Exploring physics beyond the Standard Model

Anna Obertacke comes from Germany and conducted research in Japan for several years before joining as a senior lecturer at Fysikum. "I'm searching for particles or phenomena predicted in theories that nobody has ever detected or measured before. The tool for my search is the IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at South Pole in Antarctica."

Senior lecturer Anna Obertacke, Astroparticle Physics, Department of Physics, Stockholm University. Photo: Gunilla Häggström

From medicine to chemistry and finally physics

Anna was born in Essen, Germany and initially wanted to become a physician, as many members of her family worked in medicine. "Over time, I've realized that my main interest was not clinical practice, but understanding the underlying mechanisms of nature. This lead me to ask increasingly fundamental questions, moving from biology to chemistry and ultimately physics."

Anna received a diploma from the University of Wuppertal in 2013 and completed her PhD in 2016.

She was a postdoc before being an assistant professor for 3 years at Chiba University close to Tokyo in Japan.

In 2018-2019 she went to the South Pole for 6 weeks each during the Antarctic summer when it was up to minus 30 degrees.

Associate Professor and University Lector at Fysikum

"I came here in 2025 and I've been living at Wennergren Center with my 5-year-old daughter. I'm studying Swedish in my free time. From this summer this I'll be teaching bachelor's and master's students.

My research focuses on the search for particles that have never been observed before. I'm bridging theoretical physics the research, which predicts these particles, with experimental physics which constructs and operates detectors."

Anna and her team are extending IceCube, the South Pole neutrino observatory, with hundreds of new sensors in the Antarctic summer of 2025/2026 (November to February). IceCube is a cubic-kilometer-scale particle detector embedded in the Antarctic ice near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The new sensors are deployed densely in the central region of IceCube forming a sub-array called the ”IceCube Upgrade“.

"We reached a major milestone mid January 2026 when we deployed 600 new sensors. Around 50 team members were involved in Antarctica. They drilled six holes that are approximately 2,5 km deep using hot water. For every hole, there is only a limited time window to finish the sensor deployment before the holes start to refreeze.“
Anna joined the team of one of the Swedish contributions to the IceCube Upgrade, the so-called Sweden Camera, which measures stratigraphy of the glacier and records the refreezing process of the ice.

Vision of finding new particles

"My vision is to discover new, exotic particles in Antarctica. If we were to find them, theorists would be able to derive new insights into particle physics and the origin of the universe. My specialization lies in developing new methods of detection. For that, I work in collaboration with several partners, e.g. IPMU near Tokyo and Tsung-Dao Lee institute in Shanghai, which I visit regularly."
Additionally, preparations are underway to increase the IceCube volume by a factor of 8 in 5-10 years, deploying thousands of new modules. Part of these modules are planned to be developed and manufactured at SU.

Advice for Physics students

"When you're in the middle of your studies it's hard and sometimes boring. It's important to choose something you're passionate about.
But after graduation, it can get more exciting than anticipated: I never thought I'd visit the South Pole and participate on conferences all over world.
You have many possibilities in physics. If you don't become a researcher you can work as a medical physicist, quantum analyst, cryptologist, risk analyst, statistician or software developer and among many other professions."