SFB 956:  Conditions and Impact of Star Formation - Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Laboratory Research

• Subject Area: Physics
• Term: from 2011 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 184018867

The CRC 956 “Conditions and Impact of Star Formation - Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Laboratory Research” combines the unique expertise of the participating astrophysics groups in Cologne and Bonn towards three main goals: to advance our scientific topic beyond the state-of-the-art; to foster and intensify the scientific collaboration of the involved disciplines; and to train young researchers in the unique research environment provided by the CRC 956.The scientific scope of the CRC 956 is set by the “Cosmic Cycle of Star Formation”, which comprises the formation of molecular clouds from the diffuse interstellar medium in star-forming galaxies, the formation of stars within these molecular clouds, the dispersal of the molecular clouds by feedback from the young (massive) stars, and the feedback of the metal-enriched material of the aged stars into the interstellar medium, closing the cycle. The Cosmic Cycle shapes the evolution of the baryonic matter in the Universe, from the Big Bang to present day. The CRC 956 focuses on understanding and identifying the physical processes which set the conditions for star formation in different galactic environments, reaching from normal star forming galaxies like our Milky Way to extreme conditions present near Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) or in starbursts.It is the unique combination of a strong observational astrophysics program (project area A) with the adequate advanced modeling tools and simulations (project area C), the necessary laboratory astrophysics (project area B), and the development of new astronomical instrumentation (project area D) that enables the progress in star formation research in the CRC 956.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

• A01 - Understanding Galaxy Assembly (Project Heads Bertoldi, Frank ;  Karim, Alexander ;  Magnelli, Benjamin )
• A02 - Conditions for Star Formation in Nearby AGN and QSO Hosts (Project Heads Britzen, Ph.D., Silke ;  Eckart, Andreas )
• A03 - The Interstellar Medium and Star Formation in nearby Galaxies (Project Heads Stutzki, Jürgen ;  Weiß, Axel )
• A04 - The Phases of the Interstellar Medium: Mapping Milky Way Sources (Project Head Stutzki, Jürgen )
• A05 - The Interstellar Medium and Star Formation in the Galactic Center (Project Heads Menten, Karl M. ;  Simon, Robert )
• A06 - High-Mass Star Formation (Project Heads Sanchez-Monge, Alvaro ;  Wyrowski, Friedrich )
• B01 - Formation of Carbonaceous Molecules (Project Head Giesen, Thomas )
• B02 - Understanding Deuterium Fractionation (Project Head Asvany, Oskar )
• B03 - Tracing Complex Molecules (Project Heads Belloche, Arnaud ;  Lewen, Frank )
• B04 - Chirped Pulse Fourier Transform Spectroscopy for Astrophysics (Project Head Schlemmer, Stephan )
• C01 - Modelling of Irradiated Molecular Clouds (Project Head Ossenkopf-Okada, Volker )
• C02 - Shock Modelling (Project Head Bertoldi, Frank )
• C03 - Astrochemistry (Project Heads Bergin, Edwin ;  Schilke, Ph.D., Peter )
• C04 - Star formation and feedback in simulations of galaxy formation (Project Head Porciani, Cristiano )
• C05 - Star Formation and Feedback in Molecular Clouds (Project Head Walch-Gassner, Stefanie )
• C06 - Astrochemical MHD simulations and synthetic observations (Project Head Seifried, Daniel )
• D02 - Technology Developments for Advanced Heterodyne Instruments (Project Head Graf, Urs )
• D03 - Terahertz Detector Development (Project Head Honingh, Netty )
• D05 - Digital Signal Processing (Project Head Klein, Bernd )
• S - Instrumentation: Design and Construction (Project Head Graf, Urs )
• Z01 - Central Tasks (Project Heads Bertoldi, Frank ;  Schlemmer, Stephan ;  Stutzki, Jürgen )
• Z02 - Verwaltung und Koordination (Project Heads Bertoldi, Frank ;  Schlemmer, Stephan ;  Stutzki, Jürgen )
• Ö - Public Outreach (Project Heads Bertoldi, Frank ;  Schlemmer, Stephan ;  Stutzki, Jürgen )

• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Participating University: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH) ; Institut für Quantenelektronik; Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Stephan Schlemmer, since 1/2019; Professor Dr. Jürgen Stutzki, until 12/2018