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.

Reichert's goal is to determine the Equation-of-State (EOS) of dense nuclear matter. In his dissertation he developed novel methods with high sensitivity that will enable an improved measurement of the EoS in upcoming experiments at GSI/FAIR. He is also working intensively on the production and properties of hypernuclei in hot and dense nuclear matter, an important contribution to understanding the interaction of hyperons and nucleons.

‘The award is a great honour,’ says Reichert. It reflects not only the recognition of his work, but also the support of his colleagues and supervisors. ‘I look forward to continuing my research at FIAS and tackling the exciting challenges of heavy ion physics at FAIR’

The FAIR-GSI PhD Award is awarded by the FAIR-GSI research association. The international particle accelerator facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) in Darmstadt at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research is set to provide new insights into the structure of matter and the development of the universe. As one of the largest research projects worldwide, FAIR allows an unprecedented variety of experiments that offer new insights into the structure of matter and the development of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present day. The prize is sponsored by Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH, a long-standing partner of GSI Pflege and the world's leading provider of vacuum solutions. 

In his presentation at the award ceremony, prizewinner Reichert described the ‘Flow correlations and production of light and hyper nuclei in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions’. Reichert completed his doctorate at Goethe University in June 2023 under the supervision of Marcus Bleicher. In his subsequent postdoc at FIAS in collaboration with FIAS Fellow Jan Steinheimer-Froschauer, the focus of his current research is on combining heavy ion research with neutron star observations to discover the critical point of quantum chromo-dynamics.

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