30 September 2026

Photo: UHH/Balasubramanya

At the DESY Theory Workshop, early-Career Researchers had the chance to present their work and network with colleagues.

Photo: UHH/Balasubramanya

160 researchers from across the world signed up to the DESY Theory Workshop.

Photo: UHH/Balasubramanya

The first DESY Theory Workshop was organized in 1990 and focused on top quarks. This year, theoretical physicists came together to discuss quantum gravity.

Photo: UHH/Balasubramanya

The topics for the DESY Theory Workshop rotate between particle phenomenology, cosmology, and formal theory, representing the three pillars of research in the DESY Theory group.

Photo: UHH/Balasubramanya

The talks during the parallel sessions covered a broad range of topics from mathematical models, holography, and black hole physics to applications to cosmology and particle physics.

Photo: DESY/Mayer

Participants at the DESY Theory Workshop 2026.

For almost 40 years, theoretical physicists from around the world have met at DESY for the annual DESY Theory Workshop. Last week, 160 leading scientists and early-career researchers came together to discuss their work and exchange ideas at the Science City Campus Bahrenfeld in Hamburg.

This year's workshop was centered around quantum gravity with a special focus on string theory, mathematical models and black holes. The workshop brought together leading international experts across the subfields of quantum gravity to discuss recent progress and open challenges. A record 79 talks by early-career researchers in parallel sessions made for one of the workshop's notable highlights, alongside the networking and presentation opportunities the format provides. 

The weeklong program also covered 20 plenary sessions by invited speakers. The talks ranged from titles like "Quantum Cosmology" to "Einstein-Rosen Caterpillars and Black Hole Entropy".

Hertz Lecture

A centerpiece of this year's workshop was the Hertz lecture, an annual public lecture delivered by distinguished physicists, including Nobel Laureates. First given by renowned String Theorist and Fields Medal winner Edward Witten in 2002, the Hertz lecture series pays tribute to Heinrich Hertz, who demonstrated that electricity and magnetism are two manifestations of one force. This legacy resonates directly with the work at DESY’s particle physics division and the Cluster of Excellence Quantum Universe, both of which pursue the same fundamental goal:  a unified description of all forces of nature.

This year’s lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Jan de Boer from the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on reconciling quantum mechanics with gravity, which he presented during his lecture called “The Quantum Nature of Space and Time." A recording is made available on the internal DESY website.