News and Events

ESA’s Euclid mission releases first survey data more

Machine learning method could revolutionize multi-messenger astronomy more

Annual fundraising project supports search for gravitational waves deflected by gravity more

The Italian Physical Society and the Sapienza University of Rome honor postdoctoral researcher at AEI Potsdam more

Recognition award for visiting postdoc at AEI Potsdam more

The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics is one of the four partners in the international consortium GWSky, which the European Research Council has awarded 12 million euros to develop a deeper understanding of gravitational waves. more

Scientists have studied what happens when two stellar-mass black holes merge near a more massive black hole. They have calculated how strong space-time curvature modifies the gravitational waveforms and how this might be detected in future observations. more

Experts meet at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics more

Gustav Mogull receives the Karl Scheel Prize of the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin, endowed with 5,000 euros more

Otto Hahn Medal for Mohammed Khalil more

Shortly after the start of the fourth observing run, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaborations detected a remarkable gravitational-wave signal. more

O4b to start on 10 April 2024 more

This workshop brings together the Fundamental Physics and Waveform Working Groups of the LISA Consortium.

Location: Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam Science Park
Date: September 2-6, 2024 more

Following today’s Adoption, the LISA mission advances to the construction phase more

Alessandra Buonanno will deliver the 2023 Annual Balzan Lecture.

Location: Civico Planetario di Milano
Date: December 18, 2023
Time: 06:30 PM more

Memorial Lecture on November 23, 2023 more

The 17th Andrew Chamblin Memorial Lecture will be given by Alessandra Buonanno in Cambridge.

Location: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge (UK)
Date: November 14, 2023
Time: 5pm GMT

The lecture will also be livestreamed on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t1tiPVDMYs more

Lecture by Alessandra Buonanno followed by a discussion between her, Annika Kahrs and Louis d'Heudières

Location: Salöön im Holzmarkt 25, Berlin
Date: November 7, 2023
Time: 7:30pm - 10:00pm more

Prestigious honor for key contributions to the interpretation of gravitational-wave signals more

After being already awarded a prize from the Amaldi Research Center at La Sapienza University in Rome, Elisa Maggio, postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam receives two more awards for her outstanding thesis on tests of general relativity. more

The inauguration ceremony will be held on November 10, 2023, in Rome more

New energy-efficient high-performance compute cluster for the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam more

First evidence for ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves more

Dr. Elisa Maggio will discuss black holes and how we can we observe these exotic objects in the universe.

Location: Potsdamer Platz, Berlin
Date: June 24, 2023
Time: 3:00pm - 6:00pm more

New study allows to probe the properties of accretion disks inaccessible so far more

Key experts gather for the workshop “Connecting the dots” at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, June 14th-16th, 2023. more

Jan Steinhoff talks about gravitational waves, which are recorded in sophisticated experiments on Earth and provide ever new insights into our universe.

Location: Bildungsforum Potsdam
Date: June 10, 2023
Time: 11:30am more

In his talk, Tim Dietrich will give an overview of how theoretical models can be developed and used to enable multi-messenger studies of merging neutron stars.

Location: GO:IN1
Date: June 20, 2023
Time: 12pm more

Today the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration begins a new observing run with upgraded instruments, new and even more accurate signal models, and more advanced data analysis methods. more

Five papers about state-of-the-art, computationally efficient inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms developed by AEI-Potsdam researchers more

The key focus of this workshop is to pave the way toward complete and accurate inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform templates in modified gravity theories.

Location: Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam
Date: June 14 - 16, 2023 more

Self-checking algorithm interprets gravitational-wave data more

Accurate waveforms for the future gravitational-wave detector in space more

The honor, endowed with 3,000 euros, will be awarded to her on April 12, 2023, at the university in Rome. more

Michele Punturo (INFN) and Harald Lück (Leibniz University Hannover) to serve as coordinator and vice coordinator, respectively more

Astrophysicist Prof. Dr. Tim Dietrich receives IUPAP Early Career Scientist Prize in General Relativity and Gravitation and a scholarship from the Daimler and Benz Foundation more

New collaboration to strengthen candidacy for the observatory in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion more

On the occasion of the awarding of the Tomalla Prize, Alessandra Buonanno will give a colloquium about her work. The ceremony is open to the public.

Dezember 16, 2022, 5:30 pm
Auditoire A de l'Ecole de Physique
24, Quai Ernest Ansermet, Geneva more

Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics is honored for his innovative research on merging black holes more

Tim Dietrich, Professor at the University of Potsdam and Max Planck Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Gravitational Physics, receives a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant worth 1.5 million euros. more

The prize is awarded about every three years for extraordinary contributions to general relativity and gravity more

A new approach to analyze binary neutron star mergers provides a proving ground for model development and a means to identify systematics in future gravitational-wave observations. more

International research team succeeds for the first time in analyzing very different signals simultaneously more

Alessandra Buonanno talks about the observation of gravitational waves, the models needed to predict them, and the significance of the knowledge gained.

