Award-winning BTU Doctoralands: $ 1 million for particle research!

Award-winning BTU Doctoralands: $ 1 million for particle research!

Cottbus, Deutschland - On April 7, 2025, the Breakthrough Prize was awarded in fundamental physics, one of the highest-doped awards in science, which is endowed with a total of three million US dollars. The price is awarded to the four most important collaborations of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on Cern: Alice, Atlas, CMS and LHCB. These awards reward outstanding scientific contributions, especially in the area of ​​Higgs Boson research, which are of crucial importance for the basics of particle physics. The prize money is used to finance scholarships for doctoral students, complete research stays on CERN in order to gain experience at the top of science and bring new knowledge back to their home countries. This is reported by the BTU .

The award was presented to all current and former members of the four involved collaborations that have written data papers from the so-called RUN-2 by July 15, 2024. This is further proof of the extensive use of researchers and support from public donors. The LHCB collaboration has emerged through detailed measurements of the Higgs boson, which confirm the mechanism of mass generation. The discovery of new, strongly interacting particles, the investigation of rare processes and the analysis of the matter-antimension asymmetry are also among the outstanding achievements of the research groups. The results of the building week in the LHC have significantly deepened the understanding of physics under extreme conditions on the shortest distances, such as the LHCB-Kollaboration

The importance of Higgs Boson research

The Higgs Boson, which was discovered in 2012 on CERN, plays a central role in the standard model of particle physics. It gives other fundamental particles their mass. The discovery confirmed the theories of Peter Higgs and François Englert, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2013. The precise measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson open up new perspectives in physical research and show the importance of basic research for new technological developments.

The Breakthrough Prize Foundation donates 100% of prize money to the CERN & Society Foundation to support the promotion of young scientists in basic research. This is considered essential to produce a new generation of researchers who can further develop the area. The uzh emphasizes the relevance of the committed scientists to achieve significant progress.

A look into the future

The BTU is actively involved in the LHC experiments as an associated member of the Bril Group. This group focuses on measuring the luminosity of the LHC storage ring in the CMS experiment, which is decisive for the sensitivity against rare phenomena. Prof. Leen Lambers from the BTU is intensively involved in the experiments in order to further research and understand these highly complex physical processes.

Breakthrough Prize promotes not only science itself, but also international networks and exchange programs. This idea is of central importance: Students should return to their home countries with the skills acquired and contribute to the further development of physics in various regions of the world.