a simple structure,” explains Frank Maas. “Now our colleagues on the theoretical side have been asked to develop models to account for this extraordinary behavior.”

Finally, on the basis of their measurements, the BESIII partnership has modified how the relative ratio of the neutron to proton form factors needs to be viewed. Many years ago, the result produced in the FENICE experiment was a ratio greater than one, which means that the neutron must have a consistently larger form factor than the proton. “But as the proton is charged, you would expect it to be completely the other way round,” asserts Frank Maas. “And that's just what we see when we compare our neutron data with the proton data we’ve recently acquired through BESIII. So here we’ve rectified how we need to perceive the very smallest particles.”

From the micro- to the macrocosm

According to Maas, the new findings are especially important because they are so fundamental.  “They provide new perspectives on the basic properties of the neutron. What’s more, by looking at the smallest building blocks of matter, we can also understand phenomena that occur in the largest dimensions – such as the fusion of two neutron stars. This physics of extremes is already very fascinating." (JGU/JL)

Further information

• Nature Article
• Cluster of Excellence PRISMA+ of JGU
• Helmholtz Institute Mainz

The Otto Hahn Prize 2021 goes to nuclear physicist Professor Klaus Blaum of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. The award is endowed with 50,000 euros and is jointly sponsored by the City of Frankfurt am Main, the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and the German Physical Society (DPG). The award ceremony took place on November 5 in the festive setting of Frankfurt's Paulskirche. Through his scientific work, but also through important committee activities, Klaus Blaum has been related to GSI and FAIR for a long time. For example, he was a member of the GSI Supervisory Board for many years and Vice Chair of the FAIR-GSI Joint Scientific Council.

"A passion for precision" concisely characterizes the research of physicist Klaus Blaum, who will be awarded the Otto Hahn Prize this year. His work is pioneering for broad areas of atomic, nuclear and particle physics, especially for the test of the fundamental forces of nature in the microcosm.

"The questions that Klaus Blaum addresses are only at first glance far away from the reality of our lives," said Mayor Peter Feldmann, describing the award winner's work. "He is, as a layman might say, the cartographer of the microcosm. With meticulousness and precision, he surveys what forces are at work there. Through him we understand the mechanisms of action of our environment. He proves that working on a small scale is not `small-small´ - but, on the contrary, virtually challenges our understanding of the world."

"With his research, Blaum is expanding our knowledge of the fundamental properties of the constituents of the matter that surrounds us," adds Lutz Schröter, president of the German Physical Society (DPG). Blaum's research activities are wide-ranging and can best be summarized as "the study of exotic particles and states." These include studies of highly charged ions, short-lived atomic nuclei, antimatter, and the heaviest artificial elements.

"With Klaus Blaum, an exceptional scientist is receiving the Otto Hahn Prize," says Peter R. Schreiner, president of the German Chemical Society (GDCh). "The findings of his work also create important foundations for chemical research."

Today, the properties of elementary particles and the forces acting between them are often studied at the highest energies. However, a number of fundamental questions in particle physics and cosmology can be pursued particularly well at low energies.

Since the effects here are usually extraordinarily tiny, the highest precision is required. To this end, Blaum and his group developed a large number of sophisticated techniques, often performing the experiments on single particles at the lowest temperatures. By applying a series of brilliant ideas and exceptional experimental skills, he combined sophisticated techniques from atomic, nuclear and accelerator physics.

Blaum published his scientific results in more than 450 scientific articles in the leading and most internationally recognized physics journals. Although considered young in scientific circles at 49, he is already one of the world's most productive and cited researchers in the field of precision physics and measurement.

Klaus Blaum was born in Bad Sobernheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, on December 27, 1971. He studied physics at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, where he received his doctorate in 2000 under Ernst-Wilhelm Otten (1934 - 2019) after receiving his diploma in 1997 and several research stays at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, USA. Subsequently, he was a research associate at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt until 2002 and worked at the European Nuclear Research Center CERN near Geneva. There he was project leader for "Mass spectrometry of exotic nuclei with ISOLTRAP at ISOLDE" until 2004. In October 2004, Blaum took over the position of project leader of the Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Group "Experiments with Stored and Cooled Ions" at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz for four years. In 2006, he habilitated there on high-precision mass spectrometry with Penning traps for charged particles and storage rings.

Blaum taught at the University of Mainz from 2004 to 2008. He was awarded the 2006 Teaching Prize of the State of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, for his teaching activities. In October 2007, at the age of only 35, he received an appointment as director and scientific member of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. This was followed in April 2008 by his appointment as Honorary Professor (W3) of the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg. Since July 2020, Blaum has been Vice President of the Max Planck Society, responsible for the institutes of the Chemical-Physical-Technical Section.

At a young age, Blaum was awarded numerous highly prestigious prizes, including the Gustav Hertz Prize of the German Physical Society in 2004 for his outstanding work on the mass determination of unstable atomic nuclei, as well as the Helmholtz Prize of the Physikalisch-Technischen Bundesanstalt (PTB) in 2012 and the Lise Meitner Prize of the European Physical Society (EPS) in 2020. In 2019, he was accepted as a foreign member of the physics class of the "Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences".

The Otto Hahn Prize is awarded jointly by the City of Frankfurt am Main, the German Physical Society (DPG) and the German Chemical Society (GDCh). It serves to promote science, particularly in the fields of chemistry, physics and applied engineering sciences, by recognizing outstanding scientific achievements. It is endowed with 50,000 euros and is awarded every two years with a ceremony in Frankfurt's Paulskirche. (DPG/GDCh/Stadt Frankfurt/BP)

Further Information

Stream from the awarding of the Otto Hahn Prize 2021 to Klaus Blaum (in German)

About Klaus Blaum

About the Otto Hahn Prize (in German)

Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR, Professor Marco Durante, Head of GSI's Biophysics Department, Professor Silvia Masciocchi, Head of the ALICE Research Group at GSI, and Dr. Ingo Peter, Head of Press and Public Relations of GSI and FAIR, welcomed the Italian guests. The visit program focused on the current and planned research activities as well as the high-tech developments for FAIR, especially the Italian activities in this regard.

