News
Electrocatalysts: New model for charge separation at the solid-liquid interface
New model describes the processes at the interface for the first time, thereby enabling targeted strategies for material design:
Hydrogen is at the heart of the transition to carbon neutrality, as both an energy carrier and a reagent for green chemistry. However, large-scale production of hydrogen via electrolysis, as well as the production of…
DLR investigates mobility needs in the Lusatian region
Pathways to establishing new public transport services in rural areas:
Around 36% of Germany’s population lives in rural areas, and about 90% of them own at least one car per household, significantly higher than the national average of 80% (infas et al. 2025). Rural areas still lack…
Smartphone rapid test detects microbiologically contaminated water in less than a minute
BAM research team developed a highly sensitive detection method for urobilin:
Microbiologically contaminated water poses a significant health risk worldwide – especially in areas where laboratories are scarce and rapid testing is crucial. Researchers at the Federal Institute for Materials…
Agricultural production is the main cause of destructive fires in South America’s tropical dry forests
Research team has used satellite images to reconstruct the fire history of the Gran Chaco, one of the world’s largest dry forest regions:
Every year, vast areas of forest burn in the South American Chaco, a tropical dry forest region that stretches across Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay and forms the second-largest forest region on the continent after…
AI-driven Catalyst Development: €30 Million Funding for German Consortium
The ASCEND project to accelerate material development launches on April 1:
Six partners from research and industry, including the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI), BASF, Siemens Energy, Dunia Innovations, and the Technical University…
Kick-off for the new data and AI centre at HZB in Adlershof
The data centre will provide a competitive infrastructure for data-driven research in Berlin:
By establishing a new data and AI centre in Berlin, the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) are laying the foundations for a scalable and sovereign data infrastructure in the capital.…
Why Berlin’s street fountains are still important today
Humboldt University introduces Timothy Moss, senior researcher at IRI THESys:
World Water Day on 22 March serves as a reminder of just how precious – and yet how limited – clean water is. This issue is also a focus of Timothy Moss, a senior researcher at IRI THESys at Humboldt University. For…
Berlin Adlershof: Facts and figures
Berlin Adlershof is Germany’s largest and most successful Science and Technology Park as well as Berlin’s largest media location—embedded in an overall urban development concept. Spanning an area of 4.6 km², the park…
Berlin Battery Lab officially inaugurated
BAM, HZB and HU are conducting joint research on sodium batteries:
The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) officially inaugurated the Berlin Battery Lab (BBL) on 19 March. At this new…
Catalysis research at HZB gets new facility
The facility built by ILS is the largest single investment in the CatLab project:
As part of the CatLab project, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has acquired a unique facility for measuring the catalytic performance of thin-film catalysts. Built by ILS in Adlershof, it has now been delivered.…
Chatbots at work: Between curiosity and responsibility
How Adlershof companies integrate artificial intelligence into their daily work:
When ChatGPT became publicly available at the end of 2022, people were curious. Many people first experimented with the new chatbot at home. Writing. Asking questions. Using it as a thinking aid. Many quickly…
MOBITAT 2050: Making Commuting More Sustainable
The DLR Institute of Transport Research investigated how commuting patterns are changing in direct interaction with the aspects of housing and working:
Every day, millions of people in Germany commute to and from work. Sometimes only a few kilometers separate home and workplace. However, many commuters travel much longer distances. Although public transport has…
Efficient training
Alan Akbik, professor of machine learning at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, is working on smarter approaches to language models:
ChatGPT requires vast amounts of data and costs a lot of money. Alan Akbik, professor of machine learning at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, is exploring smarter solutions. No AI was used to generate this essay on the…
In conversation with Jens Nachtwei
The psychologist researches and teaches on the changing world of work and human–machine interaction:
“A humane future does not lie in more technology, but in greater human judgement in how we use it,” says engineer and organisational psychologist Jens Nachtwei in his book Zukunft der ARBEIT an der Zukunft, which…
“Berlin is strong where trust matters”
A conversation with Philipp Günther about the new AI competence centre ai.berlin hub:
Philipp Günther is an innovation manager at Berlin Partner for Business and Technology. What is the strategic mission of the new ai.berlin hub—and what sets it apart from other AI initiatives? The idea emerged from…
Federal Ministry funds new research group at HU on resilient urban landscapes
Dr Thilo Wellmann develops monitoring tools for green municipal infrastructure:
Three new research groups for young scientists are working at Humboldt University in Berlin (HU), including Dr Thilo Wellmann's group at the Institute of Geography in Adlershof, which is funded by the Federal Ministry…
Open data infrastructure for municipal heat planning
New research project launched by Reiner Lemoine Institute and University of Osnabrück:
Launch of the project for open data infrastructure for municipal heat planning results: The partners from the Reiner Lemoine Institute and the University of Osnabrück met in Berlin to kick off the project. What they…
BAM researchers achieve significant performance improvement in sodium-ion batteries
New core-shell design for anodes increases efficiency and storage capacity:
Sodium-ion batteries are considered a promising, sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries. However, high storage losses during the first charging cycle have slowed down their development so far. Researchers at…
A record year for the HZB living lab for building-integrated solar facades
The solar modules on the facade of the Adlershof research building produced almost 32 MWh of electricity in 2025:
In 2025, the solar facade of the BIPV living laboratory (BIPV – Building integrated photovoltaics) in Berlin-Adlershof generated more electricity than in any of the previous four years of operation. With about 32…
Compact electron accelerator for treating PFAS-contaminated water
New approach to breaking down PFAS molecules into harmless components at contamination hotspots using radiolysis:
So-called forever chemicals or PFAS compounds are a growing environmental problem. An innovative approach to treating PFAS-contaminated water and soil now comes from accelerator physics: high-energy electrons can…