Recent High-Impact Publications
Publications are a central component of scientific work, as they make new findings visible, promote the exchange of knowledge and drive progress. TU Dortmund University researchers regularly publish their work in world-leading publications such as Nature and Science as well as other renowned journals. The selection of publications presented here reflects the diversity of their research: from fundamental findings to innovative methods and applications that open up new perspectives. Many of these publications are the result of collaborations with international partners.
2026
- Journal: Nature
- Publication title: Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres
- Short description: Researchers have reconstructed how yeast evolved its unusually small, genetically defined “point centromeres” from much larger, repeat-rich centromeres. By mapping centromeres across related yeast species, they identified previously unknown “proto-point” centromeres embedded in retrotransposon DNA, showing that these mobile genetic elements provided the DNA that was repurposed for modern centromeres. The study reveals a concrete mechanism for how an epigenetically defined centromere can become genetically encoded and illustrates how selfish DNA can be domesticated to perform essential chromosome functions.
- Authors: Max A. B. Haase, Luciana Lazar-Stefanita, Lyam Baudry, Aleksandra Wudzinska, Xiaofan Zhou, Antonis Rokas, Chris Todd Hittinger, Boris Pfander (Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, TU Dortmund University), Andrea Musacchio & Jef D. Boeke
- Partner institutions: MPI of Molecular Physiology and NYU Langone Health (lead partners)
- DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-10092-0
- Journal: Nature Communications
- Publication title: Coherence transfer from optically induced THz magnons to charges
- Short description: By optical pumping a large number of coherent magnons is excited which make themselves felt as a Larmor precession of the antiferromagnetic magnetization. The precessing magnetization shifts the electronic levels due to relativistic spin-orbit coupling. These shifts in turn change the optical transition frequencies so that the detected transmittivity is modulated periodically. This groundbreaking observation shows a possible path to energy-efficient data processing based on magnons.
- Authors: Moritz Cimander, Volker Wiechert, Julian Bär, Takuya Satoh, Jörg Bünemann, Götz S. Uhrig (Department of Physics, TU Dortmund University) & Davide Bossini
- Partner institutions: Universität Konstanz (lead institution), Institute of Science Tokyo
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69261-y
- Journal: Nature Communications
- Publication title: Acute exercise rewires the proteomic landscape of human immune cells
- Short description: The mechanistic study on molecular principles investigates the influence of exercise on the human immune system. Specifically, the question is to what extent a single training session changes the proteostasis of immune cells in a biologically significant way and to what extent this process depends on the intensity of training.
- Authors: David Walzik (Department of Arts and Sports Sciences, TU Dortmund University), Niklas Joisten (Department of Arts and Sports Sciences, TU Dortmund University), Alan J. Metcalfe, Sebastian Proschinger (Department of Arts and Sports Sciences, TU Dortmund University), Alexander Schenk (Department of Arts and Sports Sciences, TU Dortmund University), Charlotte Wenzel (Department of Arts and Sports Sciences, TU Dortmund University), Alessa L. Henneberg, Martin Schneider, Silvia Calderazzo, Andreas Groll (Department of Statistics, TU Dortmund University), Carsten Watzl, Christiane A. Opitz, Dominic Helm & Philipp Zimmer (Department of Arts and Sports Sciences, TU Dortmund University)
- Partner institutions: German Sport University Cologne, German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg, King's College London
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-68101-9
2025
- Journal: Nature Reviews Physics
- Publication title: Global tuning of hadronic interaction models with accelerator-based and astroparticle data
- Short description: The publication presents an approach to systematically investigate common questions in particle and astroparticle physics. The authors shed light on how event generators - programs for simulating hadron collisions - can be used both in accelerator experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and in astroparticle experiments.
- Authors from TU Dortmund University: including Johannes Albrecht, Kevin Kröninger, Felix Riehn, Wolfgang Rhode (all from the Department of Physics)
- Partner institutions: Ruhr University Bochum, University of Wuppertal
- DOI: 10.1038/s42254-025-00897-3
- Journal: Science Advances
- Publication title: Efficient launching of shear phonons in photostrictive halide perovskites
- Short description: The team used ultrashort light pulses to generate hypersonic waves in metal halide perovskites. The findings open up an application of the material for optically controlled devices for the generation and detection of hypersonic waves at sub-terahertz frequencies, which could potentially be used in electronic, photonic, magnetic and biomedical systems.
