Participating Helmholtz Centers & Partners

Shaping change: That is what drives us at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. As a member of the Helmholtz Association, we research options for the digitalized society, a climate-friendly energy system and resource-conserving economies with around 6.800 employees. We combine natural, life and technical sciences in the fields of information, energy and bioeconomy with special expertise in supercomputing and use unique scientific infrastructures. In the research focus on information, Jülich scientists investigate how information is processed in biological and technical systems. For this purpose, Jülich research combines three areas: the simulation and data sciences of High-Performance Computing (HPC), brain research and research on next-generation bio- and nanoelectronic information technologies.

Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.

The Helmholtz Centre Hereon conducts cutting-edge international research for a changing world: Around 1.100 employees create knowledge and innovations for greater resilience and sustainability. Hereon’s scientific spectrum includes high-performance materials, processes and environmentally friendly technologies for mobility and new energy systems. In addition, biomaterials are researched for medicine and to increase the quality of life. With the help of research and consulting, the Hereon meets the challenges of climate change in a solution-oriented manner and enables sustainable management and protection of the coastal and marine environment through comprehensive scientific understanding. Fundamental understanding, practical application – the interdisciplinary research spectrum covers a unique range.

Research at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie is made possible by approx. 1,200 employees. It covers basic materials science and ranges up to providing solutions to the global energy challenge, thereby contributing to the Research Fields Matter, Information and Energy. Next-generation solar cells are explored and transferred to industry. This expertise also feeds into research on photoelectrochemical energy conversion and electrochemical storage. Quantum and functional materials are investigated with a view to future, more efficient information technologies. The fundamentals of quantum materials and systems are explored right down to the atomic and molecular scale, both experimentally and theoretically. Soft and tender X-ray synchrotron radiation plays a key role in HZB’s materials science. Relying on its expertise in this field, HZB operates the X-ray synchrotron radiation source BESSY II for the international user community.

The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) investigates the physics basis of a fusion power plant to generate electricity from the fusion of atomic nuclei. With its workforce of approx. 1,100 IPP is one of the largest fusion research centres in Europe: It operates the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade in Garching and the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Greifswald. A major focus lies in the development and application of computational physics methods to investigate fusion and other plasmas. A long-term scientific partnership links IPP with the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.