Joint Berlin Data & AI Center planned
© Adobe stock
Data-driven research is crucial for tackling societal challenges- whether in health, materials, or climate research. In a collaboration that is so far unique, Berlin University Alliance (BUA), the Max Delbrück Center, and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, together with the Zuse Institute Berlin, aim to establish a powerful Data and AI Center in the German capital.
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB), the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin University Alliance (BUA), and the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) recently signed a joint declaration of intent for this purpose. The goal is a flagship project of outstanding importance for the future of Berlin as a research hub.
The partners aim to create a regionally anchored and internationally competitive infrastructure that enables high-performance, cross-institutional, data-driven cutting-edge research. It will effectively complement the national high-performance infrastructure at the ZIB. The partners agree that complex scientific simulations and the use of artificial intelligence in particular require new, high-performance data infrastructures. Joint planning and use of resources represents a particularly sustainable approach.
As a first step, a new high-performance research Data Center is to be built at the HZB site in Berlin-Adlershof in cooperation with the ZIB. The HZB and ZIB have been engaged in intensive planning for the past year and aim to implement the first phase of the data center as quickly as possible. In the long term, computing capacity is to be expanded to up to 5 megawatts through new construction.
In the next phase, the partners will jointly explore potential funding models, administrative structures, and usage scenarios. These will be incorporated into a detailed cooperation agreement to ensure long-term, cross-institutional access to and operation of the Data Center.
- 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.