H.E. Ambassador Armando Varricchio is regarded as one of the most prominent and well-known diplomats of the Republic of Italy. He has broad international experience at various political levels and served as diplomatic advisor to several Italian Prime Ministers. He has been Italian Ambassador to Germany since June 2021, and previously served as Ambassador to the United States. During his visit, Armando Varricchio was impressed by the highly promising prospects opened up by the FAIR international accelerator center currently being built at GSI: "FAIR is a fascinating international project that offers unique opportunities and promotes new developments. The research and experiments at GSI and FAIR are important for scientific progress that benefits the entire society. I am pleased that Italy plays an important role here with the cooperation of many dedicated Italian scientists and the Italian high-tech industry."

"I am extremely pleased that we could warmly welcome Armando Varricchio to our institution. We are very honored that one of his first travels as ambassador to Germany is to our research facility. We would like to thank him for his great interest in our science," said Professor Paolo Giubellino. "The Italian science community and GSI/FAIR are closely linked. Researchers from Italy are making excellent contributions in a variety of scientific and technical fields at GSI and FAIR and Italy has a huge industrial return from the realization of high-tech components for FAIR. We hope to further strengthen this successful collaboration with Italy in the future."

Italy is strongly involved on the scientific and technological side with GSI/FAIR: Building on a long-standing collaboration between Italian research institutions such as the Italian National Nuclear Physics Institute (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN) and GSI/FAIR, Italian researchers are represented in many fields and collaborations at GSI and FAIR. This for example refers to the field of biophysics with its wide thematic range from space research to tumor therapy, or to the large-scale experiment R3B, which allows reaction experiments with high-energy exotic nuclei. Moreover, over 40 GSI/FAIR employees are Italian, including the Scientific Managing Director and two heads of departments.

In addition, a number of important assignments for FAIR high-tech components are realized by Italian companies. For example, the superconducting magnets for the fragment separator (Super-FRS), the central apparatus of the NUSTAR experiment, are manufactured by ASG Superconductors and power converters by OCEM, both Italian companies. Further examples of important technological collaboration also exist at the large FAIR ring accelerator: Parts of the test program for the quadrupole module series are carried out at a test facility in Salerno, Italy.

During a guided tour, the guests were able to inform themselves in detail about FAIR. Some of the stations where young Italian researchers as well as responsible scientists gave insights into their work were the HADES experiment, the medical radiation unit of biophysics and the test facility for superconducting accelerator magnets. The guests were also able to see the progress of the construction work for the future accelerator center from the viewing platform located directly at the FAIR construction site. Afterwards, there was an opportunity for a meeting of the diplomatic visitors with Italian scientists and a short address of the ambassador to his compatriots working at GSI/FAIR. (BP)

About H.E. Ambassador Armando Varricchio

Armando Varricchio has been Italian Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany since June 21, 2021, after serving as Italian Ambassador to the United States since March 2, 2016. At the Permanent Representation of Italy to the European Union, as Head of Cabinet of the Minister for European Affairs and as Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the European Commission, Ambassador Varricchio dealt mainly with European and transatlantic issues. As Diplomatic Advisor to Prime Ministers Enrico Letta and Matteo Renzi, and previously as Assistant Diplomatic Advisor to President Giorgio Napolitano, he handled the most complicated international issues, particularly security issues.

As a personal representative ("Sherpa") at the G7/G8 and G20 summits, he dealt with the most important global issues, especially economic and financial issues, at both the national and European levels.

He was Ambassador in Belgrade and before that Head of the Economic Section of the Embassy in Washington, while as a young diplomat in Budapest he witnessed the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. He graduated with honors (Laurea con lode) in international relations from the University of Padua and embarked on a diplomatic career in 1986, reaching the rank of ambassador in 2014. Previously, he worked in the private sector as assistant to the financial director of the Italian textile company Marzotto Group.

He is a recipient of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and has received numerous honors from abroad.

Dr. Christian Graeff, who leads the Medical Physics group at GSI Biophysics, is a new professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (ETIT) at TU Darmstadt. His teaching is within the framework of the Master's program in Medical Technology, which provides knowledge and skills in engineering and human medicine. After studying medical engineering at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Christian Graeff received his doctorate with a study on computer tomography-assisted diagnostics of osteoporosis. He worked as postdoc in the Medical Physics group of the Biophysics Department at GSI, before taking over as head of this group in 2012.

His research has focused on innovative applications of ion beams (for example, research on the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias with the use of carbon ions), the development of methods for irradiating moving targets with scanned ion beams and the development of new therapy control systems for raster scanning. For his scientific achievements, Christian Graeff was awarded the Günther von Pannewitz Prize of the German Society of Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) and the Behnken-Berger Prize for young scientists.

Dr. Burkhard Jakob, who heads Molecular Radiobiology and Imaging group within GSI Biophysics, is taking over an honorary professorship at the Department of Biology at TU Darmstadt; his teaching activities include, for example, conducting the master's module "Radiation Biophysics". After studying chemistry at the University of Würzburg, Burkhard Jakob obtained his PhD on oxidation-sensitive fluorescent dyes for the determination of ozone distribution in leaves. He joined GSI as a postdoc already in 1999, after that he worked in the Molecular Radiobiology group as a senior scientist before taking over as head of this group in 2019.

His research focuses on the biological effects and molecular and the microscopic visualization of cellular responses to ionizing radiation, as DNA damage and subsequent repair mechanisms especially following particle irradiation. For his scientific achievements, Burkhard Jakob received the prize of the German Society for Radiation Biology Research (GBS) for young scientists and the Hanns Langendorff Award for the first evidence of a localized DNA damage response in a cell nucleus after densely ionizing particle irradiation as well as the live cell microscopy measurements of dynamic repair processes at the GSI beamlines.

The Head of the Department, Marco Durante, who is already professor at TUDa-Physics said “I am very proud of the group leaders in the Biophysics Department. Their appointment at TUDa is a sign of the world-class science that our group is doing at GSI, and of the quality of the group leaders. GSI-Biophysics is world leader in research in heavy ion biological effects ad its applications in therapy and space”. (BP)

The trilateral science platform was held under the theme "Cross-border innovations for Central Europe". Organized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in close cooperation with the Free State of Saxony, the conference brought together high-ranking representatives from politics, science and research in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. Among others the President of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble, the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki and Petr Očko, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, participated.

The platform provided great visions in burning topics such sustainable regional cooperation, Industry 4.0, hydrogen based mobility options for future, industry participation in incubating more startups in a tri- or bilateral framework, existing partnerships and funding programs for mobility of young scientists and students, and also highlighted how can one benefit from exiting partnership. The participants discussed opportunities and challenges of research and innovation for the sustainable economic development of Central Europe.

On the second day, a panel discussion focused on German-Polish cooperation in multilateral-large facilities was held, moderated by Ms. Ministerial Conductor Dr. Oda Keppler from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Professor Paolo Giubellino (Scientific Managing Director of GSI/FAIR, Germany), Alicja Nowakowska (Vice-Chair of Administrative and Finance Committee FAIR, Jagiellonian University Poland), and Professor Maciej Chorowski (Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland) were on the panel. The panel participants educated the audience on how the FAIR project has been an exemplary example of Polish-German cooperation, emphasizing the importance of an international effort, scientific collaboration, and strong business partnerships in bringing cutting-edge technology to big science infrastructure and to the market.

The event marked yet another step in the cooperation based on mutual interests between GSI/FAIR and the Polish universities with the aims to promote mobility opportunities for young students and researchers, create synergies between partners, and facilitate the creation of a framework for conducive capacity building for FAIR's future operation. At the signing ceremony, in presence of State Secretary Professor Wolf-Dieter Lukas, FAIR/GSI and the respective Polish university representatives Professor Przemyslaw Wiszewski, rector of the University of Wrocław, and Professor Maciej Chorowski, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, inked the respective partnership agreements with FAIR managing directors Dr. Ulrich Breuer and Professor Paolo Giubellino. The event was streamed live though the BMBF streaming platform on their website.

Professor Paolo Giubellino said: “The FAIR Project is an international endeavour to build a world-class facility for next-generation scientists. Poland is one of the founding members of FAIR. It brings me great satisfaction to see that two of the premier universities from Poland and FAIR/GSI team up to promote mobility opportunities and support early-stage researchers to cooperate in collaborative research in basic science and advance technologies. International collaborations are essential to improve research quality and to promote talent development. The GET_INvolved partnerships with the University of Wrocław and the Wrocław University of Science and Technology are examples of our fruitful collaboration with Polish universities in creating opportunities for young scientists”.

Professor Przemyslaw Wiszewski said: “The University of Wrocław wishes to conduct joint, top-quality international research together with other research centers. It is important to take advantage of our geographical location for this purpose. Here in Central Europe, where Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany meet, we hope to conduct research and projects that are important on a European scale. Our goal is that in a few years, Europe will hear about a strong international research consortium, in which scientists not only from our three countries work together, but to which, thanks to the strong scientific position, we attract outstanding researchers from all over the world.”

Professor Maciej Chorowski said: “Wrocław University of Science and Technology is a well-recognized center of excellence in cryogenics – a key superconducting high energy accelerator technology. Thanks to the construction of FAIR accelerator complex, we have a unique possibility to develop and deliver state of art components allowing cryostating of superconducting magnets and bus bars. The experience gained at FAIR and other Big Science laboratories allows us to participate actively in hydrogen driven transformation of power generation and mobility. The GET_INvolved partnership with FAIR will help students and young scientists to enter a global research community.”

Professor Dariusz Lydzba said: “At Wrocław University of Science and Technology we strive to become a major European research university. That is why developing international cooperation is so important to us. Not only to show the possibilities and laboratories that we have, but also to make it easier for the scientists from Wrocław Tech to access the solutions that our European partners have. This agreement proves it, but it is also a clear signal that the position of Wrocław University of Science and Technology is getting stronger. I believe that it will be a big step into the future for all the consortium members, and we will not have to wait long for the effects.” (BP)

Further information

For more information on the GET_INvolved program interested persons can contact the respective coordinators Dr. Pradeep Ghosh GSI und FAIR, Pradeep.Ghosh@fair-center.eu), Dr. Jaroslaw Polinksi (WUST, jaroslaw.polinski@pwr.edu.pl) and Professor Eugeniusz Zych (University of Wrocław, prorektor.nauka@uwr.edu.pl).

Related links

• GET_INvolved Program
• University of Wrocław
• Wrocław University of Science and Technology

Very special exotic nuclei are in the focus of researchers in the upcoming experiment period: so-called hypernuclei. Regular atomic nuclei are made of protons and neutrons, which in turn are composed of a total of three up and down quarks. If one of these quarks is replaced by another type, a so-called strange quark, a hyperon is formed. Atomic nuclei that contain one or more hyperons are called hypernuclei. They can be produced in particle collisions at accelerators, and their decay can then be observed in experiment setups such as the WASA detector and the FRS in order to study their properties in detail.

Professor Takehiko Saito, leading scientist in the GSI/FAIR research pillar NUSTAR, is the first author of the paper “New directions in hypernuclear physics” in the journal Nature Reviews Physics, which highlights previous results, open questions and new possibilities in the field of hypernuclear research. “Hypernuclei could shed light on what happens inside neutron stars. According to current predictions, hypernuclei should exist there abundantly. However, some of their properties have not yet been accurately determined. Among other things, the researchers want to determine the binding energy and lifetimes of different hypernuclei more precisely in future experiments, as well as discover new variations,” Saito says. “For this purpose, the HypHI experiment, previously operated at GSI/FAIR, has already achieved exciting results, but has now reached its limits. The combination of WASA and FRS promises new insights and information. The detector has a higher detection efficiency for measuring all the decay products of the hypernuclei. In the future, the FAIR facility, which is currently being built, will also open up extensive new opportunities for the study of hypernuclei.”

WASA stands for “Wide Angle Shower Apparatus” and is designed to trace the tracks of large numbers of particles that are emitted in energetic nuclear collisions. Thus, the device is a huge, almost closed sphere, equipped with countless measuring instruments, some of which protrude outward like spikes. They consist of scintillators and gaseous detectors that can detect charged and neutral particles. Inside is a superconducting solenoid magnet that must be cooled to four Kelvin with liquid helium. Most of the detectors are currently improved by the international WASA@FRS collaboration. The Japanese team of the collaboration plays a leading role in the development and upgrade of the detector.

