News — University of Bonn

University of Bonn Particle Physicists among Winners of Breakthrough Prize in Physics¹

The ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) were recently awarded the Breakthrough Prize for Fundamental Physics. The $3 million dollar prize honors the efforts of physicists who are working closely with colleagues from other countries to uncover new findings from the world of the very tiniest particles. The University of Bonn can boast significant involvement in three out of the four experiments.

Dennis Gaitsgoy awarded 2025 Breakthrough Prize²

Dennis Gaitsgory, director at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics (MPIM) and member of the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics (HCM) of the University of Bonn, receives the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, endowed with 3 million US dollars.

Top-class award for mathematician³

The mathematician Dr. Rajula Srivastava from the Cluster of Excellence Hausdorff Center for Mathematics at the University of Bonn has received a Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation for her outstanding research achievements. The award is endowed with 50,000 dollars. The ceremony took place in Los Angeles.

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How can science benefit from AI?⁴

Researchers from chemistry, biology, and medicine are increasingly turning to AI models to develop new hypotheses. However, it is often unclear on which basis the algorithms come to their conclusions and to what extent they can be generalized. A publication by the University of Bonn now warns of misunderstandings in handling artificial intelligence. At the same time, it highlights the conditions under which researchers can most likely have confidence in the models. The study has now been published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

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Christiane Woopen receives the Order of Merit of the Federal State of NRW⁵

Prof. Dr. Christiane Woopen, Director of the Center for Life Ethics, was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia by Minister President Hendrik Wüst on April 2 for her full-time and voluntary work in the field of ethics.

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Mathematician investigating stochastic processes⁶

How does water move through a filter with coffee? This question is not so easy to answer, as neighboring areas in the moist coffee powder influence each other. How the hot water moves through the roasted powder is also governed by stochastic processes. Answers are provided by what are known as “percolation models,” which mathematician Dr. Alexis Prévost is investigating. He joined the University of Bonn from the University of Geneva and now leads an Emmy Noether group. It is being provided with up to 1.3 million euros of funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

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H2-Reality Check: EU targets for 2030 probably not achievable⁷

Hydrogen is considered an important part of the EU's and Germany's climate neutrality strategy. Significant progress is required for the ramp-up, otherwise the targets might not be met. A report by CASSIS and EWI analyses the status of the ramp-up.

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Opening Up: Volkswagen Foundation Funds Two Projects at the University of Bonn⁸

Not one but two projects at the University of Bonn—on queer Islamic theology and culinary sensory analysis—have each been awarded funding of around €300,000 as part of the Volkswagen Foundation’s Open Up program. The aim of the Open Up funding initiative is to explore entirely new fields of science.

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