June 8, 2022, 6:30 pm
Leopoldina, Halle (Saale) more

The final black hole left behind after a binary black hole merger can attain recoil velocities up to 5000 km/s, large enough to be ejected from any galaxy. The authors find the first evidence for a large recoil velocity from a gravitational-wave signal, with a velocity of ~1500 km/s (90% uncertainty of ~900 km/s). more

Spin measurements from binary black hole mergers observed by gravitational-wave detectors carry valuable clues about how these binaries form in nature. Theorists have predicted that binaries could be attracted towards special configurations called spin-orbit resonances, where the spin and orbital angular momenta become locked into a resonant plane. The authors find first potential signs of these resonances in gravitational-wave data. more

Neural network analyzes gravitational waves in real time more

Gravitational-wave catalog update lists 35 new signals more

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) has published a detailed analysis of a candidate signal for the since-long sought gravitational wave background (GWB) due to in-spiraling supermassive black-hole binaries. more

November 3, 2021, 19:00 CET: Online talk by Vijay Varma about black holes and their collisions. more

Professor Buonanno is awarded in the field of "Gravitation: physical and astrophysical aspects". more

Professor Buonanno is honored for pioneering accurate and rapid computation of waveforms that are crucial in detecting gravitational waves more

based on an INFN/Nikhef press release more

First robust detection of these rare events more

New ESA Science Program is out more

Buonanno is honored for her scientific achievements in gravitational-wave physics more

Khalil is the first recipient of this new University of Maryland Physics Department student award more

Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive more

The election is a special honor and is regarded as one of the highest scientific accolades in the German-speaking world more

Cooperation between the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics and the University of Potsdam will be strengthened more

The junior professor at the University of Potsdam and adjunct researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics will receive the 20,000-euro prize from the German Research Foundation in recognition of his exceptional scientific achievements. The award ceremony will take place in a virtual format on May 4, 2021. more

Award from the INFN and Galileo Galilei Institute to director at Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam more

Two publications on the effective one-body approach among the collection of pioneering papers more

New LIGO/Virgo catalog contains 50 gravitational-wave signals, several from unusual sources more

Jan Steinhoff gives a public talk (in German) about Black Holes.

Location: Planetarium am Insulaner, Berlin
Date: September 9, 2020
Time: 8pm more

Far-away black hole collision is the most massive and most distant ever observed by the gravitational-wave detectors more

The departments of Professor Alessandra Buonanno (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI)) and Professor Zvi Bern (Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics (University of California in Los Angeles, UCLA)) will cooperate on developing waveform models for future gravitational-wave detectors. more

This invitation-only virtual workshop will gather scientists from several complementary research fields in order to re-evaluate approaches to the general relativistic two-body problem.

Date: August 24 - 28, 2020 more

Joint workshop begins today more

LIGO and Virgo find another surprising binary system more

Invitation to an online exhibition with piano music. Due to the corona pandemic, public events in cultural and scientific fields have been canceled. The exhibition wants to offer a crossover between culture and science. more

LIGO and Virgo detectors catch first gravitational wave from binary black hole merger with unequal masses more

Opening night of the planetarium show "Black Holes" with a keynote speech by Jan Steinhoff.

Location: Zeiss-Großplanetarium Berlin
Date: February 20, 2020
Time: 8pm more

LIGO and Virgo observe a distant binary neutron star merger with surprisingly high mass more

On November 1^st at 15:00 UTC, the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors resumed their search for gravitational waves. All three sites halted operations for the entire month of October to perform some maintenance and upgrades. more

Dr. Tim Dietrich, currently a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at Nikhef in Amsterdam, receives the Heinz Billing Award for his numerical-relativity simulations of binary neutron star mergers. more

Dr. Jan Steinhoff becomes a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics more

Researchers from the AEI in Potsdam and from the CEA in Saclay, Paris suggest how the planned space-based gravitational-wave observatory LISA can detect exoplanets orbiting white dwarf binaries everywhere in our Milky Way and in the nearby Magellanic Clouds. more

Key experts for searching gravitational waves from space assemble in Potsdam on May 13-15 more

The gravitational-wave candidates were likely produced by mergers of a neutron star-black hole binary and a binary neutron star more

The distinguished data-analysis expert from the University of Edinburgh comes to Potsdam. more

AEI researchers expect many more observations in one-year long data taking period more

More computing power to find and interpret gravitational-wave events in the data of the upcoming observation runs more

This strategic committee will make recommendations concerning the scientific themes of the next ESA science program Voyage 2050. more

The observatories are also releasing their first catalog of gravitational-wave events more

Updated Analysis of GW170817 by the LIGO and Virgo Collaboration places tight constraints on the neutron star equation of state. more

Experts discuss the science case for the next generation of earth-based gravitational-wave observatories more

Experts discuss sources to be observed by the planned space-based gravitational-wave detector “Laser Interferometer Space Antenna” (LISA) more

June 18-22, 2018 The workshop focuses on introducing non-experts to established ROM/ROQ techniques and building new models (with a view towards LIGO/Virgo’s upcoming observing runs). more

