Professor Dr. Marco Durante, Head of the Biophysics Department at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and Professor of Physics at TU Darmstadt, has been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant by the European Research Council. This grant will fund his groundbreaking research project HI-FLASH for the next five years, exploring the potential of very heavy ion FLASH therapy to treat highly resistant brain tumors such as glioblastoma. Durante and his team will investigate how ultra-short, high-intensity pulses of heavy ion beams—especially with neon ions—can maximize tumor control while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. The approach leverages the FLASH effect, a phenomenon in which very rapid radiation delivery spares normal cells, although its mechanisms are still being studied. GSI/FAIR is the only facility worldwide equipped to explore this technique with ions heavier than carbon. This is the second ERC Advanced Grant awarded to Prof. Durante, following the success of his 2020 BARB project on precision tumor therapy. “The next five years offer an extraordinary opportunity to transfer basic research into concrete medical progress,” said Prof. Durante. “I am deeply grateful to the ERC and look forward to advancing cancer therapy together with my team and GSI colleagues.”