4.4.2026
The German Research Foundation is funding a new Research Unit at Heidelberg University with approximately €5.3 million over a period of four years.
The project “DELight: Direct Search Experiment for Light Dark Matter with Superfluid Helium” brings together six research teams from Heidelberg, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the University of Freiburg. The researchers aim to develop a novel, highly sensitive experiment to detect particles of so-called light dark matter.
Dark matter is believed to account for up to 85% of the matter in the universe, yet it has so far not been directly detected. The experiment makes use of the properties of ultra-cold, superfluid helium. Possible interactions of dark matter particles with the helium would result in tiny energy depositions that can be measured as a rise in temperature using highly sensitive superconducting quantum sensors.
At Heidelberg University, researchers are developing the cryogenic platform required to cool the helium to just a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, thus creating the conditions necessary for this new type of experiment.
The Research Unit is coordinated by Prof. Belina von Krosigk from the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics.
Further information:
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroom/universitat-heidelberg-new-research-unit-in-physics
