If you feel as if the world is rushing by, slow down for a moment and take a virtual walk with us through the HITS garden. We wish you a relaxing weekend 🐸🌺🐦

Last chance to register! 📣

Registration for the 4th SIMPLAIX Workshop closes tomorrow, 10 April 2026.

Secure your spot now and join leading researchers at the intersection of #ML and multiscale molecular modeling.

🔗 Register now: simplaix-workshop2026.h-its.org/registration/

#SIMPLAIX26

Together with colleagues from @uniheidelberg.bsky.social and #KITKarlsruhe, @hitsters.bsky.social researchers are addressing challenges in the simulation of #biomolecules and #MolecularMaterials by pooling their expertise in multiscale #ComputerSimulation and #MachineLearning.

The molecular research “booster” evolves: SIMPLAIX collaboration starts the next phase - HITS Computer simulations and Artificial Intelligence are the main pillars of the “SIMPLAIX” collaboration, initiated by the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (...

SIMPLAIX enters its next phase. ➡️

With expanded collaborations and a continued focus on AI-driven simulation, Phase 2 strengthens efforts to better understand complex molecular systems.

Find out more: www.h-its.org/2026/04/07/s...

A very Happy Easter from HITS! We hope this spring day blooms with joy for you and your loved ones. 🌸

Happy 1st of April! We hope you haven’t fallen victim to any jokes today. Take your mind off the day’s silliness for a while with our new calendar page. It features the fountain in our rose garden and the sound of its water dripping smoothly. ⛲🫧 Turn your sound on and tune in to a moment of peace. 🧘

Big congrats to HITS group leader Tilmann Gneiting on receiving the 2026 Wald Memorial Award from the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS)! 🎉

More information: www.h-its.org/2026/03/24/g...

Portrait of Gerd Faltings

Congratulations to Gerd Faltings, for being named the recipient of the 2026 Abel Prize.
We would be honored to welcome you at the 13th Heidelberg Laureate Forum this year!

Learn more about Faltings in an interview with Tom Crawford at the 11th HLF.
👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVUL...

Gerd Faltings to receive the 2026 Abel Prize Gerd Faltings, Director Emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, has become the first German to receive the Abel Prize, having previously been awarded the Fields Medal.

Huge congratulations to Gerd Faltings, our director emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for #Mathematics in Bonn, on receiving the 2026 #AbelPrize, an annual mathematics lifetime-achievement award often called the “Nobel Prize of math” !🎉😀www.mpg.de/26279645/gerd-faltings-2...

Great news – the early bird registration and abstract submission deadline for the 10th Conference on Systems Biology of Mammalian Cells has been extended. 🎉

Don’t miss out! 👇 There is still time to be part of it.

Issue 1 | 2026 - HITS With the start of the new Clusters of Excellence – DYNAVERSE and SynthImmune – HITS is participating in two major projects in astronomy ...

Happy Reading: www.h-its.org/2026/03/04/i...

The first HITS newsletter of 2026 is out now! 🎉 📰

Featuring insights into our contributions to the
#DYNAVERSE and #SynthImmune Clusters of Excellence, new research on earthquake forecasting, as well as an interview with HITS group leader Kai Polsterer @astroinformatix.bsky.social.

Happy International Day of Mathematics! 🔢 This year’s #IDM theme is Mathematics and Hope – because hope, like mathematics, is one of humanity’s most universal assets. At HITS, we celebrate mathematics and its role in shaping the world as we know it, in hopes for a better future. 🌍 #PiDay

bsky.app/profile/unih...

bsky.app/profile/kit....

Congratulations to our shareholders Heidelberg University @uniheidelberg.bsky.social and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) @kit.edu on once again being awarded the status of University of Excellence! 🎉

We’re thrilled to celebrate HITS group leader Fabian Schneider on earning his Venia Legendi (Habilitation) from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Heidelberg! 🎉A truly well-deserved milestone! ✨

Read more here: www.h-its.org/2026/03/05/h...

Registration is now open for the 4th SIMPLAIX Workshop!

📅 6–8 May 2026
📍 Studio Villa Bosch, Heidelberg

Three days of cutting-edge discussions at the intersection of machine learning and multiscale molecular modeling.

