A collaborative research effort seeking to understand the universe’s most extreme states of matter has secured an additional €10 million in funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The Transregio Collaborative Research Centre (SFB/TRR) 211, a partnership between Bielefeld, Darmstadt, and Frankfurt am main universities, will continue its investigations into the behavior of matter at incredibly high temperatures and densities-conditions found in neutron star mergers and the early universe-for another three and a half years starting in January 2026. this renewed investment highlights the significance of the centre’s work in unraveling the basic building blocks of reality and the forces that govern them.
Teilen:
21.11.2025 11:11
Research into Extreme Matter to Continue
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is extending funding for the Transregio Collaborative Research Centre (SFB/TRR) 211 “Strongly Interacting Matter under Extreme Conditions” for another three and a half years. The DFG announced this today, November 21, 2025. The consortium of Bielefeld, Darmstadt, and Frankfurt am Main universities will receive approximately €10 million starting in January 2026 for the third funding phase.
Since July 2017, the SFB/TRR 211 has been investigating the most extreme states of matter in the universe. Researchers are exploring what happens when ordinary matter is heated to the highest temperatures and subjected to enormous pressure. Under such conditions, protons and neutrons break down into their constituent parts – quarks and gluons. These states are found in the merging of neutron stars, in heavy-ion collisions at particle accelerators, and in the early universe shortly after the Big Bang. This research is crucial for understanding the fundamental building blocks of reality and the forces that govern them.
“This Collaborative Research Centre is an excellent example of top-level theoretical research in the context of international large-scale experiments,” said Professor Dr. Angelika Epple, President of Bielefeld University. “The fact that the DFG is now funding this consortium for the third time speaks for itself.”
“The renewed funding is recognition of the outstanding work of our team,” said particle physicist Professor Dr. Sören Schlichting of Bielefeld University, who will serve as spokesperson for the SFB in the future. A total of 26 project leaders and another 76 scientists will cooperate in the Transregio in the new funding phase. “We combine basic theoretical research with applications in cosmology, heavy-ion physics, and astrophysics – a unique constellation worldwide,” said Schlichting.
Successes of the Second Funding Phase
During the past second funding phase, the consortium published more than 250 scientific papers and organized two significant international conferences. The researchers achieved new insights into the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) – a kind of map showing in which states matter exists at different temperatures and densities. They developed methods to draw conclusions about the properties of extreme matter from experiments in particle accelerators and observations of neutron star mergers.
“Our work provides the theoretical foundations for precisely interpreting experimental data,” explained nuclear and particle physicist Professor Dr. Guy Moore of the Technical University of Darmstadt, the current spokesperson of the SFB and future deputy spokesperson. “This is crucial for the large international measurement campaigns that are currently running or being planned.”
Quantum Computers and Gravitational Waves
In the new funding phase, the consortium will investigate, among other things, how extremely dense matter behaves and what state changes occur. The researchers will also test new theoretical methods, including the use of quantum computers.
“We combine fundamental particle physics with observable phenomena,” said nuclear physicist Professor Dr. Hannah Elfner of Goethe University Frankfurt, deputy spokesperson of the SFB. “Our research answers fundamental questions about the evolution of the universe – from the behavior of the smallest particles of matter to the structure of neutron stars.”
The consortium makes particle physics accessible in formats such as “Shots of Science” in an Irish pub or school lectures. The team is expected to present the SFB research in a public lecture in January as part of the “Physics on Saturday” series.
Scientific Contact:
Prof. Dr. Sören Schlichting, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Physics
Phone 0521 106-6225
Email: sschlichting@physik.uni-bielefeld.de
Further Information:
https://www.dfg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2025/pressemitteilung-nr-37 Press release from the German Research Foundation
https://crc-tr211.org/ Website of the Collaborative Research Centre 211
Images
Simulation of a neutron star merger: The consortium is investigating the properties of extremely dense matter under such conditions. …
Copyright: Breu, Radice, Rezzolla
Particle physicist Prof. Dr. Sören Schlichting of Bielefeld University will be the future spokesperson …
Source: Stefan Sättele
Copyright: Universität Bielefeld/Stefan Sättele
Key features of this press release:
Journalists, teachers/students, university students, scientists, general public
Information technology, mathematics, physics / astronomy
regional
Research projects
German
