12/07/2022 This year, the ORIGINS Cluster PhD awards go to Riccardo Arcodia from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and Alan Ianeselli from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for their excellent work. The ORIGINS PhD Awards were presented at a ceremony during the ORIGINS Science Week, which took place from November 28th to December 1st, 2022 at Seeon Monastery.

11/11/2022 The Nishina Memorial Foundation announced this week that Professor Eiichiro Komatsu, director at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, receives the most prestigious Japanese physics award. The Nishina Memorial Prize is presented annually, honoring outstanding Japanese scientists who have made substantial contributions to physics research. Komatsu receives the prestigious award for his “contributions to the standard cosmology based on the cosmic microwave background”. The award will be presented during a ceremony in Tokyo on 6 December 2022.

11/03/2022 For over ten years the IceCube Observatory in the Antarctic has been monitoring the light traces of extragalactic neutrinos. While evaluating the observatory's data, an international research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) discovered a high-energy neutrino radiation source in the active galaxy NGC 1068, also known as Messier 77.

10/27/2022 ORIGINS physicist Prof. Georgi Dvali has been awarded the prestigious European Research Council Synergy Grant for a project at the interface of quantum physics and general relativity.

10/11/2022 At the ORIGINS workshop “Gender Equity in Academia – a First Aid Kit”, experts from social sciences met with other academics to discuss hurdles but also inspirations for women and members of other underrepresented groups in everyday university life. Dr Verónica Errasti Díez, Vera Rubin Fellow at the Cluster, initiated this event at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. It was a great success!

09/23/2022 Mid of September, ORIGINS PI Petra Schwille received the Otto Warburg Medal 2021 at the fall meeting of the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM). The Otto Warburg Medal 2021 honors Petra Schwille's outstanding research work, which is of great interest nationally and internationally.

09/12/2022 On a regular basis, "Exzellent erklärt – Spitzenforschung für alle" reports from one of the 57 clusters of excellence funded under the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. In the ORIGINS episode "The ORIGINS of Life Lab: tracing the origin of life", podcaster Larissa Vassilian talks with Prof. Petra Schwille and Prof. Dieter Braun about the possible beginnings of life.

09/05/2022 Die vier Münchner Exzellenzcluster präsentieren sich am Maus-Türöffner-Tag, 03.10.2022 von 09:00 bis 17:00 Uhr, gemeinsam im neuen Science Congress Center Munich (GALILEO) am Garchinger Forschungszentrum. Am Gemeinschaftsstand gibt es für Kinder und Jugendliche spannende Experimente zum Selbermachen, viele Infos rund um die Cluster und ein spannendes Quiz mit tollen Preisen!

09/02/2022 With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international research team, including scientists from the University Observatory in Munich, has for the first time clearly identified carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. The result provides important insights into the composition and formation of the planet and marks the start of a large observation program with the JWST.

08/31/2022 Cluster-emeritus Prof. Dr. Harald Fritzsch passed away unexpectedly on August 16, 2022 at the age of 79. Fritzsch was a theoretical particle physicist who was already closely interwoven with the research activities of the Excellence Cluster Universe (2006 – 2018) as a founding member. Even after his retirement, he remained connected to the Cluster as Emeritus and was part of the selection committee of the "ORIGINS PhD Awards".