How do antibiotics penetrate bacteria? How do proteins interact with each other? And how can such biological processes be deciphered using modern computer simulations? One powerful simulation method helping to answer these questions is the Martini force field, which plays a key role in the study of (bio)molecular systems.

The developing brain is prepared to see even before the eyes are opened for the first time: Certain patterns are predetermined in the wiring of neurons. However, it takes a few days of visual experience to restructure the networks so that a consistent visual impression is created. Researchers from FIAS published these findings in Nature Neuroscience together with colleagues from the Max Planck Florida Institute.

On 5 February 2025, Luciano Rezzolla, Senior Fellow at Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), received the PRACE HPC Excellence Award 2024, which recognises groundbreaking research and scientific advances through the use of high-performance computing (HPC). Rezzolla and his team were involved in the first images of supermassive black holes and made their interpretation possible with the help of numerical simulations and the construction of a theoretical framework that is able to interpret them and extract physical information. The fascinating images were taken as part of the international collaboration on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).

Tom Reichert, postdoc at FIAS, received the FAIR-GSI PhD Award 2024 on 28 January. In his doctoral thesis at Goethe University, Reichert investigated the collisions of heavy atomic nuclei at different energies. He used and developed theoretical transport simulations to understand matter under these extreme conditions.

We are used to consider the periodic planetary movements in our solar system as well-determined and eternal. Our categorisation of time is based on the movement of the earth around itself and around the sun. But what happens on a larger scale when we include other stars or even galaxies in our considerations and look at their overall interaction?

Is there only one optimal configuration an organism can reach during evolution? Is there a single formula that describes the trajectory towards the optimum? And can we ‘derive’ it in a purely theoretical fashion? A team of researchers, including scientists from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), has answers. Their mathematical model forecasts the ideal body plan of a fruit fly’s early embryo, suggesting that evolution might had many optimal options at its disposal.

​Solveig Plomer from the statistics group of Gaby Schneider (Goethe University) defended her thesis in the end of 2024. Within the LOEWE Schwerpunkt CMMS - Multiscale Modelling in Life Sciences she researched the movement of cell organelles in cooperation with Theresa Ernst and Philipp Gebhart from the group of Molecular Cell Biology of Plants and defined a new model for the description of cell organelle movement as well as a test and change point detection algorithm for changes in the model parameters.

FIAS joined the withdrawal from ‘X’ platform: More than 60 German-speaking universities and research institutions made a statement and discontinued their activities on the X platform (formerly Twitter).

Researchers at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) use computer simulations to show how proteins facilitate the crossing of membranes. This can be an important path for drugs to penetrate into cells, a requirement for the treatment of tumours or autoimmune diseases.

‘Frank(l)y Science’ is the new format for science slams at the Eschborn K cultural centre in Frankfurt. On 18 January, on the initiative of FIAS PhD student Jonas Elpelt, such an event will take place in the local cinema for the first time.

Entrepreneur Stephan Georg Huber has been appointed as a new member of the FIAS Board of Trustees (Stiftungsrat). Over the next five years, he will help shape our independent scientific institution for basic theoretical research.

An Institute for theoretical research: what began 20 years ago as an abstract vision has proven its worth. At the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), researchers from different disciplines work together to decipher complex systems. Funded by Goethe University as a foundation, FIAS forms a unique theoretical interface between research institutes and departments on the Riedberg campus.

On the evening of November 28th, the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) hosted a distinguished lecture exploring the intersection of modern pathology and artificial intelligence. Under the title "Precision Medicine and the Use of AI in Tissue Diagnostics," Prof. Dr. Wild and Dr. Flinner offered fascinating insights into the rapid developments within this ever-evolving medical field.

Megha Chakraborty gained her doctorate at Goethe University on 26 November. She uses deep learning as a tool to decode seismological data. Impressive publications and the award of the title „summa cum laude“ reflect her successful research.

The Scientific Director of FIAS, Eckhard Elsen, will be awarded the W. K. H. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics 2025 by the American Physical Society (APS) together with Robert Klanner. The two particle physicists are being honoured for their pioneering work on the large particle accelerator HERA (Hadron-Electron Ring Facility) at DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron). Both scientists were professors at the University of Hamburg and conducted research together at DESY.

Dark Energy is a subset of energy that accelarates the expansion of our universe. A new research work at FIAS studies the impact of dark energy inside our galaxies. The research shows that in order to have stable galaxies the repulsion force of dark energy cannot exceed two orders of magnitde of the known value from cosmology. This study suggests that dark energy plays a role stronger than expected even in the closeby universe.

The FIAS PhD students embarked on a retreat to Marburg for four days in October. The exciting and rapidly growing field of digital twins was the focus of their trip.

FIAS congratulates this year's Nobel Prize winners in Physics and Chemistry, whose work is directly related to research at FIAS. The fundamental findings of John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton on artificial neural networks, together with the massive progress in computing, have laid the foundation for today's AI revolution.

Vapour bubbles are feared in industrial plants. They form in pipes when pressurised liquid begins to boil or vaporise. The bubbles that form and suddenly collapse damage pumps and equipment. A research group at FIAS is now presenting a new approach to detecting these ‘cavitations’, which could significantly improve industrial pipework management. All industries with fluid systems such as water, energy and manufacturing could benefit.

The next generation of neuroscientists was in the focus of the Bernstein Network PhD Symposium at FIAS. On October 2/3, following the international Bernstein Conference in Frankfurt, it provided a platform for young scientists to network, exchange experiences, and to connect.