Insights into the genetic basis of bilateral head asymmetry in a scale-eating cichlid fish Xiaomeng Tian, Young Researcher of the Hector Fellow Academy, is first author of the paper “Insights into the genetic basis of bilateral head asymmetry in a scale-eating...
The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) has opened a new window on the universe, through which we can study the physics of black-hole and neutron-star mergers. By analyzing GWs we can infer properties of the corresponding astrophysical systems. Current analysis methods are however too computationally expensive to deal with the growing amount of data. My research is thus concerned with the development of more efficient methods for the GW analysis using powerful machine learning methods.
The central paradigm of quantum optics is the absorption and emission of radiation by quantum emitters. When the coupling between an emitter and its environment becomes strong, intriguing radiative properties can be engineered, such as directional emission patterns or strongly modified emission rates. This project aims at accessing such effects in a system of ultracold atoms in optical lattices where artificial emitters decay by emitting matter waves rather than optical radiation.
Recording of the Event Now Available on YouTube The 10th Science Evening of the Hector Fellow Academy took place on July 10, 2025, at the K20 Museum in Düsseldorf and was streamed live online. The event was organized in cooperation with Heinrich Heine University...
Science Evening 2026
The Hector Fellow Academy is continuing its series of Science Evenings held across Germany, this year with the focus on the question: 'Brain, Computer, and AI – Soon Hard to Distinguish?'
This project dealt with the development of a modular synthesis that allows access to a wide range of catalysts with properties tailored to the needs of the reactions to be catalyzed. The synthesis makes it possible to construct various N-heteroacyclic and N-heterocyclic carbene ligands with a wide range of electronic and steric properties directly at the metal center.
This project investigates neural mechanisms that play an important role in visual perceptual learning (VPL) when processing task-relevant and task-irrelevant visual information. Of particular interest here is how mechanisms of VPL change from childhood to adulthood and how the occurrence of VPL can be supported in different age groups.
An exciting program highlights the intersection of brain research, supercomputing, and artificial intelligence How similar are the human brain and artificial intelligence, and what can each learn from the other? What role do supercomputers play in developing modern...