🔗 Register now: simplaix-workshop2026.h-its.org

#SIMPLAIX26

March is here; spring is near... how many creatures can you hear? From the tiniest insect to the largest bird, they all contribute to the soundscape of the HITS garden. Ready for a new part of life, the toads in our ponds also croak a love song of sorts. Curious? Listen to their serenade here. 🐸

Coarse-Grained Martini 3 Model of Chondroitin Sulfate A Chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) is a negatively charged linear glycosaminoglycan that plays a vital role in many biological processes. Research on CSA has been challenging due to its size, chemical heterogeneity, and multitude of binding partners. To address these issues, we developed a model of CSA for coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations based on the Martini 3 force field. We demonstrate that this model is capable of reproducing atomistic properties of the repeating CSA disaccharide unit, including its molecular volume, bonded interactions, and structural polymer properties of CSA chains of different lengths. In particular, for biologically relevant long chains and despite using an explicit solvent, the computational cost is significantly reduced, relative to the cost equivalent atomistic simulations would require. The compatibility of the model with the Martini Go̅ protein model was tested by retrieving the force–response relationship of the CSA–malaria adhesin VAR2CSA complex. Importantly, we explored the influence of electrostatics on CSA aggregation. We show that the default Martini 3 parameters lead to overaggregation. We provide at least three different strategies to alleviate this issue, making use of a bigger bead for sodium cations, reflecting their hydration shell, partial ionic charges as a mean-field resource to take into account electronic polarizability, and, optionally, particle mesh Ewald summation as a more robust treatment of long-range electrostatics. Our model enables predictive modeling of CSA and potentially other chondroitin sulfates with the Martini 3 force field. In addition, this model provides insights for the further development of coarse-grained models of highly charged systems.

🧪 Simulating large biomolecules without massive compute costs

This new study from the group Frauke Gräter presents a coarse-grained model of chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) using the Martini 3 framework.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

@mpip-mainz.mpg.de @hitsters.bsky.social

HITS welcomes 2026 Journalist in Residence Monika Mondal - HITS The Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies gives science journalists the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of computer-based, data-driven science with a ...

🎉 Welcome to HITS, Monika! 🎉

We’re excited to welcome Monika Mondal as our 2026 Journalist in Residence at HITS. #JiR2026

www.h-its.org/2026/02/18/h...

Ever wondered how to make economic forecast honest, transparent, and user-friendly?

@kit.edu and HITS researchers show a simple method that:

💡 Quantifes uncertainty
💡 Beats or matches traditional models
💡 Offers real-time interval forecasts

Photo © Jakub Żerdzicki

www.h-its.org/2026/02/09/f...

Early bird registration and abstract submission for the SBMC 2026 are now open📝Come and join us in the Baroque Palace Mannheim!
🗓️ 4-6 May 2026
📍Mannheim
⏳ Deadline: March 15
For more information and registration visit www.lisym-cancer.org/sbmc2026/reg...
We look forward to seeing you there! 👋

February is the shortest month of the year, but the days are getting longer. Make the most of the extra sunlight by taking a walk with someone you love. Stepping on gravel can produce a surprisingly soothing sound that may relax the mind and inspire thought-provoking conversation. Listen below 🔊🌹📅

„Nicht Mensch oder Maschine, sondern ein dynamisches Wechselspiel“ – das Fazit von Vincent Heuveline aus seinem gestrigen Talk „Der KI-Komponist aus den Fugen: zwischen Kreativität & Kalkül". Ein Abend voller Einblicke darin, wie KI und menschliche Intuition die Musik von morgen prägen.
Foto © MAINS

Veranstaltung im Toniq Club Heidelberg: Science of Music - Science Notes Am 22. Januar richtet Science Notes in Heidelberg einen Abend zum Thema »Science of Music« aus – kommt vorbei!

Mehr Infos zum Event: sciencenotes.de/veranstaltun...

Science of Music: HITS-Gruppenleiter Vincent Heuveline nimmt uns morgen mit in die Welt der KI-Komposition mit seinem Vortrag "Der KI-Komponist aus den Fugen: zwischen Kreativität und Kalkül."

📍 Toniq Club | Heidelberg
🗓 22.01.2026
⏰ Einlass: 18:30 Uhr | Beginn: 19:00 Uhr
🎟 Eintritt frei

© HITS

More about the Cluster: dynaverse.astro.uni-koeln.de

Today marks the launch of the #DYNAVERSECluster 🚀 🌌

We're delighted to celebrate this milestone with our Managing Director Gesa Schönberger and Scientific Director Kai Polsterer on site at the launch event – bringing together leading minds from across institutions and disciplines.

In remembrance of Peer Bork  | EMBL EMBL and its community are deeply saddened by the death of Peer Bork, the organisation’s Interim Director General.

It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Peer Bork, Interim Director General of EMBL @embl.org and a valued scientific collaborator. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who had the privilege of working with him.

In remembrance of P. Bork: www.embl.org/news/embl-an...