Junior Professor Dr. Lena Funcke - Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizewinner 2025
Computational Particle Physics, University of Bonn
Particle physics still faces some major unresolved questions, such as why do neutrinos have such tiny masses, and why is there so much more matter than antimatter in the universe? Lena Funcke is tackling these and other as yet unanswered questions. Her wide-ranging research lies at the intersection of theoretical physics, computer science and mathematics, where she works on new computational methods to study quantum field theories.
This includes developing algorithms for both quantum computers and conventional computers – using machine learning – and also creating new models that go beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Her goal is to make predictions for future experiments that can provide deeper insights into the fundamental processes of nature. Funcke’s research has already opened up new directions – including the development of a model to explain the extremely small mass of neutrinos.