Responsible for the technical setup of the WASA detector at FRS are the two NUSTAR engineers Tobias Weber and Philipp Schwarz. “Due to the tight spatial constraints at the FRS, the compact and powerful WASA detector was the best choice for the planned experiments at FRS,” Weber explains. “We had to remove several parts of the FRS to make space available for WASA.” Schwarz adds: “To transport the detector to its final destination, we had to carefully move the delicate components, which weigh several tons, across our experiment halls via several overhead cranes. Fortunately, everything went well and according to schedule so far. Soon we will be able to start the commissioning at the FRS to ensure everything will be ready for the experiments next year.”

Prior to the installation at GSI/FAIR, WASA had already completed a number of experiment campaigns. The setup was originally used at the Svedberg Laboratory in Sweden and later at the COSY ring at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Its installation at FRS is also only temporary. Following the upcoming experiments, it will be removed and the FRS will again be ready for other NUSTAR experiments studying further exotic nuclei. (CP)

Further information

• Publication "New directions in hypernuclear physics" in Nature Reviews Physics

The work addresses high-power laser-driven sources in the XUV range as an alternative to large-scale light sources such as synchrotrons or free-electron lasers (FEL). These can be obtained, as Klas has shown, by high harmonic generation (HHG) of high average power ultrafast fiber lasers. Such laser-like XUV sources, which are less complex and more accessible to the user, nowadays find applications in lensless imaging or time-resolved spectroscopy. In particular, they can be combined with the storage ring facilities at GSI and FAIR for precision spectroscopy. This combination will enable unique research beyond today’s state of the art.

In this context, a proof-of-principle experiment targeting XUV photoionization of carbon ions based on a laser-driven table-top XUV source has been proposed, granted beam time, and conducted by the SPARC collaboration at CRYRING in 2019 and 2021. Klas provided groundbreakting contributions during his doctoral studies to enable XUV laser spectroscopy at heavy ion storage rings for the first time. The work was carried out at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering in Jena, and the Helmholtz Institute Jena.

The SPARC PhD Award has been presented annually since 2018 and comes with a prize money of 200 euros. The award honors the best PhD thesis within the collaboration concerning atomic physics with heavy ions at the research facilities of GSI and FAIR. SPARC stands for Stored Particles Atomic Physics Research Collaboration. Currently, more than 400 members from 26 countries belong to the collaboration. They are experimenting with the existing atomic physics facilities at GSI and preparing new experiments and setups at the future FAIR accelerator. (CP)

Furter information

• Website of the SPARC Collaboration

The cryostat of the HELIAC demonstrator has a length of five meters in total. In the future, it will contain three accelerator cavities of Crossbar H-mode (CH) type, as well as a beam focusing cavity (buncher). These components are still being tested or manufactured. This is why, for now, externally identical dummy cavities were installed, which do not contain the internal structures. They are used to ascertain the mechanical behavior of the module under cooling. Two finalized solenoid lenses and two steering elements — both superconducting — are already installed.

For the first time, the demonstrator has now been successfully cooled down to four Kelvin using liquid helium from the GSI magnet test facility. The superconducting solenoid lenses were used to focus heavy ion beams from the GSI high-charge injector through the cryomodule and keep them on axis using correction coils.

“Thus, all relevant transverse beam optical investigations could already be successfully performed with the setup. This means that an important milestone in the commissioning of the module has been achieved,” explains Professor Winfried Barth, head of the Section 1 for Accelerators and Integrated Detectors at the Helmholtz Institute Mainz and, at the same time, head of the GSI “Linac” department. The Helmholtz Institute Mainz, a branch of GSI, is responsible for all R&D-activities in order to realize the HELIAC project.

“Shortly, the Advanced Demonstrator will be transported to the Superconducting Radio Frequency Laboratory of the Helmholtz Institute in Mainz, which provides unique manufacturing infrastructure and the high-purity conditions for the final assembly of the cryogenic module,” adds his deputy and HELIAC project manager Dr. Maksym Miski-Oglu. “The next step there will be to integrate the three functional CH cavities and the buncher into the cryomodule. Final commissioning with heavy-ion beam is planned for mid-2022 at GSI/FAIR.”

The HELIAC CH-cavities, which are also superconducting, can accelerate heavy ions with high efficiency. Because of its continuous-wave mode of operation, the setup is also known as a cw linac. Several experimental areas shall benefit from the continuous particle beam in the future, such as superheavy elements research and materials research. (CP)

By linking different technologies, an interdisciplinary team of scientist of the Materials Research Department of GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) in Argentina and the University of Illinois in the USA, has developed a highly sensitive nanopore sensor that specifically detects SARS-CoV-2 viruses and human adenoviruses in a variety of specimen including saliva, serum or environmental samples such as wastewater. The sensor combines two key components: a sensitive nanochannel and highly specific DNA molecules attached to the channel surface. According to the research groups, the method is as precise as PCR tests, but simpler and faster providing results in less than two hours. The results are published in the prestigious journal Science Advances.

The technology for the fabrication of membranes with single nanopores has been developed at GSI over many years. Thin polymer films are irradiated with one individual high-energy heavy ion projectile (e.g. 1 GeV gold ion) at the linear accelerator UNILAC. As the ion passes through the film, it creates a nanoscopic damage trail that is converted into an open nanochannel by chemical etching. The precise diameter and the shape of the channel are adjusted by the etching parameters. For this work, asymmetric nanopores with a small opening of less than 50 nanometers were fabricated. The small size and the specific geometry ensures a particularly high level of sensitivity for transport processes through the channel.

The selectivity of the sensor is provided by an in-vitro selection process for DNA fragments, so-called aptamers, which are incorporated into the nanopore. These selective aptamers are not only able to recognize the specific virus but can also differentiate the infectivity status of the virus. The here applied aptamers were developed by Ana Sol Peinetti during her work as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Being familiar with the GSI nanopore technology from her previous stay in the group of Omar Azzaroni, at the Institute for Theoretical and Applied Physicochemical Research (INIFTA, CONICET-UNLP) (Argentina), she successfully combined both technologies. 

