Research

The Department of Physics at Universität Hamburg is divided in accordance with intensive and regular structural discussions between the 3 core research areas of nanostructure and solid state physics, laser physics and photon science, and elementary particle physics and astrophysics (all links in German available only).

As one of the strongest and most successful physics departments in Europe, it ranks exceptionally well in international ratings and visibility. This was confirmed just recently by the awarding of 2 clusters of excellence (in German available only) as part of the Excellence Strategy for top-level university research in Germany. This makes Universität Hamburg the only institution to oversee 2 clusters of excellence in the field of physics.

The Collaborative Research Center 925 “Light Induced Dynamics and Control of Correlated Quantum Systems” had already been granted funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) in 2011.

There are also a number of other DFG research groups and cross-regional collaborative projects on particle physics, astrophysics, and photon science funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The Department has unique links with external partners, particularly the Helmholtz Center DESY—Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron and the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter. The structuring of these collaborations based on joint research alliances has stood the test of time, and the Hamburg model for teaching degree programs currently collaborates with DESY as part of the PIER Network (Partnership for Innovation, Education and Research) (in German available only).

The Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Center for Science and Peace Research (ZNF) is also based within the Department of Physics.