Abstract: The quest for dark matter is one of the most pressing questions of modern physics. We know that it exists, but its (particle) nature remains in the dark.

Direct dark matter detection experiments aim to detect interactions of dark matter particles in earth-bound detectors. Despite tremendous improvement in sensitivity over the last decades, all experiments report null results except for the DAMA experiment. DAMA has observed since the 1990s an annually modulating event rate in their NaI detectors compatible with dark matter particles in the milky way. To resolve the contradicting results in direct detection, experiments with the same target material -- NaI -- are needed to be immune against material and model dependencies. COSINUS is one of these experiments, albeit the only one operating NaI as a cryogenic detector.

In this talk, I will introduce the direct detection of dark matter with a particular focus on the DAMA claim and its cross-check with COSINUS.