Department of Physics

Network Science Group

We are a broadly interested group, working on problems in network science, nonlinear dynamics, time series analysis and Machine Learning. We apply methods from theoretical physics to problems in energy and climate science, power grids, and econophysics. Find out more in our research overview.


We are located at Forschungszentrum Jülich, which lies roughly halfway between Cologne and Aachen.


Teaching in Summer Semester 2023: Prof. Witthaut will give lecture on Complex Networks and Energy Grids .


We are happy to announce that Prof. Witthaut was awarded the Albertus Magnus-Lehrpreis by the University of Cologne.

1.2.2023 - Jan Lange has joined our group for a bachelor thesis project.

27.1.2023 - Johannes Kruse has successfully defended his PhD thesis. Congratulations!

1.12.2022 - Dalita Danyali and Hannes Hilger have joined our group for a master thesis project.

14.11.2022 - Sebastian Pütz has successfully defended his master thesis. He will move to KIT to do a PhD with Benjamin Schäfer. Congratulations!

1.11.2022 - Dorothea Kistinger will do a master in our group in collaboration with Sandra Venghaus and Michael Schaub from RWTH Aachen.

Mai 2022 - Our paper on electricity price fluctuations has been reviewed in Science, Nature Reviews Physics, and in APS Physics.

01.05.2022 - Maurizio Titz has successfully defended his master thesis and stays as a PhD candidate. Congratulations!

01.04.2022 - Julius Trebbien has joined our group for a master thesis project.

13.01.2022 - The German TV station WDR has interviewed Dirk Witthaut for their instagram story on Blackouts .

09.11.2021 - The German newspaper Die Welt has referred to our research in a recent article.

01.11.2021 - Sebastian Pütz has joined our group for a master thesis project.

13.10.2021 - Check out the press release about our recently published paper on grid frequency stability and explainable AI.

01.10.2021 - Carsten Hartmann has joined our group for a master thesis project.

15.09.2021 - Franz Kaiser successfully defended his PhD thesis! Congratulations!

07.09.2021 - Raphael Biertz successfully defended his Master thesis! Congratulations!

18.02.2021 - Leonardo Rydin successfully defended his PhD thesis! Congratulations!