11 May 2026, by Newsroom editorial office

Photo: MPI für Extraterrestrische Physik

Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel

Nobel Prize laureate in Physics Dr. Reinhard Genzel will deliver an Academy Lecture on the topic “Massive Black Holes: Evidence and Cosmological Evolution.” Genzel is accepting an invitation from the University of Hamburg and the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg and will speak on 24 June 2026, at 6 pm in the Main Building of the University of Hamburg. Following the lecture, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society, and a professor at the Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of infrared and submillimeter astronomy. His core research areas are experimental astrophysics, black holes, galactic nuclei, galaxy evolution, star formation, and extragalactic astrophysics. In 2020, he received—together with the American astronomer Andrea Ghez—the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Admission to the Academy Lecture is free

He will now discuss his research as part of an Academy Lecture. This joint initiative of the University of Hamburg and the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg brings top-level researchers to Hamburg for a lecture. The lecture series is open to all interested parties, but is particularly aimed at the university public in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The first lecture in this new series was delivered in 2024 by neuroscientist John-Dylan Haynes. In 2025, climate researcher Friederike Otto was the guest speaker. This year’s lecture is being held in cooperation with the University of Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence “Quantum Universe.”

The Academy Lecture “Massive Black Holes: Evidence and Cosmological Evolution” by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel will take place on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, at 6 pm in the Main Building of the University of Hamburg (Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, 20146 Hamburg, Lecture Hall B). Admission to the event is free, but registration is required by 12 June 2026.

Opening Scientific Dialogue to Urban Society

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel: “Astrophysics teaches us that we are part of the very same universe we are trying to understand—born of stardust and driven by curiosity. To decipher these connections, we rely on highly precise instruments that make even the faintest signals from the depths of the cosmos visible, even from the immediate vicinity of black holes. They extend our senses far beyond what is humanly perceptible and thus open up ever-new perspectives on the universe for us.”

Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, President of the University of Hamburg: “Reinhard Genzel is one of the leading international astrophysicists of our time. His groundbreaking research on massive black holes ties directly into the work of our Cluster of Excellence Quantum Universe. Together with the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg, we are opening this scientific dialogue to the broader community and bringing top-level research in Hamburg to the public eye.”

Prof. Dr. Mojib Latif, president of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg: “As part of the Academy Lecture series, we bring internationally renowned researchers to Hamburg. This year, we are delighted to welcome Reinhard Genzel. In his lecture, he will help us better understand black holes and their significance—celestial bodies that we cannot see, yet which fascinate us nonetheless due to their properties.”

(This content has been translated automatically.)