As 2025 draws to a close, we look back on an intense, eventful, and highly successful year. The past months were shaped by curiosity, dedication, and a strong sense of togetherness, with many moments of working, researching, and celebrating side by side. Much of what we achieved would not have been possible without this shared spirit and mutual support.
The following highlights offer a glimpse into the diversity of our scientific, technical, and collaborative efforts throughout the year.
This spirit of togetherness was especially tangible at the attoworld-retreat, which brought many members of our community together in one place for the first time in years. A total of 103 participants, including 23 alumni from around the world, met at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching and in Ötztal to reconnect and exchange ideas. The retreat provided an opportunity for in depth scientific exchange and reflection on the year’s most significant research outcomes.
One notable example is the work of the research group attosecond spectroscopy 2.0 (ATTO), which achieved an important theoretical breakthrough. The new GASFIR approach enables, for the first time, a reliable reconstruction of time resolved ionization dynamics in strong laser fields from measurable observables. The method overcomes long standing theoretical ambiguities and applies to both atoms and solids, opening new perspectives for photoinjection control and the advancement of lightwave electronics.
Alongside these conceptual advances, important technological progress was also made. Within Attosecond Spectroscopy 2.0, the HORUS laser team demonstrated a self compressing spectral broadening scheme for the laser system, underscoring the group’s innovative strength and technical expertise.
Complementing these developments, the BIRD-team successfully advanced blood based infrared molecular fingerprinting from concept to the largest oncological dataset to date. By combining infrared profiling with machine learning, the study analyzed more than 2,500 participants and detected four common cancer types, with particularly strong performance for lung cancer. The team is now exploring the underlying molecular signatures and expanding the Lasers4Life study across Germany toward clinical application.
Beyond individual projects, substantial infrastructure and data science driven progress was achieved. With the installation of Infrasampler 3.0 at ELI ALPS in Szeged, a complete laser system for blood sample measurements was commissioned for CMF. In parallel, the data science-team demonstrated how advanced algorithms can transform complex molecular signals into meaningful biomedical insights.
Building on this momentum, Dr. Kosmas Kepesidis is contributing to the establishment of the ‘John von Neumann Institute of Data Science’ as a joint initiative of Semmelweis University and the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting. The institute focuses on data driven molecular approaches to advance early disease detection and personalized, predictive healthcare, while also launching an interdisciplinary doctoral program to train the next generation of researchers.
An important step in strengthening international collaboration was Ferenc Krausz’s Inaugural Lecture at the University of Hong Kong on November 7. On this occasion, he announced a long term strategic partnership between Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting in Budapest, and the University of Hong Kong within the global protecting.health initiative. This collaboration marks an important step toward personalized, precision based prevention.
In addition to these scientific achievements, we also celebrate the successful PhD defenses of Weiwei Li, Johannes Blöchl, and Tarek Eissa, reflecting both scientific excellence and perseverance.
At this time of year, we thank all team members for their dedication, creativity, and team spirit. We wish you and your families peaceful holidays, time to reflect, and renewed energy for the year ahead. May 2026 bring good health and many inspiring moments.
Ferenc, the admin & communications team
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