The prize recognizes Prof. Buonanno’s key role in the first direct observation of gravitational waves more

Tim Dietrich: The first observation of gravitational waves from merging neutron stars more

The director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam receives the most important research award of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) endowed with €2.5 million. more

New discovery is lightest system so far observed more

December 19, 2017 at 3:15 p.m.  Alessandra Buonanno will speak about "Gravitational-wave emission and their multi-messenger signatures". Location: Lise-Meitner-Haus, Christian-Gerthsen-Hörsaal, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 Berlin more

Numerical-relativity simulation performed at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics on a new Deutsche Post stamp more

November 3, 2017 at 7 pm Prof. Harald Pfeiffer will give a public talk at the Bruno-H.-Bürgel Observatory in Berlin. more

Combining gravitational-wave observations and pulsar timing to study alternatives to the theory of general relativity more

Discovery marks first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light more

October 16, 2017 at 4 pm On October 16^th the AEI in Potsdam will broadcast a press conference on recent developments in gravitational-wave research live from the National Press Club in Washington DC. more

Congratulations from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam and Hannover, and the Leibniz Universität Hannover more

October 3, 2017, 11:30 CEST, at the AEI in Potsdam
On 3rd of October the Nobel Foundation will announce the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017. The event is broadcast live from Stockholm. The AEI in Potsdam invites all interested people to watch the live stream together with scientists from the institute. more

Another pair of merging black holes observed: This time, three large detectors have caught the gravitational wave more

September 27, 2017 at 3 pm Prof. Alessandra Buonanno will give a popular talk at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. more

The world-renowned expert for numerical simulations of black holes returns to Germany from Canada. more

Honoring the detection of gravitational waves, LIGO founder Rainer Weiss, Kip S. Thorne and Barry C. Barish and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) have been bestowed with the 2017 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.  more

The postdoctoral scholar at AEI is awarded with the thesis prize of Friedrich Schiller University (FSU) in Jena more

Results confirm new population of black holes more

May 23, 2017, at 7 pm Prof. Alessandra Buonanno will give a public talk at the Einstein Forum in Potsdam. more

May 17, 2017 "The new era of gravitational-wave physics and astrophysics": Prof. Alessandra Buonanno gives a talk at the symposium of the Finish Society of Sciences and Letters. more

German Physical Society awards thesis prize to Tim Dietrich more

“Minerva” will calculate gravitational waves faster than the institute’s previous supercomputer more

AEI Scientist Maria Alessandra Papa, together with three LSC colleagues, will accept the award on behalf of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration on December 12, 2016, in a ceremony in Washington DC more

Public talk on December 8, 2016 Prof. Buonanno talks about "Sounds of Silent: Listening to the Universe with Gravitational Waves" at University of Pennsylvania. more

AEI researchers expect new discoveries from LIGO instruments more

November 1, 2016, 04:30 - 07:30 p.m.
University of Maryland Prof. Buonanno at a panel discussion about the detection of gravitational waves honoring the University of Maryland pioneers and the dawn of gravitational wave astronomy.

October 1st, 2016, 6:30 pm, San Sebastian Alessandra Buonanno talks about "Sounds of Silence: Listening to the Universe with Gravitational Waves" at the Passion for Knowledge Festival.

The prize recognizes contributions to the discovery of gravitational waves more

Key contributions from Max Planck and Leibniz Universität Hannover researchers to second gravitational-wave event found in LIGO data more

Starting from the winter semester 2016-2017, the University of Potsdam will offer an Astrophysics master programme. The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics significantly contribute to this new curriculum. more

The prize recognizes contributions to gravitational wave detection more

When neutron stars emit gravitational waves more

Selection Committee of previous Breakthrough Prize winners recognizes contributors to experiment recording waves from two black holes colliding over a billion light years away. $3 million prize shared between LIGO founders Ronald W. P. Drever, Kip S. Thorne and Rainer Weiss and 1012 contributors to the discovery. more

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
 for Prof. Harald Pfeiffer more

Max Planck Forum in Berlin
February 22, 2016, 6 pm
Keynotes and Discussion:
Prof. Dr. Alessandra Buonanno, Prof. Dr. Bruce Allen Moderated by: Ralf Krauter, science journalist (Deutschlandradio) more

February 19, 2016, 1:30 pm Central building of the Max Planck campus in Potsdam-Golm more

LIGO opens new window on the Universe with observation of gravitational waves from colliding black holes – key contributions from Max Planck Society and Leibniz Universität Hannover researchers more

Shedding light on the relationship between hypernova, supernova, and gamma-ray bursts more

Key contributions to advanced LIGO from AEI researchers more

Albert Einstein Institute researchers make key contributions to advanced LIGO gravitational-wave detectors more

Scientists at the AEI find explanation for X-Ray afterglows after gigantic explosions in space more

Prestigious award for key contributions to gravitational-wave astronomy more

The US-Italian theoretical physicist will succeed Prof. Bernard F. Schutz in September 2014. more