This year's PIER PhD Reception took place on 19 June in the CSSB lecture hall. About 70 doctoral researchers, their supervisors, friends, relatives, and staff from both DESY and Universität Hamburg attended the event to welcome the new doctoral candidates and to honor the doctoral graduates of the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School (PHGS).

In her welcome address, Gudrid Moortgat-Pick, Professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Hamburg, introduced herself the new spokesperson of the PHGS on behalf of University of Hamburg and welcomed all guests in the lecture hall on behalf of DESY and the University of Hamburg. The PHGS spokesperson on behalf of DESY, Prof. Robin Santra, then gave a brief overview of the highly international composition of doctoral researchers at the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School: "For a German research center, it is something very special to have over 50% non-German doctoral researchers." He warmly welcomed the 67 new members of the graduate school since the last reception in July 2025, of which a quite substantial number also have an oversea’s background. “I think you have made the right decision to come here. Our campus here is probably one of the most exciting places worldwide to do research.”

Farewell to Prof. Daniela Pfannkuche 

Prof. Daniela Pfannkuche, also a professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Hamburg, was then invited onto the stage, where Prof. Santra delivered a warm and humorous tribute to her. Prof. Pfannkuche had served as the spokesperson for the graduate school for more than 15 years until her retirement in April 2026. With a twinkle in his eye, Prof. Santra presented her with a ‘Transcript of Records’ and a ‘Certificate’ from the PHGS, saying: „You have been guiding the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School through challenges and successes with empathy professional expertise.” With a smile (and probably feeling a little moved too), Prof. Pfannkuche accepted her ‘graduation documents’. The All Pass Band, which once again provided a lively musical backdrop to this year’s PIER PhD Reception, played Michael Bublé’s Feeling Good – a fitting choice for such an emotional moment. 

The hidden cost of computing – energy use from data centers to algorithms 

In the afternoon’s keynote lecture, Dr. Ives Kemp, Head of the Interdisciplinary Data & Analysis Facility (IDAF) at DESY, talked about "The Hidden Cost of Computing – Energy Use from Data Centers to Algorithms”.  After Dr. Kemp had quizzed the audience on the energy consumption of data centers, and the global scale of data center energy use, comparing it to household consumption (e.g., DESY’s data center equaling 4,000 houses), he explained that computing has a real and often hidden energy cost: data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity, and every line of code ultimately runs on physical infrastructure that needs power, cooling, storage, and networking. “Efficiency is not only a data-center issue but also a software and algorithmic one, where better algorithms, reduced memory or storage use, parallelization, and avoiding wasteful code can save energy”, Dr Kemp continued. “Even with major efficiency gains, the rebound effect means society may simply compute more. So understanding and managing these costs is our shared scientific and social responsibility!”, he concluded.

More farewells

An elementary component of the PIER PhD Reception was again the farewell to the members who successfully completed their doctorate in the last 12 months. Prof. Moortgat-Pick invited the graduates to the stage and thanked them for their great scientific contributions. One graduate had her oral defense only three days ago. The audience, which also included family members of the graduates, honored them with hearty applause. 

The PIER PhD Reception was moderated by Stefanie Tepass, Lead Coordinator of the PHGS, who at the end of the event thanked the All Pass Band with musicians from DESY, who played one last song, “Walk of Life” from the Dire Straits – it was the band’s gentle reminder not to lose our confidence and enthusiasm in these difficult times. 

The evening ended with a relaxed get-together with vegetarian food and cold drinks in the foyer of the CSSB.

Photos: Kevin Winiker/DESY