Forschungszentrum Jülich

Why Our Brains Age Differently

Why do some people remain mentally sharp into old age, while others experience cognitive impairments earlier in life? Two recent studies involving Forschungszentrum Jülich provide new answers to this question.

Knowledge. Creation.

Grasping the present. Shaping the future. We research to revolutionize information processing, to transform the energy sector, and to develop a biobased circular economy. Across disciplines, creatively, and successfully.

7,571

employees

26

ERC Grants

2,390

publications

NEWS

Athmospheric research

Cyclones and monsoon carry ground-level air up into the stratosphere

The Asian summer monsoon acts like an atmospheric elevator, uplifting air masses from near the ground up into the upper troposphere and, lower stratosphere. A new study now shows that it is not only air from regions of South Asia that reaches these heights. Marine air from the western Pacific also reaches these altitudes.

Research Prize

Jülich Physicist Honored for Research on Magnetic Quantum Materials

Dr. Ying-Jiun Chen of Forschungszentrum Jülich has been awarded the 2026 IUPAP Early Career Scientist Prize in Magnetism. The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) is recognizing her groundbreaking work on quantum materials and ultrathin 2D magnets.

Machine Learning & KI

Forschungszentrum Jülich joins new ELLIS Unit NRW

Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) is part of the newly established Unit NRW of ELLIS, the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems. ELLIS is regarded as one of Europe’s leading networks for research in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Our 3 strategic research priorities

Information

The priority of information combines Jülich research in three areas: simulation and data science in high-performance-computing (HPC), brain research, and research on bio- and nanoelectronic information technologies of the future. Quantum technologies are another priority at Jülich.

Energy

Jülich energy research concentrates on an energy system based on renewable energy. Scientists research technologies on all scales – from the atomic level right up to industrial innovations – covering the entire value chain from basic to applied research.

Bioeconomy

The sustainable bioeconomy is a biobased circular economy that does away with fossil resources and utilizes renewable resources instead. Scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich are developing new value creation processes.

Helmholtz Research Fields

As a founding member of the Helmholtz Association, we are part of the largest German research organization and contribute our top-class expertise to four of the six Helmholtz Research Fields: Energy, Matter, Information, and Earth & Environment.

At Jülich, we conduct research in the fields of digital transformation, climate protection, the energy transition, and the sustainable circular economy. Our research strengthens the technological and digital sovereignty of our country. It is important to me to use the potential that arises from scientific findings and innovations for practical application.
Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht, Chair of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich

Topics

JUPITER

JUPITER at Forschungszentrum Jülich is the first European supercomputer in the exascale class. JUPITER is the first system in Europe with a computing power of more than one quintillion floating-point operations per second

AI

AI is already revolutionizing many areas of life. With our infrastructure and expertise, we are working towards fully and safely exploiting the potential of this technology in the future.

Quantum technologies

Quantum computers are changing computing in a fascinating way. At Jülich, we are testing systems and prototypes that users from all over Europe can utilize for their development work.

JUNIQ

The ‘Jülich UNified Infrastructure for Quantum computing’, or JUNIQ for short, is the world's first quantum computing infrastructure to offer users from science and industry access to a variety of quantum systems at different stages of development.

Sustainability

Our findings make an important contribution to achieving global sustainability goals. Our research is also sustainable and we use resources responsibly.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is set to become a mainstay of the energy transition. But sustainable and marketable technologies are needed first. We are testing possible solutions.

Neuromorphic Computing

Computers modeled on the human brain, so-called neuromorphic systems, are much more economical than conventional computers.

Atmosphere and Climate

Often invisible to the human eye, they influence the global climate: chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere. We are tracking down these processes.

effzett - Forschungszentrum Jülich's magazine

Can a person’s individual traits be determined from their brain? For a long time, this was unclear, partly because there were no suitable methods of investigation. Artificial intelligence and big data are now opening up new possibilities and have heralded a change of perspective in brain research.