Dr. Rolf Bernhardt
© FIAS

June 27, 2019

New board member at FIAS

Changes in responsibilities

The Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), a unique think tank in Germany for cross-linking the natural sciences, has a new board of directors.

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June 21, 2019

New LOEWE Schwerpunkt at Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies

Successful application of FIAS and its partners in the 12th funding phase

How can complex biological systems be described theoretically and how can their functions be precisely predicted? The new LOEWE focus "CMMS - Multi-Scale Modelling in the Life Sciences" at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies will investigate this.

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© Figure: B. Hein (FIAS); Data: Max Planck Florida Institute

October 25, 2018

Surprising network activity in the immature brain: Developing brain networks act locally to build globally

Even before the first eye opening, local circuits can cause global effects

One of the outstanding mysteries of the cerebral cortex is how individual neurons develop the proper synaptic connections to form large-scale, distributed networks. Now, an international team of scientists has gained novel insights from spontaneously generated patterns of activity by local networks in the early developing visual cortex. Apparently these form the basis for long-range neural connections that are established through brain activity over the course of cortical development. The scientists report their findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

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Elucidating cuttlefish camouflage
© Stephan Junek (MPI Brain Research)

October 18, 2018

Elucidating cuttlefish camouflage

Computational image analysis of behaving cuttlefish reveals principles of control and development of a biological invisibility cloak

The unique ability of cuttlefish, squid and octopuses to hide by imitating the colors and texture of their environment has fascinated natural scientists since the time of Aristotle. Uniquely among all animals, these mollusks control their appearance by the direct action of neurons onto expandable pixels, numbered in millions, located in their skin. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research (MPI Brain Research), and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) and Goethe University (GU) used this neuron-pixel correspondence to peer into the brain of cuttlefish, inferring the putative structure of control networks through analysis of skin pattern dynamics. The scientists report their findings in the journal Nature.

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Laureatus Award Moser
© U. Dettmar

September 4, 2018

Nobel Laureate Edvard Moser becomes Honorary Fellow of FIAS

Ceremonial act with award presentation by the Giersch couple took place on September 3rd.

On September 3, 2018, the STIFTUNG GIERSCH and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) invited to the ceremony marking the appointment of Prof. Dr. Edvard Moser as a FIAS Senior Fellow Laureatus. This honorary award is given to outstanding international scientists who are not only distinguished by their excellent research, but are also committed to the scientific community.

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GIS 2018 header

August 28, 2018

The Logistics of Neuronal Function

Giersch International Symposium brings internationally renowned scientists to Frankfurt

The human brain consists of a highly complex network of about 85 billion nerve cells (neurons) that constantly exchange information. To function, all these cells have to organise the production, transport, storage and recycling of countless different molecules such as neurotransmitters, mRNA and proteins - a gigantic logistical challenge at the molecular level. So how do they organize these processes to be both robust and efficient? How do problems in solving these logistical challenges relate to brain diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease? To discuss these questions, neuroscientists from all over the world will meet from 28 August for the 3rd Giersch International Symposium at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS).

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The Ghost

June 8, 2018

The Art of Theoretical Biology

Professor from Frankfurt shows the beauty of theoretical biology

In an exhibition of a different kind, Frankfurt bioinformatician Prof. Franziska Matthäus and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) show that basic theoretical research does not only consist of series of numbers and formulae, but can also be beautiful. For the "Night of Science" on Friday, June 8. 2018, large-format works of art will decorate some buildings on the Riedberg campus of Goethe University.

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Black hole merger simulation
© Koppitz (ZIB), Rezzolla

May 28, 2018

Black Holes from an Exacomputer

Scientists develop simulation code for new generation of supercomputers

FRANKFURT. Even after the direct measurement of their gravitational waves, there are still mysteries surrounding black holes. What happens when two black holes merge, or when stars collide with a black hole? This has now been simulated by researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) using a novel numerical method. The simulation code "ExaHyPE" is designed in such a way that it will be able to calculate gravitational waves on the future generation of “exascale” supercomputers.

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Hessentag 2018 - Accelerator
© proLOEWE

May 24, 2018

Floating magnets, brain football, building with paper and much more!

Hands-on science at Hessentag 2018

Korbach: From 25 May to 3 June 2018, scientists from the FIAS* and the research projects of the State Initiative for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE)** will once again be invited to experiment, be amazed and discuss at the "Hessen schafft Wissen" stand.

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© Luciano Rezzolla

January 10, 2018

How massive can neutron stars be?

Astrophysicists at FIAS and Goethe University set a new upper limit on the mass of neutron stars: it cannot be larger than 2.16 solar masses

FRANKFURT. Since their discovery in the 60's, scientists have worked on answering a crucial question: How massive do neutron stars actually get? Differently from black holes, in fact, these stars cannot be arbitrarily massive; past a certain finite limit in mass, no physical force in nature can contrast their enormous gravitational forces. For the first time, astrophysicists at Goethe University Frankfurt have succeeded in calculating a stringent upper bound on the maximum mass of neutron stars.

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© Luciano Rezzolla

October 26, 2017

Understanding neutron stars better

Calculation time worth more than 1 million euros for Frankfurt physicists

Prof. Luciano Rezzolla, Senior Fellow of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) and Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at the Goethe University, will receive 80 million CPU hours at the supercomputer superMUC of the Leibniz Computing Center in Garching near Munich next year for the simulation of neutron star duplex systems.

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June 30, 2017

A new Partnership

Cooperation Agreement between FIAS and Suranaree University of Technology

© C. Otto, GSI

June 26, 2017

7,5 Million Euro for Goethe-High Performance Computer

A new high Performance Computer will be funded by DFG.