The fact that this method can distinguish infectious from noninfectious viruses is an essential innovation, according to the scientists. The well-known PCR tests detect viral genetic material but cannot distinguish whether a sample is infectious or whether a person is contagious. The only tests which can currently detect infectious viruses are plaque assays. They require special preparation and days of incubation before providing results, while the new aptamer-nanopore sensor yields results within 30 minutes up to two hours and requires no pre-treatment of the sample. 

Reading out the infectivity status of a virus not only provides information about whether patients are contagious or not, but also offers a way of finding out if certain inactivation strategies actually work. “Together with Omar Azzaroni and Ana Sol Peinetti (now group leader at the Institute of Chemistry, Physics of Materials, Environment and Energy, in Buenos Aires), we collaborate in a new project, where based on this new sensor the efficiency of various virus inactivation protocols will be tested,” states Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares, leader of the ion-track nanotechnology group at GSI. 

Nanopore-sensor technology also has great potential beyond the Corona pandemic. "To detect other viruses, you have to look for the pool of molecules that serve as aptamers; new molecules for new viruses. We even intend to obtain aptamers that can discern between different variants of SARS-Cov-2," explains Peinetti. In the paper, the authors also demonstrate the detection of infectious human adenoviruses, responsible for respiratory water-borne diseases worldwide. 

Beyond the virus detection, the GSI nanopore technology is the basis of other sensor options. Numerous groups around the world are developing specific functionalization strategies to impart selective functionalities to nanopore sensors. Nanopores in ion-track membranes are very versatile because they can be modified to respond to many different external changes, such as temperature, pH, light, voltage, or the presence of specific ion species, molecules, or drugs. During the last years, several highly sensitive nanopore-sensor platforms have been developed in collaboration with the colleagues at INIFTA. “Our vision is to integrate the functionalized nanopore membrane into a portable device for rapid and efficient virus detection and diagnosis,” says Christina Trautmann, head of the GSI Materials Research Department. (LW)

More Informationen

Original publication Direct detection of human adenovirus and SARS-CoV-2 with ability to inform infectivity using a DNA aptamer-nanopore sensor

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 University Giessen.

“With FAIR, a globally unique facility is being built that is also of outstanding importance for the Hessian research landscape,” explains Hesse's Science Minister Angela Dorn. “With the particle accelerator, it will be possible to investigate the structure of matter and the development of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present. The topics range from fundamental knowledge to the development of novel applications for technology and medicine. Hesse's universities are to play a leading role in this. The bright minds of tomorrow will also benefit from this source of knowledge — Hesse's young scientists and students. This is why we are establishing the Helmholtz Research Academy Hessen for FAIR.”

The international large research facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) is being built as a non-university research facility next to the site of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. As an institution spanning across universities, the research academy is to expand the expertise in the FAIR research areas available at the three universities and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), and establish it in the long term. The state has already supported FAIR-oriented research at the universities within the framework of the LOEWE Excellence Initiative, thus enabling the establishment of around 30 new professorships. The HFHF is now mainly dedicated to promoting talented young researchers.

“As FAIR promises world-class research for several decades, it is essential to attract and nurture the best young scientists today in order to make the most of these long-term opportunities. The Research Academy enables us to achieve this goal at the universities and to play a leading role in FAIR research,” emphasizes Professor Dr. Dr.-Ing. Peter Kämpfer, spokesperson of the HFHF Board and Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen.

The scientific orientation of the HFHF is coordinated by eight directors who hold professorships at HFHF partner universities and are internationally renowned experts in the various research fields of FAIR. The Managing Director of the Research Academy, Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Marcus Bleicher of Goethe University Frankfurt, sees the new institution as a unique opportunity: “The funding of the Research Academy will allow me and my colleagues at the partner institutions to conduct long-term FAIR-oriented research at a high international level and to play a leading role in the various FAIR research areas.”

An international evaluation committee reviewed HFHF's research plan for 2021 to 2025 very favorably and recommended it for implementation. “In the expert panel, we were very impressed with the research plan that was submitted to us for evaluation. On this basis, the research academy will be able to achieve excellent scientific results and secure a leading role for the Hessian universities in FAIR research,” says Professor Karl-Heinz Kampert, astroparticle physicist at the University of Wuppertal and chairman of the evaluation committee, summarizing the result.

The three universities participating in the research academy contribute a total of 5 million euros annually to the academic endowment of the HFHF. “The promotion of excellent young scientists and the cooperation with GSI is worth it to us,” emphasizes Professor Dr. Barbara Albert, Vice President for Research and Early Careers at the TU Darmstadt.

GSI flanks the funding via bilateral collaborations with research groups of the partner universities and FIAS in the financial scope of 3 million euros per year also. “GSI and later FAIR as well as our Hessian partners will benefit greatly from continuing this tradition in the long term. It is essential for our center not only to enable cutting-edge research, but also to inspire young scientists for this research. We have succeeded through our close cooperation with the universities. HFHF will not only continue this tradition, but also expand it further, for the benefit of research in general, but above all to secure Hesse as a location for science,” enthuses Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of GSI and FAIR and Professor of Nuclear Physics at the TU Darmstadt. (HMWK/BP)

Further information

The Helmholtz Research Academy Hesse for FAIR

Press release by the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts

The one-hour events begin with a short lecture on the research topic of the scientists, after which they are available for a discussion with the students. “This should not be limited to scientific questions, but can also be about the everyday life of researchers. Students are invited to also talk about other aspects such as choosing a course of study, career, work-life balance or gender aspects,” says project manager and initiator Dr. Arjan Vink, head of the GSI/FAIR Grant Office. “These deeper insights into science are intended to provide an incentive for young people to consider a career in science in their upcoming choice of profession.”

The more than 20 participating researchers from GSI and FAIR were specifically prepared in previous workshops to answer the questions of the students, aided by technical equipment for video conferences, which was acquired especially for the project. All scientific topics related to GSI and FAIR are covered: Whether construction and operation of accelerators, work on giant detectors for measuring nuclear reactions, events in the Universe, research into new, super-heavy elements or tumor therapy with ion beams — experts are available for all these and many more research areas. Career stages from PhD students to professors are represented to provide insight into career paths.

The events take place online as video conferences. High-school teachers can request appointments to "Meet a scientist" as a class. Classes can then dial into the events either as individuals or as a group. An overview of participating scientists, available times, and how to participate can be found at www.gsi.de/meet-a-scientist. Interested parties can register directly on the web or contact meetascientist(at)gsi.de with any queries. If demand is high, the project will possibly continue beyond the two weeks.

The pilot project "Meet a scientist" is supported by the Hessian Ministry of Science (HMWK) and Arts and by the Helmholtz Research Academy Hessen for FAIR (HFHF). (CP)

Further information:

• "Meet a scientist" website

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. 

At the GSI and FAIR booth on the market place, the accelerator game attracts the public: Young and old can try out for themselves how a particle accelerator works and learn more about one of the largest construction projects for fundamental research. Those who are not on site in Würzburg can still participate: The exhibition can be visited on three days via live stream on YouTube. On Friday, October 1, the GSI and FAIR booth will also be presented. In a subsequent live chat, all online viewers can ask questions and participate interactively. 

In addition to the exhibition, there will be daily science shows on the open-air stage at the marketplace, a varied lecture program, live experiments, and an extensive online offering with an interactive children's program. A daily lecture program will take place in the Audimax of the University of Würzburg, as will the Phänomikon hands-on exhibition. With an exciting mix of an interactive on-site program and digital offerings, physicists will provide an X-ray view into space and show, for example, how lasers can be used to track down greenhouse gases. In addition, the latest developments for quantum computers will be presented, as well as many other interesting topics where physics plays an important role in our lives. With the daily lecture series "Röntgenblicke," the organizers of the "Highlights of Physics" will commemorate the 175th birthday of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen last year.

The week-long physics spectacle kicked off on September 27 with the big Highlights Show at the s.Oliver Arena with ARD presenter Ranga Yogeshwar (watch now on YouTube). The week of events will conclude with a special evening lecture in which Communicator Award winner Prof. Metin Tolan will explore the question of whether scenes from James Bond films are physically possible at all; the lecture will be accompanied by live James Bond film music performed by the Würzburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Both events can also be seen in the YouTube live stream.

The "Highlights of Physics" are organized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Physical Society (DPG) and the University of Würzburg. The "Highlights of Physics" were launched in 2001 by the BMBF and the DPG. In recent years, they have attracted up to 60,000 visitors.
Admission to all events is free (in some cases free admission tickets or registration are required). The conditions and infection control measures required for on-site visits can be found here. (LW)
 

Further information

• YouTube Live-Stream
• Program
• Highlights der Physik

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.

As part of a collaboration agreement between CERN and GSI/FAIR signed in 2012, 56 magnet assemblies intended for the Super-Fragment Separator (Super-FRS), the central device of the NUSTAR experiment, will be entirely tested and validated at CERN. Thus, 32 multiplets and 24 dipoles will be tested at the Laboratory. The multiplets are manufactured by the Italian company ASG, the dipoles by the Spanish company Elytt. For this purpose, a new test facility has been especially designed and constructed in CERN’s Building #180 to validate no fewer than 30 types of magnets. Three test benches have been created by experts from CERN and GSI to accommodate up to 7-metre-long, 3.5-metre-high magnet assemblies. The heaviest ones weigh up to 70 tons.

“A large and complex cryogenic system has been developed, combining two pre-cooling/warming-up units and a 4.5 K liquid helium refrigerator,” explains Antonio Perin, work package leader for the cryogenic system. “The plant is designed for continuous operation: the validation tests are performed on one bench, while the second bench is cooling down and the third one is warming up; the test sequence lasts about six weeks for each magnet.” During the tests, the magnets are powered to their nominal current and their magnetic field is accurately mapped. The powering and magnetic measurement systems have been adapted to the new test facility, which was made possible thanks to the unique combination of competences existing at CERN.

“We are currently testing the first-of-series magnets; the multiplet series will be delivered next year. All 56 magnet assemblies should be tested by 2026,” says Dr. Germana Riddone, CERN’s technical coordinator of the test facility at CERN. “Many CERN groups and GSI partners have been involved in the successful installation of the new test facility and its commissioning, and still are now for the validation tests. The collaboration with GSI is a very good example of how CERN works hand-in-hand with national infrastructures and how that adds mutual value.” Dr. Antonella Chiuchiolo, GSI work package leader for on-site testing at CERN, agrees: "We are very pleased that our testing activities at CERN can proceed so smoothly and on schedule."

The Project Leader Super-FRS at GSI/FAIR, Dr. Haik Simon, was also very pleased with the start of the tests and explains: “The multiplets will later be used in FAIR's Super-FRS for beam focusing in order to achieve a high-precision particle beam. The dipoles will serve later to specifically deflect a split up the particle beam“. The Super-FRS of the future FAIR accelerator center is an important component of the entire facility with great potential for scientific discovery: This part of the accelerator complex will be used for experiments on the fundamental structure of extremely rare exotic nuclei. “For these experiments, ions of the heaviest elements will be shot at a target, where they will shatter upon impact. The resulting fragments will include exotic nuclei that the Super-FRS can separate and supply for further experiments. With the new separator, nuclei up to uranium can be produced at relativistic energies and can be separated into pure isotopes. Because this entire process lasts for only a few hundred nanoseconds, the Super-FRS provides researchers access to very short-lived nuclei,” says Dr. Haik Simon. (CERN/BP)

Further information

News at the CERN website

Video about the Super-FRS magnet testing

The participants of the HITM school were presented with a multidisciplinary approach which started from basic concepts, included state-of-the-art practices and methods, and involved discussions of open points and needed research, as well as future plans for upcoming upgrades and developments. While overview lectures, partly delivered by GSI experts, provided the necessary broad panorama, specialized presentations and hands-on sessions focused on the treatment planning details. These were based on the matRad open-source professional toolkit, developed by the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) in Heidelberg specifically for training and research.

Expert matRad tutors from DKFZ and LMU guided participants from software installation to the execution of involved treatment planning cases, demonstrating the benefits, but also the challenges of heavy-ion therapy compared to different treatment modalities. Approx. 200 participants delivered their hands-on results, which was awarded with a certificate of attendance.

The course used informative videos of the European heavy-ion therapy centers and research infrastructures, including GSI/FAIR, included real-time virtual visits to these labs and offered numerous opportunities for interaction with their experts. GSI experts also participated in dedicated sessions, where students presented their results and research projects as well as in the evening social events providing information on future career paths.

