News

PhD Candidate Greta Cappello Awarded the 2025 Amelia Earhart Fellowship

Greta Cappello, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Physics, University of Graz, under the supervision of Prof. Manuela Temmer, has been awarded the 2025 Amelia Earhart Fellowship by Zonta International. The fellowship was formally presented last weekend in Aschaffenburg by Dr. Jutta Trube, Governor of Zonta District 14, and Ing. Petra Hackenberg-Wiedl from the Zonta Club Ingolstadt. This prestigious recognition supports Zonta’s mission to advance equality and create a world of better opportunities for women and girls.

Ist da draußen wer? Alexander Shapiro forscht jenseits der Grenzen unseres Sonnensystems

Astrophysicist Isabell Piantschitsch receives Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship

Astrophysicist Isabell Piantschitsch from the University of Graz has been awarded the prestigious and interdisciplinary CINET Grant for Neuroscience and the Humanities by the Tatiana Foundation in Spain. As part of this fellowship, she will begin work in January 2026 at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) on her research project titled "Causality and Epistemic Opacity in Deep Neural Networks."

Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award of the EGU to Karin Dissauer

The 2025 Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award of the Solar-Terrestrial Sciences Division of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) has been awarded to Karin Dissauer for her outstanding research in solar and extra-solar space weather research. The award was presented at the EGU General Assembly that took place in Vienna from 2025 April 27 to May 2 and that gathered more than 20,000 scientists from 120 countries. As the award laudatio highlights:

Panel discussion with AI experts from the University of Graz

The panel discussion with AI experts from the fields of physics, philosophy, art, and human resource management is the final event of the AI project DELPHI, led by Isabell Piantschitsch. By choosing the Stieglerhaus in St. Stefan ob Stainz as the venue for the discussion, the aim is to provide an especially accessible and low-threshold opportunity for people living in more rural areas who are interested in scientific and societal issues related to AI.

PLATOSpec liefert erste Bilder mit Beteiligung Grazer Astrophysiker:Innen

Der neue hochauflösende Spektrograph PLATOSpec am ESO1.52m Teleskop der europäischen Südsternwarte liefert mit Beteiligung von Grazer Astrophysiker:innen erste Daten

Solar storms: stellar "outbursts of rage" more frequent than assumed

An international study involving the University of Graz shows how often sun-like stars tend to experience violent radiation eruptions. The results shed new light on the potential risk for Earth – and emphasise the need for accurate space weather forecasts.

Alexander Shapiro is welcomed as new astrophysics professor

The Department of Astrophysics has a new Professor of Astrophysics. Alexander Shapiro will succeed Arnold Hanslmeier as Professor of Astrophysics. With extensive experience in astronomy and a passion for exploring sun-like stars, the astrophysicist brings a wealth of expertise to further advance research and teaching in the field of astrophysics.