Monday, August 25, 2025
Science
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • SCIENCE NEWS
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • SCIENCE NEWS
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag
No Result
View All Result
Home Science News Chemistry

ERC Advanced Grant for Steffen Grohmann from KIT

April 11, 2024
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Professor Steffen Grohmann receives an ERC Advanced Grant for his project to develop a key technology for the Einstein telescope. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)
65
SHARES
590
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

The ERC awards the work of Professor Grohmann and his team in its Universe Sciences panel. “I congratulate Professor Steffen Grohmann on this grant. The selection of a technology development project in the area of astronomy and astrophysics is remarkable. It reflects the importance of this research and development at KIT for the Einstein Telescope and its significance for gravitational-wave physics and the Universe sciences in general,” says KIT Vice President Research Professor Oliver Kraft. 

Professor Steffen Grohmann receives an ERC Advanced Grant for his project to develop a key technology for the Einstein telescope. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

Credit: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT

The ERC awards the work of Professor Grohmann and his team in its Universe Sciences panel. “I congratulate Professor Steffen Grohmann on this grant. The selection of a technology development project in the area of astronomy and astrophysics is remarkable. It reflects the importance of this research and development at KIT for the Einstein Telescope and its significance for gravitational-wave physics and the Universe sciences in general,” says KIT Vice President Research Professor Oliver Kraft. 

 

Concept Shall Enable Measurements of Highest Precision

The Einstein Telescope is a proposed European project to construct an underground laser interferometer with several kilometer long dimensions. In this measurement principle, gravitational waves from the depth of the Universe will cause by the curvature in spacetime tiny changes of the distances between measurement mirrors of about 200 kg, which reflect the laser beams.  

 

Extreme Cold Prevents Disturbing Noise 

For this purpose, the mirrors must be isolated from any vibration and external impact. They are installed in several meters high vacuum towers, suspended from fine crystal fiber at the lower ends of multi-stage pendula. “When taking measurements at such limits, the noise of Brownian molecular motion in the crystal fibers at room-temperature is already sufficient to disturb the detection,” Grohmann explains. “This thermal noise can be prevented by extremely low temperatures only. The difficulty is to cool the mirrors without any mechanical impact and technical noise input.” The researchers from KIT plan to achieve this with superfluid helium at temperatures of about -271 °C, i.e. just above absolute zero. In this state, helium as a Bose-Einstein condensate has outstanding properties: Quantum effects yield the formation of an extremely quiet superfluid without viscosity, in which heat flows with almost no resistance similar to electricity in a superconductor.  

 

Test Center Will Be Set Up

The principle has already been proven theoretically by Grohmann’s team. A new question in science is, however, whether and how energy from mechanical vibrations dissipates in the quantum fluid, i.e. being converted into heat. GRAVITHELIUM is expected to provide such experimental data. With the help of the ERC Advanced Grant, a new test center will be set up at KIT, where the researchers will collect fundamental physical data and resolve technical challenges for the practical application. 

 

“The project will not only contribute to realizing the Einstein Telescope. The technology may also be applied in quantum computing, where smallest vibrations influence quantum states,” Grohmann says. 

 

At KIT, the project is embedded in the Helmholtz Research Programs “Matter and the Universe“ and “Matter and Technology“ as well as in the KIT Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics Center (KCETA).

 

ERC Advanced Grants 2023 

ERC Advanced Grants support established researchers in various areas of research, who have a track record of significant research achievements in the past ten years. Funding will help leading researchers open up new areas of research. In the competition of 2023, 1829 researchers applied for funding, of these about 14 percent were successful. The ERC decided to award advanced grants in a total volume of EUR 652 million to 255 research projects. 

 

Further information on the ERC Advanced Grants

More Information



Share26Tweet16
Previous Post

A small robot car can reduce children’s stress before surgery

Next Post

New technological breakthrough for fast and efficient 3D imaging of objects

Related Posts

blank
Chemistry

Revolutionary Advances in Indole Chemistry Promise to Speed Up Drug Development

August 25, 2025
blank
Chemistry

Scientists Create Molecule Advancing Key Step in Artificial Photosynthesis

August 25, 2025
blank
Chemistry

First-ever observation of the transverse Thomson effect unveiled

August 23, 2025
blank
Chemistry

Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

August 22, 2025
blank
Chemistry

New Molecular-Merged Hypergraph Neural Network Enhances Explainable Predictions of Solvation Gibbs Free Energy

August 22, 2025
blank
Chemistry

Shaping the Future of Dysphagia Diets Through 3D Printing Innovations

August 22, 2025
Next Post
New technological breakthrough for fast and efficient 3D imaging of objects

New technological breakthrough for fast and efficient 3D imaging of objects

  • Mothers who receive childcare support from maternal grandparents show more parental warmth, finds NTU Singapore study

    Mothers who receive childcare support from maternal grandparents show more parental warmth, finds NTU Singapore study

    27537 shares
    Share 11012 Tweet 6882
  • University of Seville Breaks 120-Year-Old Mystery, Revises a Key Einstein Concept

    952 shares
    Share 381 Tweet 238
  • Bee body mass, pathogens and local climate influence heat tolerance

    641 shares
    Share 256 Tweet 160
  • Researchers record first-ever images and data of a shark experiencing a boat strike

    508 shares
    Share 203 Tweet 127
  • Warm seawater speeding up melting of ‘Doomsday Glacier,’ scientists warn

    312 shares
    Share 125 Tweet 78
Science

Embark on a thrilling journey of discovery with Scienmag.com—your ultimate source for cutting-edge breakthroughs. Immerse yourself in a world where curiosity knows no limits and tomorrow’s possibilities become today’s reality!

RECENT NEWS

  • McGill Researchers Highlight Ongoing Issues in News Coverage of Sexual Violence Despite #MeToo Movement
  • Functional Neuroimaging Reveals Sex’s Role in Depression
  • Supplementary Motor Area Shapes Parkinson’s Gait Impairment
  • Preventing Cracks in Flexible Electronics’ Polymer Substrates

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Athmospheric
  • Biology
  • Bussines
  • Cancer
  • Chemistry
  • Climate
  • Earth Science
  • Marine
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine
  • Pediatry
  • Policy
  • Psychology & Psychiatry
  • Science Education
  • Social Science
  • Space
  • Technology and Engineering

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,859 other subscribers

© 2025 Scienmag - Science Magazine

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • SCIENCE NEWS
  • CONTACT US

© 2025 Scienmag - Science Magazine

Discover more from Science

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading