New partnerships with international research institutions

In the past weeks, the Excellence Cluster Universe has embarked upon official collaborations with renowned research institutions worldwide.

The Universe Cluster and the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Chicago, have agreed on a far reaching collaboration in the field of fundamental physics. On a joint workshop from 25 to 27 May 2009 representatives of the two research centers identified four initial research issues for cooperation: Explosive Nucleosynthesis, high-energy astrophysics, the test of fundamental symmetries in Universe and the inner structure of hadrons. The cooperation extends to both theoretical as well as experimental groups in the Cluster and the ANL. The partnership includes regular meetings and an exchange program for scientists. Further, Cluster scientists will benefit from access to both experimental as well as computational facilities at the ANL. The Argonne Lab is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's oldest and largest national laboratories for science and engineering research.

Just recently the Universe Cluster and the Joint Institute of Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA) have confirmed their co-operation by signing a Letter of Understanding. The two institutions intend to start an active collaboration between selected research groups and to establish a closer communication by exchanges of scientists,  postdocs and students as well as joint workshops and schools. The NSF funded Physics Frontier Center JINA is a joint enterprise at the University of Notre Dame, Michigan State University, the University of Chicago, and Argonne National Laboratory.

The Cluster is also formalizing its relations to the Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) in Tokyo. Representatives of the institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding stating that the institutions will work together on the questions related to the formation and evolution of the Universe. The institutions co-ooperate in scientific projects as well as the organisation of conferences, workshops and schools for junior and senior scientists.

 “Entering strategic international alliances is a central goal of our Cluster”, says Prof. Dr. Stephan Paul, Director of the Excellence Cluster “Origin and Structure of the Universe”. “The Universe Cluster is a leading research institution for particle-, nuclear- and astrophysics attracting renowned scientists from all over the world. Combining research groups from four Max-Planck-Institutes, the physics departments of the two Munich Universities and the European Southern Observatory we can offer our partners an interesting platform for exchange and collaboration. On the other hand our scientists profit from cutting-edge experimental and computational facilities provided by our international partners.”  
 

Research Partners of the Excellence Cluster Universe