Science in Berlin: collaborative, diverse, innovative, international
© BR50
Science is a key social and economic factor for Berlin. It creates jobs and adds value, attracts talent from all over the world, and enriches city life. To ensure that Berlin remains one of the world’s leading centres of science in the future, science must feature even more prominently on the political agenda. This is what BR50 stands for: over 50 non-university research institutions, including the HZB, are joining forces in this network. Following the election in Berlin, BR50 is now addressing politicians with a position paper, accompanied by the campaign “𝗪𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳ü𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻.”
Berlin’s unique diversity of research provides interdisciplinary answers to pressing questions about the future. Together with research-based museums and cultural institutions, it enriches city life. BR50 plays a central role in promoting the open exchange and transfer of knowledge. In a position paper, the network has set out demands for the future state government with a view to developing the capital, Berlin, into a world-leading centre for research and innovation. The aim is to restore science to a more prominent position in urban policy and to embed this within society.
BR50’s demands include the removal of bureaucratic hurdles, better conditions for spin-offs from the research sector, and a competitive model for joint appointments and career paths that span institutions and sectors.
Academic freedom protects our society. Independent research provides facts, offers guidance and strengthens democratic culture. BR50 is firmly committed to ensuring that political decisions are based on scientific expertise and that the independence of research remains intact.
In close partnership with Berlin’s universities, BR50 creates synergies on many levels – in the development of AI, research and data infrastructures, and in fostering a comprehensively strong research environment in Berlin.
Board member Bernd Rech: “Berlin is a successful city of science and attracts the best minds from all over the world. To maintain this competitive advantage, the state government must continue to fund research infrastructure. Every euro invested here yields a multiple return.”
A recent example: an impact analysis by DIW Econ recently showed that every euro invested in BESSY II actually generates gross value added of ten euros for the State of Berlin.
Increasing visibility
Non-university research institutions have an economic impact that extends far beyond the realm of science. In order for Berlin to build on this strength, research requires reliable framework conditions, greater cooperation, and political influence. With a new campaign, BR 50 aims to raise the profile of science, demonstrate its concrete added value for Berlin, and champion the freedom of science and research. In the coming weeks, we will be featuring voices from the BR 50 network. From mid-October, the campaign will also be visible on posters across Berlin.
- Ultrafast demagnetisation - Thinner iron, stronger effectThe thinner an iron film, the more easily it can be demagnetised by a laser pulse. Researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen, working with Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and other partners, have discovered why: the key lies in the magnetic order at the material's interfaces. In the long term, these findings could contribute to the development of new technologies for magnetic data storage. The results have been published in the scientific journal Advanced Science.
- Blind spot for the arrangement of atomsArtificial intelligence is increasingly being used to predict the properties of new materials. A research team from Jena and the United States now shows in a study published in the journal Nature Computational Science that when language models are used for this purpose, they reliably identify which types of atoms a material contains. However, they make insufficient use of information about how those atoms are arranged in space. Neither larger models nor additional training data resolve this weakness. For material properties that depend strongly on structure, AI models specifically designed to process spatial relationships are therefore the more reliable choice. (DOI: 10.1038/s43588-026-01045-2)
- Patterns of polar vortices in lead-free superlattices on siliconA team at HZB has, for the first time, reported polar vortices in (BaTiO3/SrTiO3)10 superlattices on silicon. These results expand the range of materials and substrates on which polar topological textures can occur and open up new options for incorporating complex ferroelectric states into silicon-based technologies.