The German eROSITA consortium (eROSITA-DE), which also includes the University of Bonn and which is being led by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), has released its second major public dataset, the “eROSITA Data Release 2” (DR2). Built from the first three all-sky surveys done by the eROSITA telescope aboard the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) mission, DR2 provides the most sensitive and comprehensive catalogue of the X-ray sky currently available to the public. Spearheaded by the University of Bonn, the analysis of a massive galaxy cluster has shown that the theoretical models for how the Universe formed largely match the observations made, albeit with some interesting discrepancies in the finer details.

The winning teams of the 13th edition of the Beamline for Schools (BL4S) physics competition have been chosen. BL4S, initiated by CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, is open to secondary school pupils from all around the world. Participants are invited to submit a proposal for a physics experiment to be undertaken at the beamline of a particle accelerator, either at CERN or at one of the partner institutes DESY and ELSA at the University of Bonn. In 2026, five winning teams have been chosen, based on the scientific merit of their proposals.

Ina Brandes, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Science, presented a funding commitment of 113 million euros for the renovation of the Physikalisches Institut at the University of Bonn’s administration building. The funds come from the “North Rhine-Westphalia Plan for Good Infrastructure.”

Starting in the summer semester of 2026, the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Bonn will offer the certificate program “Advanced Machine Learning and Data Analysis in Physics.”

Thirty-four years after scientists at the University of Cologne and Cornell University first conceived it, the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) now rises above the Atacama Desert, near the summit of Cerro Chajnantor in Chile’s Parque Astronómico Atacama. FYST will help answer some of the most important questions in astronomy, including how the universe works, the nature of dark energy and dark matter, how galaxies form and evolve and what happened in those mysterious first moments after the Big Bang.

The DFG is funding the development of ring laser interferometers for the high-precision measurement of rotational motions in the field of Earth sciences.

Applications possible until May 15! The "Stiftung für Physik und Astronomie" in Bonn honors academic performance and commitment in the study of physics (teaching degree and major subject) and astrophysics with the Jasbinsek Kunkelmann-Stipendium  for the Master's program (one-year scholarship of € 300 per month). The scholarship is granted from 01.10.2026 to 30.09.2027.