Whether it be share prices, climate change, cancer screening tests, self-driving cars, new active pharmaceutical ingredients and materials, or the energy transition, all of the topics that affect our lives, research, and the future are supported by reliable data and advanced, secure, and energy-efficient information processing.
In the Helmholtz Research Field “Information”, Jülich experts develop supercomputers and algorithms that rank among the most powerful and capable in the world. They are also doing pioneering work in the field of artificial intelligence as well as building and researching quantum computers – using the human brain as a model.
Forschungszentrum Jülich is involved in the programmes 'Engineering Digital Futures', 'Natural, Artificial and Cognitive Information Processing' and 'Materials System Engineering'. Here you will find information on programmes and their topics. ↓
There are many bright minds behind research in Helmholtz Information. Here you will find an overview of Jülich contact persons at the level of the Research Field and its programmes. ↓
Successful research is only possible in a network. Get an overview of the other Helmholtz Centres involved in this research field here. ↓
The “Engineering Digital Futures - Supercomputing, Data Management and Information Security for Knowledge and Action” programme is focused on the variety of challenges posed by the digital transformation. In view of these enormous challenges, scientific and technological leadership in the areas of big data, IT security, artificial intelligence and supercomputing is essential. It is important to extract and intelligently utilize the wealth of knowledge hidden in the enormous amounts of data in all fields of research. This will lead to the development of new and more effective medicines, state-of-the-art materials, resilient data-driven power grids and transport networks, courses of action for mitigating climate change, and safety concepts for people and machines.
To this end, Jülich scientists design new modular supercomputers and pioneering quantum computers connected to the supercomputers. They further develop established computational methods, models, and algorithms, combining them with innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, which subsequently enables the in-depth analysis and comprehensive management of data. They also come up with completely new approaches to computer architectures, such as neuromorphic computing (taking the human brain as a model), which might also become part of modular supercomputers in the future.
Today’s supercomputers have an incredible computing power, but this is associated with high energy consumption. In contrast, the human brain is defined by its adaptability, creativity, emotional intelligence, and the ability to process complex and unstructured information – and all this with a level of energy consumption that is roughly equivalent to a 20-watt light bulb. The Natural, Artificial, and Cognitive Information Processing programme therefore aims to learn from nature and to move past the traditional language of computing. This ranges from understanding biological data processing to new material systems that utilize physical effects for new data processing concepts and systems. The aim is to thus create powerful computer architectures that work as efficiently as natural systems.
In this programme, Jülich scientists investigate new ways of processing information using quantum effects. They also look at how nature is able to process complex information in the brain, in individual cells, or even in molecules. This leads to new computer concepts, such as quantum computers, neuromorphic computing, or new methods of artificial intelligence, which can be integrated as modules into supercomputers in future.
New materials are a significant driver of technological innovation. However, major challenges can only be solved if materials development processes are accelerated and adapted in line with functional requirements, the availability of raw materials, life cycle aspects, and economic framework conditions. Researchers in the “Materials System Engineering” programme are developing concepts for the digitalization of materials research and the acceleration of materials development by combining real materials and their properties with state-of-the-art computer-based machine learning methods and artificial intelligence. A key concept here is the “digital twin”, a virtual model containing all of the information about the new material and its properties. This twin helps researchers to understand the relationship between structure and function on different scales and also enables better materials, production processes, and entirely new functional properties to be predicted much faster than by carrying out elaborate experiments. The Materials System Engineering programme is regarded as a key part of the Helmholtz Association’s Materials Research Strategy. Forschungszentrum Jülich’s participation in the programme centres on its powerful research infrastructures – the Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. These infrastructures provide the basis for the research carried out in the programme, which aims to bring about a paradigm shift in materials development – from the scale of a single atom right up to the finished technological product.
In the “Materials Information Discovery” topic, Jülich researchers use the often unique instruments at the Ernst Ruska-Centre to analyse materials right down to the atomic level in terms of their structure, defects, and internal interfaces – and the influence of these on electronic structure – as well as other properties. They then use these findings to develop new materials or material combinations. >> READ MORE
There are many bright minds behind research in Helmholtz Information. Here you will find an overview of Jülich contact persons at the level of the research field and its programmes. Further specific contact persons can be found on the relevant topic pages.
Vorstandsvorsitzende des Forschungszentrums Jülich
The coordination of Helmholtz Information is the responsibility of the Vice-President and Research Field Coordinator, Astrid Lambrecht (FZJ). The programme spokespersons are Thomas Lippert (Engineering Digital Futures) and Andreas Offenhäusser from FZJ (Natural, artificial and cognitive information processing) and Stefanie Dehnen from the KIT (Materials Systems Engineering).
The following Helmholtz Centres are involved in Helmholtz Information as part of the PoF IV: Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in Geesthacht, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
