Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin

Securing a climate-friendly energy future is one of the greatest challenges facing our society. Through research and innovation, we at HZB are helping to develop solutions and support the scientific community in realizing this goal. We research and develop complex materials that help to master key challenges such as the energy transition and resource scarcity, and thus secure our long-term prosperity.

To achieve this, we are driving forward the discovery of new materials and the development of innovative technologies, together with leading partners from research and industry in Germany and around the world. As part of our mission, we operate state-of-the-art research infrastructures and instruments, in particular the light source BESSY II, which provides synchrotron radiation over a wide energy range: here we record an average of 2700 visits from guest researchers from 28 countries per year.

At HZB, we investigate how the macroscopic properties of materials arise and which microscopic structures and processes are responsible for this. This understanding is a prerequisite for developing materials with customized properties and functionalities. We research materials and technologies that enable a reliable and sustainable energy supply - from new types of solar cells and innovative battery storage systems to catalytically active materials for the production of green hydrogen as an energy carrier. We are also developing highly efficient quantum materials that could revolutionize the information technologies of the future.