Press archive

Future technologies ranging from information technology to high-temperature superconductivity require new materials with tailored electronic properties. A novel quantum simulator consisting of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice functions as a construction kit with which scientists can create and investigate new materials. Physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Universities of Mainz and Cologne have now succeeded in demonstrating one of the most dramatic electronic phenomena with the aid of this experimental setup. The high-impact journal "Science" reports on this in its latest issue.

"Science": Investigating New Materials with Ultracold Atoms

The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association and the engineering company Wärtsilä Ship Design Germany (formerly Schiffko GmbH) today presented the technical design of the European Research Icebreaker „Aurora Borealis“ in Berlin. „Aurora Borealis“ will be a unique vessel – a combination of a heavy icebreaker, a scientific drilling ship and a multi-purpose research platform that can operate year-round in all polar waters.

Technical Design of the new European Research Icebreaker „Aurora Borealis“ finished

Aeronautics, space, energy and transportation - these are the research areas of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). On 3 December 2008, a selection of exciting topics will be presented at DLR's Oberpfaffenhofen site, such as walking robots for Mars exploration missions, atmospheric research and Earth observation, the use of solar energy to produce hydrogen, and research into the next-generation train. The programme will give an overview of the work of the approximately 6 000-strong DLR staff over the past twelve months, as well as a view of things to come.

Annual General Meeting 2008: DLR presents its research of the past 12 months

Top grades have been awarded to the ASDEX Upgrade and Wendelstein 7-X devices at Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching and Greifswald by the Fusion Facilities Review Panel of the EU, which has just submitted its final report. This independent panel of experts was appointed by the EU Commission to identify the research objectives needed to realise a fusion power plant. Then it had to ascertain which experimental devices in the European Fusion Research Programme can contribute to these objectives. All devices – existing, under construction or planned – had to be assessed according to their relevant capabilities.

IPP's fusion facilities awarded top grades in European assessment

Metabolic diseases – in particular the increasingly prevalent type 2 diabetes – are caused by a complex interaction between genetic disposition and unfavorable lifestyle, above all unbalanced diet and too little physical exercise. Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have now for the first time been able to show a relationship between the genetic make-up of an individual and differences in his/her metabolism.

How Do Individuals React to Metabolic Stress? - Genetic Variation in Metabolism Identified

Germany and Switzerland wish to further extend their leading position in the development of satellite-based laser communications in the coming years. To this end, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) signed a memorandum of understanding during the ESA Ministerial Council conference in The Hague on 25-26 November 2008.

Germany and Switzerland affirm their leading role in satellite communications

From a large number of excellent applications, the Helmholtz Association has selected 17 outstanding young scientists who will now receive funding to set up research groups of their own at Helmholtz Research Centres. As each of these posts has a budget of at least €250,000 p.a., extending over five years, and offers the possibility of a permanent post (“tenure track”), they are attractive even to those junior researchers already working at institutions of world renown in other countries. For three German scientists, the new opportunity prompted their decision to return from the United States.

17 New Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups

On 25-26 November 2008, the Ministerial Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) met at the World Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. The key features of the programme decided on by ESA's 18 member states and Canada are the third generation of the European weather satellite Meteosat, Europe's guaranteed autonomous access to space using competitive launch systems and the exploitation of the International Space Station (ISS).

ESA's Council of Ministers decides the future of European space exploration - Germany, the leading partner

In a competition run by “Bild der Wissenschaft” magazine the distinction “Science Book of the Year” was conferred on “Das Schicksal des Universums” (The Fate of the Universe) by Professor Dr. Günther Hasinger, since November 2008 Scientific Director of Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) at Garching and Greifswald. Altogether, six books in six different categories received awards.

"Science Book of the Year" written by the Scientific Director of IPP

The biochemist and neurobiologist Dr. Jan-Erik Siemens is one of eight junior researchers to receive this year’s Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH). The award stipend will enable the researcher to return to Germany next year after four years as postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, in order to establish a research group at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch. The award was presented to the young scientists on Tuesday, November 25, 2008, in Berlin.

Sofja Kovalevskaja Award for Dr. Jan-Erik Siemens: Scientist Returns from the USA to Germany