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Elina Fuchs
Theoretical particle physics with quantum sensors and colliders
Elina Fuchs is Lead Scientist at DESY and Professor of Theoretical Particle Physics at the University of Hannover. Her research focuses on extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics and their phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN as well as at future accelerators and at the interface to atomic physics. In doing so, she connects two different areas of theoretical elementary particle physics: accelerator-based high-energy physics on the one hand, and complementary high-precision physics using highly sensitive quantum sensors on the other. Specifically, she investigates the properties of the Higgs boson, candidates for dark matter and the baryon asymmetry of the universe, and she searches for new particles using various approaches – from large accelerators to small, precise atomic-physics experiments. To this end, she develops innovative methods to test theoretical predictions against experimental data and propose new, sensitive measurements.
In the Cluster of Excellence QuantumFrontiers, she heads a fundamental-research group that focuses on testing dark matter and changing fundamental constants using high-precision spectroscopy of atoms, ions and atomic nuclei. Within the international quantum sensor collaboration DRD5, she leads Work Package 1 on sensors made of atoms, molecules, nuclei and nanoparticles for exploring physics beyond the Standard Model. From 2022 to 2023, she coordinated the theory branch of the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative. She has received numerous fellowships and awards for her research, including the 2023 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize from the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Academic career
| since 2025 | Lead Scientist at DESY and Professor at the University of Hannover |
| 2021-2024 | Junior Professor, University of Hannover and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) |
| 2022-2023 | Coordinator of the theory branch of the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative |
| 2021-2023 | Senior Research Fellow, CERN |
| 2019-2021 | Postdoc / Feodor Lynen Fellow, Fermilab and University of Chicago, USA |
| 2015-2019 | Postdoc / Minerva Fellow, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel |
| 2015 | PhD (Dr. rer. nat.), University of Hamburg |
| 2012-2015 | Doctoral student at DESY |
| 2012 | MSc in Physics, University of Göttingen |
| 2010-2012 | Master thesis at DESY |
| 2009-2010 | Erasmus student, University of Helsinki, Finland |
| 2006-2012 | Physics studies, University of Göttingen |
Memberships
| seit 2026 | Council of the QUEST Leibniz Research School |
| seit 2025 | Scientific Advisory Board of the Physics Center Bad Honnef |
| seit 2024 | Board of the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) DQ-mat |
| seit 2021 | Science Board of the Cluster of Excellence QuantumFrontiers |
