Research infrastructure prioritization

Two Projects with Bochum Participation on the Shortlist

Two projects involving Ruhr University Bochum have made it onto the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s shortlist of the most promising research infrastructure projects: the second expansion stage of the IceCube neutrino detector and the preliminary work for the Einstein Telescope. In its national prioritization process, the Ministry selected 32 projects from 58 submissions for evaluation; nine of them made it onto the shortlist, which attests to their outstanding importance for Germany’s leading position in innovation and research.

The selected teams can now discuss with the Federal Ministry about funding for the German share of the projects. Each have announced the need for a financial volume of the German share that is more than 50 million euros for research and development.

IceCube neutrino detector

The IceCube-Gen2 neutrino observatory is a planned extension of IceCube at the South Pole. Researchers have been using the neutrino detector to search for the sources of cosmic radiation since 2009. With IceCube-Gen2, neutrino research is to be transferred from the discovery phase to the precision era. At the same time, it shall contribute to geophysics, glaciology and climate science. Several groups from Ruhr University Bochum are cooperating closely in the IceCube consortium, in particular with partners from the Technical University of Dortmund. Nine German universities and the two research institutes KIT and DESY are members of the consortium.

Einstein Telescope

The Einstein Telescope is a planned large-scale international project in its early stages, which is intended to make signals from the accretion of compact objects of black holes and neutron stars, observable over cosmic times by detecting gravitational waves. In addition to Bochum Physics, Geology is also involved in the project. Discussions are also currently taking place within the University Alliance Ruhr to expand participation.