News at MPA

Prime Focus Spectrograph on Subaru Telescope to begin scientific operations in February       <br> 

Researchers have finished equipping the Subaru Telescope with a new special “compound eye” culminating several years of effort. This new instrument features approximately 2,400 fibers scattered across the extremely wide field of view available at the Subaru Telescope’s primary focus, allowing for simultaneous spectroscopic observation of thousands of celestial objects. This unrivaled capability will help researchers precisely understand the formation and evolution of galaxies and the Universe once it begins scientific operations in February 2025. more

Gold for MPA Gender Equality Plan

The MPG Commission »Quality Management of Max Planck Gender Equality Plans (GEP)« awarded the Gold label to MPA’s plan, for meeting  the Max Planck standards – comprehensiveness, institute-specific and sustainability – to an outstanding degree. The MPA presents an excellent gender equality strategy, which, among other things, impresses with a comprehensive inventory, a stringent, data-based selection of fields of action, goals and measures, and a comprehensive portfolio of measures. more

The Max Planck Synergy Grantees 2024 (from top left to bottom right): Benedetta Ciardi, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics; Torsten Enßlin, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics; Alessandra Buonanno, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics; Xinliang Feng, Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics; Axel Kleinschmidt, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics; Joël Ouaknine, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems; Florian Luca, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems; Angel Rubio, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter; Petra Schwille, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry; Alexander Herbig, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Herwig Baier, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence; Jennifer Li and Drew Robson, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics; Aneta Koseska, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – CAESAR; Alec Wodtke, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences.

Leading across Europe

November 07, 2024

With twelve Synergy Grants, the Max Planck Society claims top spot in the ERC ranking more

<span><span><span>Prestigious ERC Synergy Grant awarded to obtain a comprehensive view of the Universe in its infancy</span></span></span>

ERC Synergy grant will fund researchers at MPA, the Observatories of Rome and Trieste in Italy, and Chalmers in Sweden to unravel the complexity of the Epoch of Reionization. more

<span><span><span>A Three-Dimensional Atlas of the Milky Way</span></span></span><br /> 

European Research Council funds scientists at MPA, RTWH Aachen, and IA-FORTH to map Galaxy in 3D more

Astrophysicists are preparing to tune into gravitational waves at new frequencies

In early 2024, the European Space Agency officially adopted the LISA mission (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) as the world’s first space-based gravitational wave observatory, with its launch set for 2035. LISA will provide a revolutionary view into the Universe by capturing gravitational waves in a frequency range inaccessible to ground-based detectors, allowing scientists to study entirely new astrophysical phenomena. As LISA opens this unexplored window, it poses exciting challenges for the astrophysics community, which must now focus on identifying the scientific questions that LISA will answer and developing the tools to do so. From November 5 to 7, 2024, more than a 100 researchers will gather at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) in Garching bei München to participate in the LISA Astrophysics Working Group Meeting, where they will explore how LISA can deepen our understanding of black holes, stars, galaxies, and other astrophysical objects across the Universe. more

Max Gronke Awarded Prestigious ERC Starting Grant

The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) is proud to announce that Dr. Max Gronke, leader of the Max Planck Research Group 'Multiphase Gas', has been awarded a highly competitive European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. This prestigious grant will fund Dr. Gronke's innovative research project "Resolving the Multiscale, Multiphase Universe" (ReMMU) over the next five years. more

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