Helmholtz Association supports ATHENA with 29.99 mio. euro grant
ATHENA (“Accelerator Technology HElmholtz iNfrAstructure”) is a new research and development platform focusing on accelerator technologies and drawing on the resources of all six Helmholtz accelerator institutions (DESY, Jülich Research Centre, Helmholtz Centre Berlin, Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf HZDR, KIT and GSI with the Helmholtz Institute of Jena). The Helmholtz Association has now decided to pay almost 30 million euros towards ATHENA as a strategic development project.
“This decision demonstrates the Helmholtz Association’s strong commitment to developing and supplying ground-breaking new accelerator technologies for solving the future challenges faced by society,” says Helmut Dosch, who is the Chairman of DESY’s Board of Directors and also the spokesperson for the Helmholtz Association’s research division Matter.
Two flagship projects in accelerator research
Together, these centres want to set up two German flagship projects in accelerator research based on innovative plasma-based particle accelerators and ultramodern laser technology: an electron accelerator at DESY in Hamburg and a hadron accelerator at HZDR. At both facilities, a range of different fields of application are to be developed, ranging from a compact free-electron laser, through novel medical uses to new applications in nuclear and particle physics. As soon as they have reached the necessary level of maturity to be put to practical use in a particular area, new compact devices could be built for use in other Helmholtz centres, as well as in universities and hospitals.
HZB contributions:
Two working groups at the HZB contribute to this project: Johannes Bahrdt's Undulators Department develops and builds two novel undulators: The world's first in-vacuum apple undulator will be used at BESSY II. The second undulator, a sophisticated refined development of the prototype, will be installed at the free-electron laser in Hamburg's lighthouse project. Thorsten Kamps' group "Generation of highly brilliant electron beams" is working on a laser-based beam diagnostic device. The aim is to characterize the properties of the electron beams generated.
“The funding of the ATHENA project is an important milestone in the ARD (Accelerator Research and Development) programme, which was set up by the Helmholtz Association in 2011,” explains Reinhard Brinkmann, one of the initiators of ARD and the head of the accelerator department at DESY. Andreas Jankowiak, head of the Institute of Accelerator Physics at the HZB and spokesman for the ARD programme, adds: "Combining the competence of all Helmholtz Accelerator Centres in this way promises groundbreaking developments and new applications for ultra-compact particle accelerators.
Strengthening competitiveness in Germany and Europe
Ralph Aßmann, the project coordinator of ATHENA and lead scientists at DESY, and Ulrich Schramm, head of laser particle acceleration at HZDR, agree that “The study of new types of plasma accelerators takes place in the context of strong international competition from the US and Asia. ATHENA is consolidating the traditional leading role of Germany’s accelerator research and supporting Germany’s international competitiveness as a place for doing science.”
The work on ATHENA is closely embedded in the wider context of European research through the EU-sponsored design study EuPRAXIA, with its 40 partner institutes, which is also coordinated by DESY. Hence the top German research project ATHENA has had a clear European perspective and orientation right from the start.
Press release by DESY
- Key technology for a future without fossil fuelsIn June and July 2025, catalyst researcher Nico Fischer spent some time at HZB. It was his sabbatical, he was relieved of his duties as Director of the Catalysis Institute in Cape Town for several months and was able to focus on research only. His institute is collaborating with HZB on two projects that aim to develop environmentally friendly alternatives using innovative catalyst technologies. The questions were asked by Antonia Rötger, HZB.
- 5000th patient treated with protons for eye tumoursFor more than 25 years, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have been jointly offering proton radiation therapy for eye tumours. The HZB operates a proton accelerator in Berlin-Wannsee for this purpose, while Charité provides medical care for the patients. The 5000th patient was treated at the beginning of August.
- Iridium-free catalysts for acid water electrolysis investigatedHydrogen will play an important role, both as a fuel and as a raw material for industry. However, in order to produce relevant quantities of hydrogen, water electrolysis must become feasible on a multi-gigawatt scale. One bottleneck is the catalysts required, with iridium in particular being an extremely rare element. An international collaboration has therefore investigated iridium-free catalysts for acidic water electrolysis based on the element cobalt. Through investigations with various methods, among them experiments at the LiXEdrom at the BESSY II X-ray source in Berlin, they were able to elucidate processes that take place during water electrolysis in a cobalt-iron-lead oxide material as the anode. The study is published in Nature Energy.