Physics
Team WissensSpuren and Physics
Leipzig is one of the oldest universities in the world to conduct physical research. In the 1920s, the university played a key role in developing the foundations of quantum mechanics and its applications in solid-state physics, nuclear physics, and chemistry.
History
Physical research has been conducted in Leipzig since 1557, when a professorship in physics was established. In the 18th century, the Saxon princes even traveled from Dresden to witness impressive demonstrations of electric charges and discharges. In 1835, the University of Leipzig founded “one of the first, if not the first, state physics institutes in Germany” (Otto Wiener). Groundbreaking experiments in electromagnetic radiation, the physics of sensory perception, and acoustics were conducted at the institute. In 1905, the largest physics institute building in Germany at the time was inaugurated on Linnéstraße. In the 1920s, it was led by Peter Debye (Nobel Prize 1936), Werner Heisenberg (Nobel Prize 1933), and Friedrich Hund. With many students and guests, they significantly contributed to the foundations of quantum mechanics and its applications in solid-state physics, nuclear physics, and chemistry. The buildings were destroyed at the end of World War II. After the war, the building and research operations were rebuilt by Gustav Hertz (Nobel Prize 1925).
Education and Research
Current research focuses in physics include mathematical physics, the foundations of quantum technologies, and the applications of physics in biology and medicine.
Outreach
Since 2015, the Faculty has hosted the student research center almaLab, which includes the research hub “Jugend forscht” (youth research). The aim is to foster students’ interest in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and technology (STEM).
Additionally, new insights and research results are continuously shared through public lectures, events, discussion panels, projects for students, collaborations with non-university institutions, industrial partnerships, and service measurements. These offerings are announced and described on the faculty’s website for transfer projects.