idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Heidelberg University has been successful in the latest approval round of the German Research Foundation (DFG) with its funding application for a new DFG Research Unit in physics. Researchers in the group are developing a novel, highly sensitive experiment designed to trace particles of what is called Light Dark Matter. The coordinator of the DELight Research Unit is Prof. Dr Belina von Krosigk from the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics. Scientists from Freiburg and Karlsruhe are also participating. The DFG is funding the studies to the tune of approximately 5.3 million euros over a period of four years.
Press Release
Heidelberg, 2 April 2026
Universität Heidelberg: New Research Unit in Physics
DFG funds group with approximately 5.3 million euros – Heidelberg participating in neurosciences group
Heidelberg University has been successful in the latest approval round of the German Research Foundation (DFG) with its funding application for a new DFG Research Unit in physics. Researchers in the group are developing a novel, highly sensitive experiment designed to trace particles of what is called Light Dark Matter. The coordinator of the DELight Research Unit is Prof. Dr Belina von Krosigk from the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics. Scientists from Freiburg and Karlsruhe are also participating. The DFG is funding the studies to the tune of approximately 5.3 million euros over a period of four years. Entering a second funding period is a Research Unit in the neurosciences in which Prof. Dr Georgia Koppe from the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing of Ruperto Carola is participating with a subproject.
A large part of the matter in the universe has so far been unknown to research, as it is not visible. According to the current state of research, this dark matter could constitute up to 85 percent. In order to determine what it consists of and to what extent it differs from “ordinary” matter, astroparticle physics has used observation data from various experimental approaches – so far, however, without success. With her team, Prof. von Krosigk is investigating particles with very small mass that might be candidates for dark matter. They are the focus of DFG Research Unit 6006 “DELight: Direct Search Experiment for Light Dark Matter with Superfluid Helium”, involving six research teams from the universities in Heidelberg and Freiburg as well as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
The DELight Research Unit wants to make use of the properties of ultra-cold, superfluid helium for its experimental studies. “The low weight of the helium atoms makes them particularly suited to this direct search for new light particles,” says Prof. von Krosigk. A new detector model is also being developed for this purpose, based on superconducting quantum sensors – with the goal of achieving a maximum sensitivity for particles of light dark matter less than one proton in mass. These large-area magnetic microcalorimeters are embedded directly in and above the helium. “If dark matter particles were to interact with the helium, this would manifest itself in a series of processes that could be detected in the form of a rise in temperature,” Belina von Krosigk remarks. This could provide the first direct experimental evidence of dark matter, the physicist adds.
The new Research Unit gathers expertise from different physical disciplines from the three project locations. The cryogenic platform with which the helium can be cooled down to a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero temperature – that is, to about minus 273 degrees Celsius – is being developed at Heidelberg University. To detect the very small energy depositions in the helium from the possible dark matter interaction, an innovative magnetic microcalorimeter is being built at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. It is to be able to trace even very slight signals. This cooperation between the Heidelberg and Karlsruhe researchers is part of the Heidelberg Karlsruhe Strategic Partnership (HEiKA), which covers all joint bilateral activities of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Ruperto Carola. The University of Freiburg is using highly sensitive measuring devices to identify materials for setting up the experiment. The aim is to suppress possible background signals – such as those caused by naturally occurring radioactivity – as far as possible. By way of protection from cosmic radiation, the DELight experiment will be operated in an underground laboratory in Switzerland and receive further shielding with lead and copper. The DFG is providing funding in the amount of about 1.3 million euros for the work carried out in Heidelberg.
Entering a second funding period is Research Unit 5159 “Resolving the prefrontal circuits of cognitive flexibility”. Coordinated at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the group studies how the brain enables flexible behavior and adaptive decision-making strategies. Prof. Koppe is participating in it with her own subproject as of this year. At the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing of Heidelberg University, she will use data-driven models to reconstruct neural dynamics and, building on this, develop optimal control strategies using machine learning to explain how decisions arise and vary. The aim is to decode the neuronal mechanisms underlying decision-making variability in humans and animals. The DFG is providing just over 430,000 euros in funding for the work in the Heidelberg subproject.
Contact:
Heidelberg University
Communications and Marketing
Press Office, phone +49 6221 54-2311
presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
https://www.kip.uni-heidelberg.de/darkmatter?lang=en – Belina von Krosigk
https://delight.kit.edu – DELight Research Unit
https://humml.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/team – Georgia Koppe
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten, Wissenschaftler
Physik / Astronomie
überregional
Forschungsprojekte, Kooperationen
Englisch
Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.
Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).
Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.
Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).
Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).
