Issue 1 | 2021

10. March 2021

HITS welcomes new group leader Fabian Schneider, who started in January 2021. The astrophysicist is currently establishing his own research group “Stellar Evolution Theory” with funds from an ERC Starting Grant. Speaking of ERC grants:

HITS group leaders Frauke Gräter (Molecular Biomechanics) and Saskia Hekker (Theory and Observations of Stars) have received ERC Consolidator Grants with funds of about 2 million euros each – congratulations!

Frauke Gräter is also the new Scientific Director of HITS, a position that rotates among the group leaders. She represents the Institute in all scientific matters vis-à-vis cooperation partners and the public.

Our research news focuses on the coronavirus, with forecasts of COVID-19 infections and the quest for new medicines against the disease. 

Finally, we introduce a “sequel” to the “behind the scenes” series, called “behind the science”, in which we present the HITS shareholders, starting with the HITS-Stiftung that provides the Institute’s basic funding.

About HITS

HITS, the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, was established in 2010 by physicist and SAP co-founder Klaus Tschira (1940-2015) and the Klaus Tschira Foundation as a private, non-profit research institute. HITS conducts basic research in the natural, mathematical, and computer sciences. Major research directions include complex simulations across scales, making sense of data, and enabling science via computational research. Application areas range from molecular biology to astrophysics. An essential characteristic of the Institute is interdisciplinarity, implemented in numerous cross-group and cross-disciplinary projects. The base funding of HITS is provided by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.

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