Young CAS Projects of January 2025 – December 2026: Particle Astrophysics and Philology.

The Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) are delighted to announce that Foteini Oikonomou, Associate Professor at the department of Physics at NTNU, and Stefan Drechsler, Researcher at the Department of Linguistics, Literary and Aesthetic Studies at the University of Bergen, has been selected as the two new Young CAS PIs.

Foteini Oikonomou: Illuminating Supermassive Black Hole Environments and Cosmic Particle Acceleration with Tidal Disruption Events

Foteini Oikonomou’s project addresses a significant unresolved issue of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. These are particles with energies of over 10^20 electronvolts, i.e. 10 million times higher than what can be achieved at the world's most powerful accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider. These microscopic elementary cosmic particles pack a macroscopic amount of energy comparable to the kinetic energy of a tennis ball moving at over 100 kilometres per hour. So far there has been no promising discovery of astronomical objects matching the directions of these particles, suggesting that their sources might be transient and short-lived. 

Oikonomou’s research focuses on developing predictive models and conducting observational tests for high-energy cosmic ray emissions from tidal disruption events, where a star is torn apart by a supermassive black hole. The project aims to provide new insights into the environments surrounding supermassive black holes and could uncover a promising source of cosmic particle acceleration. 

Supported by the Young CAS Grant, this research will advance collaboration within the Norwegian astrophysics community and strengthen international partnerships, bringing together scientists from diverse fields to contribute to the rapidly growing area of particle astrophysics in Norway.

Stefan Drechsler: Writing in Latin and in the Vernacular: Bilingual Scribal Practice in Norway ca. 1300–1350

Stefan Drechsler’s project explores the scribal and social circumstances surrounding the creation and use of Latin and Old Norwegian manuscripts in medieval Norway. The project aims to bridge the gap in current research by examining these manuscripts from a holistic and interdisciplinary perspective, embracing bilingualism, and involving expertise from medieval Latin and Old Norse philology.

The project seeks to locate additional manuscripts and fragments produced by the same bilingual scribes and increase understanding of specific production sites. This will enhance knowledge of manuscript provenance, textual influences, and the personal networks of scribes, rubricators, and illuminators.

Through the Young CAS Programme the project can fully develop its aim of novel collaborative research in the fields of Latin and Old Norwegian philology. Aligned with the CAS mission, the project has the potential to advance the research frontiers in both fields, both concerning its applied methodology and the expected research results.

We look forward to following Oikonomou and Drechsler’s projects the next two years.

Congratulations to both PIs!