Where does Nature produce heavy elements like gold or platinum? To answer
this question requires interdisciplinary research in astronomical observation,
astrophysical modelling and nuclear physics research.

The talk will discuss the general understanding of the origin of the elements in
the Universe and highlight how the recent observation of merging neutron
stars helps to answer this question.

Decisive progress towards solving this puzzle is also expected from Europe’s
next-generation large-scale accelerator complex, the Facility for Antiproton
and Ion Research FAIR, which is currently under construction in Darmstadt and
will allow to experimentally study many of the exotic nuclear physics processes
involved in Nature’s main sites for element production.