Jülich’s research infrastructure is unrivalled in Europe, with supercomputers that are among the fastest in the world, electron microscopes that make atoms visible, and MRI scanners that can unveil thoughts. It is also a magnet for scientists from around the world.
Can big questions only be answered using big machines? While this is not always true, it is surprisingly often the case in science. That’s why we rely on high-end infrastructures at Forschungszentrum Jülich to find solutions to global problems, whether it be climate change, the energy crisis, or widespread diseases. And because research thrives on the best ideas of many bright minds, we also make our infrastructure accessible to external stakeholders from science and industry. At Jülich, you will find some of the world’s most advanced research equipment.
Our goal is to provide the most powerful infrastructure in Europe, where different user groups from science and industry can work together and learn from each other.
Cutting-edge research thanks to top facilities
Our supercomputers are just one example: they can process huge amounts of data at mind-boggling speeds. Forschungszentrum Jülich is therefore well on its way to becoming Germany’s centre for artificial intelligence. With the Jülich supercomputers JUWELS and JUPITER, AI models can be trained that support the search for new types of drugs and accelerate the development of renewable energy. And their computing power helps to better predict natural disasters.
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trillion floating-point operations per second is what Jülich’s new exascale supercomputer, JUPITER, is capable of. It is currently being built at Forschungszentrum Jülich and has a computing power that is equivalent to around 1 million state-of-the-art smartphones.
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data sets, 242 models, and 206 analysis programmes contains EBRAIN. It is the first research infrastructure worldwide to offer access via a web portal to the most comprehensive database on the human brain to date as well as powerful digital tools.
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gigahertz is the oscillation rate of the largest NMR spectrometer to date at Forschungszentrum Jülich. It can map the structures of proteins, which helps in the development of medicines and vaccines.
Electron microscopes that visualize nanostructures can help to decipher the mechanisms behind the development of Alzheimer’s disease or to examine the surface structure of new materials. In Jülich, we have several such microscopes. And that’s not all: from world-class MRI scanners and spectrometers to clean room laboratories of the highest quality and big data platforms and simulators – our infrastructure is as diverse as our research.
To solve the questions of the future, other suitable machines still have to be developed – such as the quantum computer, which will open up new dimensions in data processing. These new types of computers are still in the development stage. But even today, we are offering the scientific community several prototypes based on different technologies. After all, our mission as a major Helmholtz centre is to develop top-class facilities for cutting-edge research – and to use it to answer the big questions about the future.
Understanding the logic of quantum technologies: Helmholtz Quantum Centre
The Helmholtz Quantum Centre takes account of the increased importance of quantum technology: from researching different quantum materials and testing various qubit concepts to building a European quantum computer.
Brain research at a new level: Imaging Core Facility
Imaging techniques at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) are pooled together in the Imaging Core Facility (ICF). These include various high-quality instruments that provide insights into the brain.
Platform for detecting diseases that are difficult to diagnose: SuFIDA
The SuFIDA Helmholtz Innovation Lab is a technical platform that helps to better detect diseases that are difficult to diagnose. SuFIDA (Disruptive Digital Diagnostics) is able to count individual marker molecules, thus enabling a more precise diagnosis.
Internationale NeuInternational neutron research: Jülich Centre for Neutron Science
The SuFIDA Helmholtz Innovation Lab is a technical platform that helps to better detect diseases that are difficult to diagnose. SuFIDA (Disruptive Digital Diagnostics) is able to count individual marker molecules, thus enabling a more precise diagnosis.
Clean room laboratory of the highest quality: Helmholtz Nano Facility
The Helmholtz Nano Facility (HNF) is a clean room facility with 1,000 square metres of ISO 1–3-class clean rooms. It provides access to expertise and resources in the production, synthesis, characterization, and integration of structures, devices, and circuits in the nano range.
Research, production, and testing under one roof: Membrane Centre
The Membrane Centre (approx. 1,550 square metres) contains a state-of-the-art, closely spaced research infrastructure for the development of membrane systems. These systems are of crucial importance for the development of new energy-efficient technologies as part of the energy transition.
Seven locations united virtually: the Helmholtz Energy Materials Characterization Platform
The Helmholtz Energy Materials Characterisation Platform (HEMCP) is a distributed research infrastructure funded by the Helmholtz Association. It brings together instruments and analytical methods from seven research institutions under one virtual roof for the purpose of materials research, specifically for energy technologies.
Tracking global change: TERENO Earth observation network
With the help of a Germany-wide Earth observation network, TERENO tracks the long-term regional effects of global change, be it ecological, social, or economic.
Structure and function of plants: Jülich Plant Phenotyping Center
This centre is focused on the quantitative assessment of plant–environment interactions and the mechanistic, high-throughput and field phenotyping of plants to measure their key structural and functional properties.
Atmospheric research on board commercial aircraft: IAGOS
The European research infrastructure IAGOS conducts global observations of the composition of the atmosphere based on the use of commercial passenger aircraft as a measuring platform.
