News and Events

The director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam receives the most important research award of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) endowed with €2.5 million. more

New discovery is lightest system so far observed more

December 19, 2017 at 3:15 p.m.  Alessandra Buonanno will speak about "Gravitational-wave emission and their multi-messenger signatures". Location: Lise-Meitner-Haus, Christian-Gerthsen-Hörsaal, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 Berlin more

Numerical-relativity simulation performed at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics on a new Deutsche Post stamp more

November 3, 2017 at 7 pm Prof. Harald Pfeiffer will give a public talk at the Bruno-H.-Bürgel Observatory in Berlin. more

Combining gravitational-wave observations and pulsar timing to study alternatives to the theory of general relativity more

Discovery marks first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light more

October 16, 2017 at 4 pm On October 16^th the AEI in Potsdam will broadcast a press conference on recent developments in gravitational-wave research live from the National Press Club in Washington DC. more

Congratulations from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam and Hannover, and the Leibniz Universität Hannover more

October 3, 2017, 11:30 CEST, at the AEI in Potsdam
On 3rd of October the Nobel Foundation will announce the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017. The event is broadcast live from Stockholm. The AEI in Potsdam invites all interested people to watch the live stream together with scientists from the institute. more

Another pair of merging black holes observed: This time, three large detectors have caught the gravitational wave more

September 27, 2017 at 3 pm Prof. Alessandra Buonanno will give a popular talk at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. more

The world-renowned expert for numerical simulations of black holes returns to Germany from Canada. more

Honoring the detection of gravitational waves, LIGO founder Rainer Weiss, Kip S. Thorne and Barry C. Barish and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) have been bestowed with the 2017 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.  more

The postdoctoral scholar at AEI is awarded with the thesis prize of Friedrich Schiller University (FSU) in Jena more

Results confirm new population of black holes more

May 23, 2017, at 7 pm Prof. Alessandra Buonanno will give a public talk at the Einstein Forum in Potsdam. more

May 17, 2017 "The new era of gravitational-wave physics and astrophysics": Prof. Alessandra Buonanno gives a talk at the symposium of the Finish Society of Sciences and Letters. more

German Physical Society awards thesis prize to Tim Dietrich more

“Minerva” will calculate gravitational waves faster than the institute’s previous supercomputer more

AEI Scientist Maria Alessandra Papa, together with three LSC colleagues, will accept the award on behalf of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration on December 12, 2016, in a ceremony in Washington DC more

Public talk on December 8, 2016 Prof. Buonanno talks about "Sounds of Silent: Listening to the Universe with Gravitational Waves" at University of Pennsylvania. more

AEI researchers expect new discoveries from LIGO instruments more

November 1, 2016, 04:30 - 07:30 p.m.
University of Maryland Prof. Buonanno at a panel discussion about the detection of gravitational waves honoring the University of Maryland pioneers and the dawn of gravitational wave astronomy.

October 1st, 2016, 6:30 pm, San Sebastian Alessandra Buonanno talks about "Sounds of Silence: Listening to the Universe with Gravitational Waves" at the Passion for Knowledge Festival.

The prize recognizes contributions to the discovery of gravitational waves more

Key contributions from Max Planck and Leibniz Universität Hannover researchers to second gravitational-wave event found in LIGO data more

Starting from the winter semester 2016-2017, the University of Potsdam will offer an Astrophysics master programme. The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics significantly contribute to this new curriculum. more

The prize recognizes contributions to gravitational wave detection more

When neutron stars emit gravitational waves more

Selection Committee of previous Breakthrough Prize winners recognizes contributors to experiment recording waves from two black holes colliding over a billion light years away. $3 million prize shared between LIGO founders Ronald W. P. Drever, Kip S. Thorne and Rainer Weiss and 1012 contributors to the discovery. more

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
 for Prof. Harald Pfeiffer more

Max Planck Forum in Berlin
February 22, 2016, 6 pm
Keynotes and Discussion:
Prof. Dr. Alessandra Buonanno, Prof. Dr. Bruce Allen Moderated by: Ralf Krauter, science journalist (Deutschlandradio) more

February 19, 2016, 1:30 pm Central building of the Max Planck campus in Potsdam-Golm more

LIGO opens new window on the Universe with observation of gravitational waves from colliding black holes – key contributions from Max Planck Society and Leibniz Universität Hannover researchers more