The online mode made the school easily accessible worldwide: Over thousand participants, almost equally distributed between European and non-European countries, ranging from undergraduate students to practitioners, followed all or parts of the program. These unprecedented high numbers, as well as the received comments, show an increasing interest in heavy-ion therapy, the technology introduced in Europe by GSI.

Within the HITRIplus project, promising early stage researchers will be candidates to be further supported by the upcoming HITRIplus schools on clinical and medical aspects, as well as by HITRIplus internships. Thus, they can optimally access the existing European heavy-ion therapy centers and research facilities, among which GSI/FAIR, contributing to relevant research projects, upgrades and future developments.

The format of the HITM school was inspired by the Particle Therapy MasterClasses (PTMC), a project also coordinated by GSI, that in 2021 attracted more than 1500 high-school students in 20 countries and 37 institutes. Several of the HITM school participants were eager to participate in future PTMC projects as tutors and moderators further motivating the younger generations.

The HITRIplus project, that has received funds from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101008548, motivated by the response and success of this first course is preparing already the next courses based on the uplifting received feedback of numerous grateful participants. (CP)

Further information

• HITRIplus website

After introductory information on the status of the FAIR construction project, the campus development, previous research successes and current experiments, the FDP politician and a physicist by education was given insights into the existing research facilities on the GSI and FAIR campus during a guided tour. The tour included the test facility for superconducting accelerator magnets, where mainly high-tech components for FAIR are tested, the linear accelerator UNILAC, the SHIP experiment, where the GSI elements 107 to 112 were produced, and the energy-efficient supercomputing center Green IT Cube.

After this, Till Mansmann had the opportunity to get an overview of the entire construction site and the activities in the northern and southern construction areas from the viewing platform on the edge of the construction site. Subsequently, the FAIR construction site and the progresses there were visited at close range during a tour. One highlight was the walk-through of the recently completed underground accelerator tunnel. The central ring accelerator SIS100 will be the heart of the future facility.

Also shown was the CBM experiment, which is well advanced in construction. The unique CBM (Compressed Baryonic Matter) experiment is one of the four research pillars of the future FAIR accelerator facility. The focus is on the investigation of highly compressed baryonic matter, as it exists in neutron stars and in the center of supernova explosions.

The development in the south of the construction field is also progressing well: This includes the structural work for six buildings and for a futher experimental facility – the superconducting fragment separator (Super-FRS). It will focus on research topics concerning the nuclear structure and interactions of extremely rare, exotic particles. The bus tour was completed with a stop at the large container facility on the southwestern edge of the FAIR construction site. From there, the construction planning for FAIR and the coordination of the FAIR construction site takes place. (BP)

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.

GLAD is a large acceptance spectrometer for the analysis of relativistic radioactive heavy ion beam reactions. It was installed on site in 2015 and saw beam for the first time in fall of 2018. In some experiments, these beams will interact upstream with the COCOTIER liquid hydrogen target. The latter has just been used for the first time in the FAIR Phase 0 experiments in March 2021. These two pieces of equipment are key elements for measuring the properties of nuclei at the limit of nuclear stability and allow current nuclear models to evolve towards more predictive ones.

GLAD: a large acceptance dipole for GSI/FAIR

Following the successful testing of the cold mass (screen, vacuum chamber) of the GLAD magnet, (22 tons at 4.5 Kelvin) at Saclay in a cryogenic test station of IRFU, GLAD had been installed in its cryostat and transported to GSI, where it was installed in the experimental halls. It was positioned, as well as connected to its power supply and to its cooling system by GSI teams. Following a beam test in the fall of 2018, GLAD was successfully used in the 2019, 2020 and also the 2021 R3B FAIR Phase 0 campaigns, where for the first time the COCOTIER target was employed.

COCOTIER: a liquid hydrogen target

The COCOTIER (COrrélations à COurte porTée et spin IsotopiquE à R3B – for short-range Correlations and Isotopic spin at R3B) liquid hydrogen target is designed to perform quasi-free scattering experiments where the nucleus to be studied, in the form of a beam, impacts on a target of protons that will selectively eject a proton or a neutron from the nucleus in question. To compensate for the low intensity of the exotic beams, dense (hence the need to liquefy hydrogen) and very thick (up to 15 centimeters) proton targets are used. It is therefore necessary to reconstruct the position of the reaction vertex inside the target using a tracking detector. This information is necessary to perform the spectroscopy of the studied nuclei in order to correct the trajectories and the energy loss of the measured particles.

To liquefy hydrogen at pressures close to atmospheric pressure, it must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures (21 Kelvin). The hydrogen is liquefied in a condenser cooled by a cryocooler and flows into the target cell due to gravity. Turbomolecular pumping allows to obtain a high vacuum (10^-6 millibar in the cryostat and in the target chamber) in order to limit the convective flows. The integration into the constrained R3B setup posed many challenges. The target is placed in the middle of the CALIFA calorimeter, far from the vertical of the cryostat.

The target cell is wrapped in several five micrometers thick multi-layer insulation sheets in order to reduce the radiation heat flux, especially from the tracking detectors placed at 25 millimeters in the same reaction chamber and which allow to reconstruct the position of the reaction vertex inside the target. Three target lengths of 15 millimeters, 50 millimeters and 150 millimeters were produced to meet the requirements of the experiments approved by the GSI experiment committee.

The target system was funded by the French Research Agency as a so-called in-kind contribution with the aim of pursuing the study of short-range correlations in exotic nuclei. It was designed and built at IRFU and installed at the end of 2019 at GSI by IRFU teams.

Remote operation during the pandemic

The system is controlled by a supervision system, developed at IRFU, which centralizes the information coming from the programmable logic controller and the various controllers. The system allows connecting and remote piloting via a secured internet client. During the recent FAIR Phase 0 scientific experiments this allowed in particular to perform all filling and monitoring operations of the target remotely, which was necessary due to the absence of the IRFU team on site because of the pandemic. (CP)

Further information

• News of IRFU

"The human spirit shines brightest where splendor of art unites with splendor of science," said the 19th century scholar Emil Heinrich du Bois-Reymond. Drawers and designers at GSI and FAIR have taken up this challenge and captured on paper both, the visible world of particle accelerators with their magnets and detectors and the invisible world of atoms, forces and structures. The results impressively show the wide variety of perceptions, viewpoints, and modes of representation at the limits of human imagination and at the limits of what is technically possible.

