Galaxies contain black holes weighing between approximately five and 100 solar masses. There are also some with more than 100,000 solar masses. But do medium-mass black holes also develop in galaxies? A study by the Astronomical Institute of Charles University in Czechia, with significant participation from the University of Bonn, shows how medium-mass black holes can frequently form naturally. However, this currently only occurs in the innermost regions of star-forming galaxies similar to our Milky Way. The results have now been published in a “Letter to the Editor” in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics.” 

The University of Bonn is supporting the “Molecular Quantum Information” project, the brainchild of a group of experimental researchers, with the €50,000 Synergy Prize. The award was presented recently by the Building Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA Matter) as part of the “Matter Connects” networking event. The winning group is one of five Synergy Bubbles, agile interdisciplinary teams that are pursuing innovative research and teaching ideas straddling subject boundaries.

As far as particles of light are concerned, the collective is more important than the individual. When they get to decide between two states, they will favor the one that many of their fellow particles have already adopted. However, this collectivist tendency does not kick in until enough photons have assembled in the same place. These findings, revealed by University of Bonn physicists in a recent study, could aid the development of ultra-powerful laser sources, among other things. They have now been published in the journal “Physical Review Letters.”

From September 17 to 24, 2025, 25 young researchers from around the world gained deeper insights into the physics, technologies, and applications of gas-filled detectors. 

The next poster session will take place on Friday, October 17, 2025, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the foyer of the Wolfgang Paul Lecture Hall.

As the Earth moves through space, it wobbles slightly. A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Bonn has now succeeded in measuring these fluctuations in the Earth's axis using a completely new method – until now, possible only through complex radio astronomy. The team used the high-precision ring laser at TUM's geodetic observatory in Wettzell, Bavaria. The results of the 250-day experiment have now been published in the renowned journal Science Advances.

Quantum physics—for many, a mystery involving cats, strange particles, and formulas that make your head spin. And yet it has long been shaping our everyday lives: in smartphones, laser pointers, and modern medicine. All this has been made possible by over 100 years of tireless basic research.

Orion Nebula, Pleiades and Hyades: The latest research results indicate that these famous star clusters represent the different phases of life of one and the same star system. A team of astrophysicists at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences in Zanjan, Iran, and the University of Bonn have found evidence that these three star systems are not just located in roughly the same region of space but also developed in the same way. These results were recently published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.”