GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences is pleased to host two internationally renowned seismologists this summer, Professor Yehuda Ben-Zion from the University of Southern California and Professor Gregory C. Beroza from Stanford University. They are both recipients of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, one of Germany’s most prestigious distinctions for internationally leading researchers, which enables their research stay in Section 4.2 Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling with Prof. Marco Bohnhoff.

Their visits highlight GFZ’s role as a global center for excellence in earthquake science and geophysical data analysis, while further strengthening long-standing international collaborations. Professor Ben-Zion is widely recognized for his pioneering work on fault-zone structure and dynamics, which has fundamentally advanced our understanding of earthquake generation and the mechanical behavior of active faults. Professor Beroza has been a driving force in the application of modern computational and data-science methods to seismology, including groundbreaking contributions to earthquake detection, seismic imaging, and machine-learning-based analysis of geophysical data.

Together with Professors Ben-Zion and Beroza, GFZ researchers are addressing some of the most important challenges in contemporary earthquake science. A central focus is the investigation of earthquake preparatory processes and the physical mechanisms that precede large seismic events, with the goal of improving our understanding of earthquake nucleation and seismic hazard. At the same time, these collaborations advance the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning across a wide range of geoscientific applications, from the creation and analysis of next-generation seismological catalogs to the development of foundation models that can extract knowledge from increasingly large and complex Earth observation datasets. By combining fundamental insights into earthquake physics with state-of-the-art computational approaches, GFZ and its collaborators are helping to shape the future of geohazard research and Earth system science.

Further Information on Research Visits:

Prof. Gregory C. Beroza will be at GFZ from June 8th to July 5th, 2026.
Prof. Yehuda Ben-Zion will be at GFZ from June 22nd to August 31st, 2026.

Planned Talks at House H:

Gregory C. Beroza: July 2nd, 2026, 1:00 PM
Yehuda Ben-Zion: July 17th, 2026, 11:00 AM