- Authors from TU Dortmund University: Dmytro O. Horiachyi, Mikhail O. Nestoklon, Ilya A. Akimov, Artur V. Trifonov, Nikita V. Siverin, Nataliia E. Kopteva, Alexander N. Kosarev, Dmitri R. Yakovlev and Manfred Bayer (all from the Department of Physics)
- Partner institutions: Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Le Mans Université (France)
- DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adw9172
- Journal: Nature
- Publication title: The role of metabolism in shaping enzyme structures over 400 million years
- Short description: The researchers have used artificial intelligence to analyze the laws of enzyme evolution on a large scale. In the paper, they describe which enzyme areas change comparatively quickly and which remain practically unchanged over time. The findings are relevant for the development of new antibiotics, for example.
- Author from TU Dortmund University: Toni Ingolf Goßmann (Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering)
- Partner institutions: Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin (lead partner) and other international partners
- DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09205-6
- Journal: Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
- Title of the publication: Shades of Grey or Black and White? How Entrepreneurs' Use of Cognitively Complex Language Affects Investor Funding
- Short description: The study shows that cognitively complex language in start-up pitches leads to greater funding success. An increase in linguistic complexity by one standard deviation leads on average to 7.25 percent more funding, which corresponds to around 125,000 US dollars in additional investment.
- Author from TU Dortmund University: Lorenz Graf-Vlachy (Department of Economics)
- Partner institutions: University of Passau, Technical University of Munich
- DOI: 10.1177/10422587251347042
- Journal: Physical Review Letters
- Title of the publication: Distinct Terahertz Third-Harmonic Generation of Many-Body Excitonic States
- Short description: The team has observed how excitons in semiconductors are generated ultrafast and interact with each other. They have also succeeded in deciphering strong and sensitive nonlinear reactions of exciton dynamics.
- Authors from TU Dortmund University: Changqing Zhu, Anneke Reinold, Patrick Pilch, Sergey Kovalev, Julian Heckötter, Doris Reiter, Manfred Bayer, Marc Assmann, Zhe Wang (all from the Department of Physics)
- DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.196503
- Journal: Nature Communications
- Publication title: Labelizer: systematic selection of protein residues for covalent fluorophore labeling
- Short description: The researchers have developed a computer-based method for fluorescence labeling of biomolecules in order to systematically select labeling sites using the “Labelizer” web server developed for this purpose.
- Author from TU Dortmund University: Thorben Cordes (Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology)
- Partner institutions: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Utrecht University (Netherlands)
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58602-y
- Journal: Nature Communications
- Publication title: Exploring nonlinear dynamics in periodically driven time crystal from synchronization to chaotic motion
- Short description: The team has periodically driven a time crystal and discovered a remarkable variety of nonlinear dynamic phenomena. These range from perfect synchronization to chaotic behavior within a single semiconductor structure.
- Authors from TU Dortmund University: Alex Greilich, Nataliia E. Kopteva, Vladimir L. Korenev, Philipp A. Haude, Manfred Bayer (all from the Department of Physics)
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58400-6
- Journal: Agriculture and Human Values
- Publication title: Professional emotional neutrality and the role of background emotion work in the slaughterhouse
- Short description: The study provides insights into the inner world of slaughterhouse work - and shows the strategies employees use to control their emotions in order to make killing routine.
- Author from TU Dortmund University: Marcel Sebastian (Department of Social Sciences)
- DOI: 10.1007/s10460-025-10713-4
- Journal: Nature Communications
- Publication title: Ultrafast unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance driven by terahertz light field
- Short description: The team has developed a new method to determine magnetic states with light in just a few picoseconds - a thousand times faster than before. Among other things, the scientists used extremely short terahertz pulses for their experiments.
- Authors from TU Dortmund University: Anneke Reinold, Patrick Pilch, Ahmed Ghalgaoui, Max Koch, Zhe Wang, Sergey Kovalev (all from the Department of Physics)
- Partner institutions: Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57432-2
- Journal: Science
- Publication title: Spiro-C(sp3)-atom transfer: Creating rigid three-dimensional structures with Ph2SCN2
- Short description: The team has developed a new reagent that can be used to insert a carbon atom into organic molecules to build three-dimensional structures.
- Authors from TU Dortmund University: Qiu Sun, Jan-Niklas Belting, Julian Hauda, David Tymann, Patrick W. Antoni, Richard Goddard, Max M. Hansmann (all from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology)
- DOI: 10.1126/science.ads5974