Welcome and thank you for visiting the website of the biophysics department at the GSI in Darmstadt. The biophysics department is an interdisciplinary collaboration of biologists, physicists, chemists, biochemists and technicians.
The multidisciplinary research in our group covers many different topics which can be roughly summarized in the categories radiobiology, physics, space research and therapy.
The biophysics research at GSI is a part of a large international network of more than 40 groups from universities and other research Institutes.
Focus on cosmic radiation: ESA and FAIR invite to the 2026 Space Radiation Summer School in Darmstadt
25.08.2026 | (GSI-FAIR press release) How can astronauts and satellites be protected from cosmic radiation? What part do particle accelerators play in this? These questions are the focus of the “ESA-FAIR Space Radiation Summer School 2026”, which is currently being held in Darmstadt. This renowned event is the world’s leading training program in the field of space radiation research and brings together young researchers from more than ten countries to spend two weeks intensively addressing the challenges posed by cosmic radiation. The summer school is a unique collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the international accelerator center FAIR, which is currently under construction at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, and is organized by Professor Marco Durante and his space radiation research team at GSI/FAIR’s Biophysics Department. Read more
10.08.2026 | 28th Christoph-Schmelzer-Award - Call for Nominations -
The “Verein zur Förderung der Tumortherapie mit schweren Ionen” (Association for the promotion of ion therapy) accepts nominations for the 28th Christoph-Schmelzer-Prize which is awarded in 2026 to outstanding Master theses and PhD theses related to tumor therapy with ion beams which were completed within the last two years. More
It 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. The advantage of this new treatment modality is that the ion beam selectively damages tumor tissues while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues.
