The ATLAS collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) reported the first observation of top quarks in collisions between lead ions in a talk held at CERN last week. Members of the research group of Prof. Dr. Matthias Schott from the Physikalisches Institut at the University of Bonn have been contributing to this new study. The observation of top-quark pairs represents a significant step forward in heavy-ion collision physics, paving the way for new measurements of the quark–gluon plasma that is created in these collisions and delivering fresh insights into the nature of the strong force that binds protons, neutrons and other composite particles together.

The University of Bonn has been successful twice in the funding line for the Synergy Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) with other partners. The GravNet project is building a global detector network to search for high-frequency gravitational waves. The CeLEARN project coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – CAESAR aims to decode how single cells learn from their environment. The ERC uses Synergy Grants to support research groups in which different skills, knowledge, and resources are brought together in order to tackle ambitious research questions. The projects will receive several million euros of support in the next six years.

This year's Institute excursion took place at the beginning of September and took us to the medieval "Stadt Blankenberg" on the river Sieg and to the Bergisches Land in the Panarbora nature adventure park in Waldbröl.

From 14 to 20 September 2024, the University of Bonn celebrated the 70th anniversary of the famous European nuclear research center CERN for an entire week. With a varied program of science slams, physics shows and a concluding symposium, the focus was on the fascinating world of particle physics.

The European nuclear research centre CERN is turning 70, celebrate with us from 14-20 September 2024 at the University of Bonn. The major anniversary of particle physics research in Europe will be celebrated on a big stage in Berlin this week and we would also like to contribute to the celebrations in Bonn with a series of events.

The physics show at the University of Bonn invites you to a new edition of its musical "PLANETAMOS": On Friday, August 23, at 2:30 and 6:30 pm and on Saturday, August 24, at 11:00 am, students will show what makes life on Earth possible from a physics perspective. In the Wolfgang-Paul-Hörsaal, Kreuzbergweg 28, 53115 Bonn, the audience can expect two hours of entertaining demonstrations and live music. Interested parties and families with children aged twelve and over can now reserve seats free of charge using the registration form. Representatives of the media are cordially invited to report on the event. The show is in German.