Home – Institute for Nuclear Physics

Welcome

on the web pages of the Institute for Nuclear Physics (IKP) at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

We study and teach in the areas of nuclear structure physics, nuclear astrophysics, relativistic heavy-ion physics, plasma physics, astroparticle physics, accelerator physics and related fields in experimental and theoretical groups.

The IKP operates the Superconducting Darmstadt Linear Accelerator (S-DALINAC), various detector and targer laboratories as well as a Theory Center.

The Institute for Nuclear Physics is an essential participant in the research field M+M (Matter and Materials) of the Technical University of Darmstadt. It is an institute within the Department of Physics beside the Institute for Applied Physics and the Institute for Physics of Condensed Matter.

Experimentalists and theoreticians work closely together on a number of scientific topics.

Latest News

Bild: Focused Energy

Bild: Focused Energy

Die TU Darmstadt feiert ihr erstes Einhorn: Focused Energy

Juni 25, 2026

Mit Focused Energy hat erstmals eine Ausgründung der TU Darmstadt den Einhorn-Status erreicht.

Als Einhörner werden Start-ups bezeichnet, die mit mehr als einer Milliarde Dollar bewertet werden. Das 2021 gegründete deutsch-amerikanische Laserfusionsunternehmen hatte zuletzt eine Finanzierungsrunde bekanntgegeben und zählt zu den führenden Unternehmen der Laserfusion.
Picture: KI-generiert

Picture: KI-generiert

New insights into the decay of neutron-rich atomic nuclei

June 09, 2026

Researchers at the IKP are improving our understanding of the formation of heavy elements in the universe

How are heavy elements formed in the universe? Extremely neutron-rich atomic nuclei and their beta-decay rates play an important role in this process. Until now, it has been very difficult to determine these rates experimentally. Researchers from the Department of Physics have developed theoretical predictions for such processes and successfully compared them with experimental data, where they exist. The results were published in the renowned journal “Physical Review Letters”.

All News

Picture: Jan-Christoph Hartung

Portrait of the Institute

The IKP was presented in the journal 'Nuclear Physics News'. The article can be found at

The article can be found here.

Virtual Tour

Visit the superconducting electron accelerator S-DALINAC virtually! The basic operation of the accelerator and its experiments is explained in this video.

More information can be found on the webpages of the S-DALINAC.