Research Group Kristina Giesel

Education and Appointments

• Since 2011 W2 Professor FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg 
• 2010 – 2011 Assistant professor Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, US. 
• 01/2010-07/2020 Research Fellow, Excellence Cluster Universe, Technische Universität München, Garching. 
• 10/2008-12/2009 Research Fellow, NORDITA, Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stockholm. 
• 10/2006-09/2008 PostDoc, Albert – Einstein – Institute, Potsdam, Germany.
• Feb 2007 PhD defense (summa cum laude)
• 2003 -2007 University of Potsdam and Albert-Einstein Institute MPI for Gravitational Physics
• 2003 University of Dortmund, (first class with distinction) Partly studied at the Christian-Albrecht-Universität Kiel and the University of Warwick (UK)

Grants and Awards

• 2025 Simons Emmy Noether Fellowship, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Canada.
• 2025 Banff International Research Station Workshop grant ’Recent Development of Quantum Gravity and Applications to Cosmology and Black Hole Physics, to be held in May 2026 at Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics, Hangzhou, China, Organisor: Anzhong Wang, Rong-Gen Cai, Kristina Giesel and Leila Graef
• 2022 Renate-Wittern-Sterzel Award, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg honours ideas and projects in research and teaching that contribute to the promotion of gender equality and greater diversity at the university, Organizing Committee DIPHER-22.
• 2020 Teaching award, Physics department FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg selected by the dean of studies based on student’s evaluations.
• 2019-2024 DFG-NSF grant, Investigations on physical implications of canonical quantum gravity, CO-PI Parampreet Singh Louisiana State University, US.
• 2012 Emergent Field Project Quantum Geometry, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• 2011 Startup Grant for female professors, Bavarian State.
• 2010 NSF Grant, declined due to move to the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• 2010 ESF Grant for the workshop “Open problem in Loop Quantum Gravity.
• 2007 Carl-Ramsauer Award, Physical Society Berlin, Regional Association of the German Physical Society.
• 2007 Michelson Award, University of Potsdam, ScienceDepartment, best PhD thesis of the academic year.
• 2003 – 2006 PhD grant, Heinrich – Böll – Foundation, Germany.
• 2003 Final Year Award, Best Physics Diploma Thesis of the academic year, Physics Department, University of Dortmund.

Activities in the Research System (last 5 years)

• Since 2024 Associate member of the KM3NeT Collaboration.
• Since 2024 Steering board member and secretary, International Society for Loop Quantum Gravity (ILQGS).
• Since 2024 Secondary PI, COST action 23115 Relativistic quantum information. (PI: C. Anastopoulos).
• Since 2024 Secondary PI, COST action 23130, Bridging high and low energies in the search of quantum gravity (PI: G. Gubitosi).
• 2024 Organising Committee, DIPHER-24 Diversity in Physics for the Diversity of Physics, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
• 2024 Organiser Workshop FAUˆ2 on quantum black holes and the relation to asymptotic infinity, joint workshop with Florida Atlantic University in Erlangen, Germany.
• Since 2023 Associate Editor, General Relativity and Gravitation, Springer
  Verlag.
• Since 2023 Editorial board member, Journal Mathematics, section Mathematical Physics, MPDI, Switzerland.
• 2023 Scientific Organising Committee, Loops ’24, Florida Atlantic University, US.
• 2023 Organiser Mini Workshop FAU2 on Loop Quantum Gravity, joint workshop with Florida Atlantic University in Erlangen, Germany.
• 2024 Organising Committee, DIPHER-22 Diversity in Physics for the Diversity of Physics, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
• 2022 Scientific Organising Committee, Loops ’22, ENS de Lyon, France.
• 2019 – 2022 Organising Committee, International Loop Quantum Gravity Seminar.
• Since 2005 Referee, for several Physics journals.

Selected Upcoming Talks

• Kavli Institute for the Physic and Mathematics of the Universe, invited talk, June 2025, Tokyo, Japan
• Westlake University, invited colloquium, June 2025, Hangzhou, China.
• Beijing Normal University, invited talk, June 2025, Beijing, China
• Relativistic Quantum Information North 2025, plenary Talk, June, 2025, Neaples, Italy
• Graduate Days Autumn 2025, lecturer, Introduction to Loop Quantum Gravity, 15 hours, October 2025, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
• Quantum Reference Frames: a QISS Workshop, invited talk, October 2025, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan

Selected Past Talks (last 5 years)

• DPG Spring Meeting 2025, SYDK 1: Quantum Mechanics and Gravity: Current Status , invited talk, April 2025, German Physical Society, Göttingen, Germany.
• 12th Tux Winter Workshop on Quantum Gravity, invited talk, February 2025, Tux-Lanersbach, Austria.
• JUGAR II Workshop on Quantum Gravity, QFT in curved backgrounds, Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, invited talk, December 2024, Madrid, Spain.
• Quantum gravity phenomenlogy at the dawn of the multimessenger era, talk, Jul 2024, University of Madrid, Spain.
• Loops ’24, Panel on quantum black holes, invited panelist, May 2024, Florida Atlantic, University, US.
• Loop Quantum Gravity Summer School 2024 (Blaumann School for Quantum , Gravity), invited lecturer, 5 hours lectures, May 2024, Florida Atlantic University.
• Quantum Gravity Seminar, Perimeter Institute, invited talk, April 2024, Waterloo, Canada.
• Gravity Seminar, Louisiana State University, invited talk, April 2024, Baton Rouge, US.
• Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), invited talk, Mar 2024, Vienna, Austria
• WE-Heraeus Seminar, Time and Clocks, invited talk, Feb 2023, Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, Germany
• Workshop on Quantum Gravity, Hydrodynamics and Emergent Cosmology, invited talk, Dec 2022, LMU Munich, Germany
• Panel on quantum information in gravity, International Loop Quantum Gravity Seminar, invited panelist: Eugenio Bianchi, Kristina Giesel, Euduardo Martin-Martinez, Nov 2022,
• Loops ’22, plenary talk, Jul 2022, ENS de Lyon, France
• Loops ’22 Summer School, invited lecturer, Jul 2022, CPT Marseille & ENS de Lyon, Marseille, France
• DPG Spring Meeting 2022, invited talk, GR session, German Physical Society, Heidelberg, Germany
• Workshop on Quantum Geometry, Field Theory and Gravity, invited talk, Sep 2021, Corfu Summer Institute, Greece
• Quantum Gravity Seminar, Louisiana State University, invited talk. Jan 2020, Baton Rouge, US
• Cosmology Seminar, invited talk, Sep 2019, Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany
• Isolated horizons and near horizon geometries, loop quantum gravity, CR structures and spacetimes, Einstein equations and the twistor equation, plenary talk, Sep 2019, University of Warschau, Poland
• GR 22, invited talk, Jul 2019, Valencia, Spain

Outreach (last 5 years)

• Saturday Morning Physics, public talk, Der Big Bounce in der Quantenkosmologie, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Quantum Physics at Schools, invited talk, Seminar for teachers, Heisenberg Foundation, Germany
• Nicolaus-Copernicus-Symposium, talk Die Quanten-Einstein-Gleichungen und die Physik auf der Planck-Skala, 2. Nicolaus-Copernicus-Symposium, Bildungscampus Stadt Nürnberg
• Popular article, Grenzen von Raum und Zeit im Kontext der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie: Von der klassischen Gravitation zur Quantengravitation, FAU Forschungen, Reihe A, Geisteswissenschaften, Band:17, FAU University Press
• University Days, public talk, Grenzen von Raum und Zeit im Kontext der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie: Von der klassischen Gravitation zur Quantengravitation, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg