Quantum Universe : University of Hamburg

Photo: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team

Answering the unresolved questions about the universe

At Quantum Universe, the focus is on the Higgs particle and its significance for the development of the universe from its origins to the present day. We are a leader in the technology development for gravitational wave detectors and our cluster benefits from synergies between experiments on dark matter and gravitational waves. The combination of new ideas from theoretical physics with modern mathematical structures enables significant advances in the description of quantum gravity. And we develop innovative methods of artificial intelligence that enable efficient and resource-saving processing of large amounts of research data.

Group of Quantum Universe researchers at the Heisenberg memorial on the island of Helgoland

Photo: Xiaoze Tan

Join the Quantum Universe team

During the startup phase of our second funding period, we are opening more than 50 doctoral and postdoctoral positions in our Cluster of Excellence. Are you an outstanding Master's student, doctoral or postdoctoral researcher with excellent degrees and scientific track record in one of the Cluster's research areas, i.e. Higgs physics, Dark Matter and Axions, Gravitational Waves, Quantum Gravity, Algebraic and Geometric Structures, Artificial Intelligence, as well as Detectors, Quantum Sensors and Accelerators?

Apply to one of our positions and become part of the Quantum Universe team!

Who we are

Quantum Universe in 90 seconds

At the University of Hamburg's Cluster of Excellence “Quantum Universe”, we are investigating the greatest unsolved mysteries of the universe. Our goal is to better understand the relationship between mass and gravity. To this end, we work closely with our cooperation partner DESY and research institutions worldwide.

News

Photo: University of Hamburg / Yzer

19 January 2026|Campus

Building Begins for the Hamburg Fundamental Interactions Laboratory (HAFUN)

Today’s festive groundbreaking with Maryam Blumenthal (science senator), Dr. Andreas Dressel (finance senator), Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren (president of the University of Hamburg), Martin Sowinski (managing director of Sprinkenhof GmbH), and Prof. Dr. Erika Garutti from the Institute of Experimental Physics at the University...

Contribution from the university's newsroom

Photo: UHH/Esfandiari

6 January 2026|CHAMPP

Approximately 1.9 million euros for junior research group on quantum gravity

The German Research Foundation is funding a new Emmy Noether Independent Junior Research Group at the University of Hamburg. Led by Dr. Max Wiesner, the project is investigating how fundamental phenomena of the universe—such as dark energy—can be better described on the basis of new insights into theories of quantum...

Portrait of Prof. Dr. Luisa Lucie-Smith and Prof. Dr. Gregor Kasieczka

Photo: UHH/Private

16 December 2025|CHAMPP

AI models for many data sources and tasks

The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space is providing 3 million euros in funding for a research project on AI-supported analysis of large amounts of data in astrophysics and particle physics. SciFM is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Luisa Lucie-Smith, principal investigator at the Cluster of Excellence “Quantum...

Photo: Frecot, Eppel, López-Miralles, Perucho & Kadler

12 December 2025|CHAMPP

Research Group on Cosmic Jets Gets Extended

The research group “Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies” (FOR 5195), which also includes researchers from the Department of Physics at the University of Hamburg, has been investigating the powerful plasma beams emitted by supermassive black holes since 2021. Now the DFG has extended its funding.

Contribution from the news channel MIN-en

Photo: Lorenz Jetter

10 December 2025|Interviews

Lorenz Jetter

Having grown up in Villingen-Schwenningen, a city in the Black Forest region, Lorenz has been living in Stuttgart for the last 9 years studying mathematics. During his time at the University of Stuttgart, he worked on Gauge Choices in the Setting of Gravitational Waves. Having graduated from there in early 2024, he has...

Snapshot of the Simulation of two colliding neutron stars.

Photo: Stephan Rosswog

8 December 2025|Research

New European Research Prize awarded to the ENGRAVE Collaboration

The ENGRAVE collaboration has been awarded the new ‘Into Change Award’, which comes with a prize money of 1 million euros. The collaboration has made it possible to trace the origins of the Universe’s heaviest elements, which are forged in the aftermath of neutron star mergers.

Schematic plot of energy-density evolution of scalar-field components in the early Universe.

Photo: C. Eröncel, Y. Gouttenoire, R. Sato, G. Servant, and P. Simakachorn

3 December 2025|Research Highlight

A New Source for Axion Dark Matter Production

In a new publication in Physical Review Letters, Géraldine Servant and collaborators present a novel mechanism for scalar particle production in the early Universe that can be applied generally to scalar dark matter and specifically to rotating axion models. Rather than coming from the energy initially stored in the...

Group Photo of Andreas Maier, Jenny List, Henri Vincenti and Antonino Di Piazza

Photo: Andreas Maier

6 November 2025|CHAMPP

Prestigious ERC Synergy Grant for Quantum Universe researchers

DESY scientists and Quantum Universe Key Researchers Jenny List and Andreas Maier, together with Henri Vincenti from the French research organization CEA and Antonino Di Piazza from the University of Rochester in the USA, have been awarded one of the highly competitive European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grants. This...

Photo: DESY, Jörg Müller

1 November 2025|Campus

Ulrich Husemann takes over DESY's research division for particle physics

DESY has a new research director for particle physics: Ulrich Husemann, formerly professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), assumes the position on 1 November. DESY is familiar territory for the particle physicist: Husemann worked on DESY experiments during his diplom and doctoral theses, was a junior...

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