In January 2020, the Urban Sketchers Rhine-Main visited the research facilities of GSI and FAIR with about 40 people for a sketching excursion. Urban Sketchers is a global network of artists who draw the places in which they live or to which they travel, capturing what they see from direct observation. Their mission is to "show the world, one drawing at a time." In the summer of 2020, 12 students from the Offenbach University of Applied Sciences (HfG) spent a week on the GSI/FAIR campus for the workshop "Sketching as a visual means of conveying knowledge at the interface between design and science." They drew experiment setups and accelerators, but were also introduced to the world of experimental physics - from the idea of the experiment, to the technical execution and the data analysis. A selection of the works created during these two visits can be seen in the illustrated book "The Art of Science at GSI and FAIR".

The illustrated book invites to look at science and technology from different angles. As means of expression, art and design enable people to reflect on scientific and technical topics in a very special way. The illustrated book is now available at the GSI/FAIR shop and in Darmstadt at the Darmstadt Shop at the Luisenplatz (price: 24 euros). (LW)

On the occasion of the 314th lecture of the series " Wissenschaft für Alle " (Pi is often given as 3.14 in short form), Professor Beutelspacher gets to the bottom of the number. Pi has fascinated humankind for thousands of years, because while this number can be explained quite simply on the one hand, it is very difficult to calculate and plays a role in surprisingly many areas of mathematics on the other hand. In the lecture all these aspects will be presented, partly supported by small experiments. A lecture that is entertaining and instructive.

Professor Albrecht Beutelspacher studied mathematics, physics and philosophy at the University of Tübingen and was subsequently awarded his doctorate and habilitation at the University of Mainz. He has been a professor at the University of Gießen since 1988. Since 2002, he has been the founding director of the Mathematikum, the world's first hands-on mathematical museum.

The following lecture by Professor Markus Roth from the Technical University of Darmstadt will take a closer look at the physics of the popular science fiction universe Star Trek in October. In November, Dr. Julia Regnery from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven will report on MOSAiC, the largest Arctic expedition ever undertaken. At the end of the year in December, Dr. Daniel Severin of GSI/FAIR, together with other colleagues, will report on the scientific experiments during the last operational phase of the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility in the traditional Christmas lecture.

The lectures start at 2 p. m., further information about access and the course of the event can be found on the event website at www.gsi.de/wfa (in German)

The lecture series “Wissenschaft für Alle” is aimed at all persons interested in current science and research. The lectures report on research and developments at GSI and FAIR, but also on current topics from other fields of science and technology. The aim of the series is to prepare and present the scientific processes in a way that is understandable for laypersons in order to make the research accessible to a broad public. The lectures are held by GSI and FAIR staff members or by external speakers from universities and research institutes.(CP)

Current program:

• Wednesday, 15.09.2021, 2 p. m.
  Die Zahl Pi – der 3(,)14. Vortrag der Reihe Wissenschaft für Alle
  Albrecht Beutelspacher, Director of the Mathematikum Gießen
   
• Wednesday, 27.10.2021, 2 p. m.
  Die Physik von Star Trek
  Markus Roth, Technical University of Darmstadt
   
• Wednesday, 17.11.2021, 2 p. m.
  MOSAiC – viele Teile ergeben ein großes Ganzes: Ein Einblick in die größte Arktisexpedition aller Zeiten
  Julia Regnery, Alfred Wegener Institute
   
• Wednesday, 08.12.2021, 2 p. m.
  Wer strahlte denn da? – Einblick in den wissenschaftlichen Experimentierbetrieb an GSI/FAIR in 2021
  Daniel Severin, GSI/FAIR, et al.

Further information

• Website of the lecture series "Wissenschaft für Alle" (German)

The guests were welcomed by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director and Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director as well as Dr. Ingo Peter, Head of Public Relations. Dr. Michael Meister is directly elected Member of the Bundestag for the Bergstraße constituency, Dr. Astrid Mannes is directly elected Member of the Bundestag for the Darmstadt constituency.

First, the guests gained an overview of the 20-hectare construction site from the viewing platform directly adjacent to the construction area. Subsequently, the FAIR construction site was visited at close range during a tour. One highlight was the walk-through of the recently completed underground accelerator tunnel. The central ring accelerator SIS100 will be the heart of the future facility.

The CBM experiment, which is well advanced in construction, was also shown. The unique CBM (Compressed Baryonic Matter) experiment is one of the four research pillars of the future FAIR accelerator facility. The focus is on the investigation of highly compressed baryonic matter, as it exists in neutron stars and in the center of supernova explosions.

Efficient construction progress was also noted in the construction field south: this includes the structural work for six buildings and for a further experimental facility - the Superconducting Fragment Separator (Super-FRS). There, the focus is on research topics concerning the nuclear structure and interactions of extremely rare, exotic particles.

State Secretary Meister was impressed by the significant progress made on the construction site in recent years despite pandemic conditions: "I have seen today how a vision is becoming reality in an impressive way. With the ring closure of the accelerator tunnel, a major milestone of the FAIR project has been reached: For this I would like to congratulate all those involved very warmly."

Another important focus of the visit was the high-tech development for FAIR and the very successful current FAIR Phase 0 experiments. The guests were able to gain an insight into the high-tech developments in the test facility for cryogenic magnets, where all superconducting components for the SIS100 accelerator ring are tested for their specifications before being installed in the FAIR facility.

An example of the scientific capabilities at GSI and FAIR is the R3B (Relativistic Radioactive Reaction Experiment) experiment, which was also visited. Within the R3B experiment, which was set up for FAIR in international collaboration, reaction experiments with high-energy exotic nuclei are conducted. Through this, an understanding of the origin of heavy elements can be gained.

"I am particularly impressed by the fact that although FAIR is still in the middle of construction, groundbreaking science is already being carried out here today. Whether it is Covid 19 research with heavy ions or the first experiments at the CRYRING accelerator - FAIR is already making an important contribution to find solutions to major challenges faced by society," says Meister. (BP)