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English Logo - Department of Physics - TU Dortmund
Studierende sitzt am Arbeitsplatz und schaut auf den Laptop. © Aliona Kardash​/​TU Dortmund
Dr. Christoph Köhn new at the Department of Physics

Simulating and understanding the processes in thunderclouds

© firewings​/​stock.adobe.com
Dr. Christoph Köhn deals with the theoretical investigation and modeling of clouds and lightning.
After ten years in Copenhagen, physicist Dr. Christoph Köhn has returned to Germany. Since December, he has been working in the Heisenberg Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG) at TU Dortmund University's Department of Physics. With this program, the DFG recognizes the "high scientific quality and originality of his research at an international level" as well as his suitability for further qualification as a university lecturer. The DFG will now support the physicist for five years to continue his theoretical investigations and modeling of clouds and lightning - and to further enhance his reputation.

Dr. Christoph Köhn's working group is mainly concerned with the theoretical investigation and modelling of atmospheric plasmas. "This involves everyday phenomena that we are all familiar with: clouds and lightning," says Köhn. "Although these have been known for thousands of years, we still don't have a precise understanding of the processes within a cloud." His team is using newly developed methods to simulate the processes that take place in a thundercloud. The focus is on electrical charge processes that develop into lightning and on so-called "terrestrial gamma-ray flashes" (TGFs), which consist of X-rays and gamma rays. These are the highest-energy processes on Earth.

Another focus of his research is plasma chemistry. Köhn explains: "For example, we want to understand the extent to which thunderstorms contribute to the production of greenhouse gases and what role they may have played in the formation of prebiotic molecules on the primordial Earth." In the long term, this work could explain the effects of thunderclouds on technology and nature. Dr. Christoph Köhn came to TU Dortmund University from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Copenhagen, where he conducted research for ten years. "Dortmund was a particularly interesting location for me, as the physics department has a very broad research spectrum and offers promising collaboration opportunities in particle physics and biophysics."

At DTU, he was initially funded with a Marie Curie Postdoc Fellowship from the EU. In 2018, he was appointed Researcher, which corresponds to the German junior professorship. A year later, he was appointed Senior Researcher, which is equivalent to an international Associate Professor. In March 2026, he will defend his habilitation thesis at DTU. He had previously completed his doctorate in Amsterdam and a short research stay in Brussels. He studied physics in Kiel and Hamburg. In 2021, Dr. Christoph Köhn received a Danish Starting Grant of around 800,000 euros to set up a group that simulates lightning and related phenomena. Since 2025, he has also been leading a Horizon Europe Doctoral Network as Principal Investigator with funding of around 4.6 million euros to investigate energetic radiation from thunderclouds.

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