News

In the search for “dark forces”, physicists came across deformed nuclei

When world-leading teams join forces, new findings are bound to be made. This is what happened when quantum physicists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg combined atomic and nuclear physics with unprecedented accuracy using two different methods of measurement. Together with new calculations of the structure of atomic nuclei, theoretical physicists from the Technical University of Darmstadt and Leibniz University Hannover were able to show that measurements on the electron shell of an atom can provide information about the deformation of the atomic nucleus. At the same time, the precision measurements have set new limits regarding the strength of a potential dark force between neutrons and electrons. The results have been published in the current issue of the scientific journal “Physical Review Letters”.

Mithilfe von Röntgenpulsen im Attosekunden-Bereich konnten Wissenschaftler*innen die Helligkeit und Auflösung von Aufnahmen ultraschneller Prozesse in ihrer natürlichen Umgebung erhöhen.

Exzellenzcluster-Bewerbungen sind abgeschlossen

In der Exzellenzstrategie des Bundes und der Länder sind für die Förderlinie Exzellenzcluster die Bewerbungen nun abgeschlossen. Die hessischen Universitäten haben sieben Vollanträge eingereicht, drei davon stammen von der TU Darmstadt. Die Entscheidung fällt im Mai.

Long-sought measurement to determine the timescale of the Sun’s birth

Have you ever wondered how long it took our Sun to form in its stellar nursery? An international collaboration of scientists is now closer to an answer. They succeeded in the measurement of the bound-state beta decay of fully-ionised thallium (205Tl81+) ions at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI/FAIR. This measurement has profound effects on the production of radioactive lead (205Pb) in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and can be used to help determine the Sun’s formation time. The results have been published in the journal Nature.

TU Darmstadt and MIT develop methods for monitoring with machine learning

The safe use of lithium-ion batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems, critically depends on condition monitoring and early fault detection. Failures in individual battery cells can lead to serious issues, including fires. To mitigate these risks, researchers at TU Darmstadt and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed novel methods for battery analysis and monitoring that leverage physically constrained machine learning approaches.

LOEWE Start Professorship: Anna C. Bakenecker receives two million euros

Dr Anna C. Bakenecker has been awarded a LOEWE Start Professorship at TU Darmstadt. The expert in medical physics is working on the development, control and monitoring of nano- and microrobots that are designed to transport drugs to their target sites in the body. The LOEWE research funding programme of the state of Hesse is providing around two million euros over a period of six years.

Biotechnologist Andrea Belluati to lead new Emmy Noether group

A fascinating fusion of two worlds: A new Emmy Noether research group at TU Darmstadt focuses on hybrid systems that combine artificial and living cells to achieve functions that neither can perform alone. Biotechnologist Andrea Belluati is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with 1.8 million euros for his project “Polymer Incorporation for the Engineering of Symbiosis” over the next six years. The newly designed hybrid systems might come to task in more effective drug delivery or sustainable biofuel production.

Professor Heinz Koeppl, Darmstadt spokesman of the project ‘CoM2Life’, in a video interview

The cluster initiative ‘COM2Life’ is a project within the framework of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU), with TU Darmstadt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz as partners. Professor Koeppl introduces the research project, which aims to develop a new generation of soft biomaterials. Part one of a three-part video series on TU Darmstadt's Cluster of Excellence applications.

European Research Council supports four projects at TU Darmstadt with ERC Starting Grants

This success is impressive: four young researchers at TU Darmstadt have been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) for excellent and innovative fundamental and frontier research. The selected early career researchers will be receiving a total of around 1.5 million euros each for their projects on learning robot systems, digital 3D doppelgangers, permanent magnets and deformed atomic nuclei over a period of five years. This excellent achievement once again shows TU Darmstadt’s research prowess – including by international standards.

Dr. Pelin Tozman receives ERC Starting Grant totalling 1.5 million euros

Permanent magnets are crucially important for green technologies. However, their production requires expensive and environmentally harmful raw materials. That is why material scientist Dr. Pelin Tozman from TU Darmstadt is researching resource-friendly alternatives. Her project, MAG-TOOL, is now receiving a Starting Grant totalling 1.5 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC) for five years.