All events

In today’s rapidly evolving research landscape, building strong and sustainable partnerships with industry has become an essential component of successful academic careers. In this talk, Dr. Dave Giltner, founder of TurningScience, will share practical insights on how researchers can successfully collaborate with industry, communicate their value beyond academia, and develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

The shortage of skilled IT professionals is a growing challenge – also for HZB. With “Go for IT!”, HZB is exploring new ways of selecting apprentices for the training programme IT Specialist (Fachinformatiker/in). The next audition will take place on 10 February at HZB.

Instead of traditional job interviews, the IT team relies on gamification. Interested young people are invited without prior selection and first complete a short test on mathematics and logical thinking on their own smartphones. This is followed by a PC-based gaming phase, during which teamwork, communication skills and problem-solving abilities are observed – all key competencies in everyday IT work. Selected participants are then invited to short interviews.

“While gaming, many candidates forget the application situation and show their real potential,” explain Juliane Schad and Heiko Kreth from HZB’s IT department. The process is fairer, more authentic and reaches young people who might not have applied otherwise.

The innovative selection format has also attracted interest beyond HZB, including from other Helmholtz centres, Berlin authorities and the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). Gamification offers great potential, particularly in vocational training, and could be applied in other areas at HZB in the future.

For anyone interested in taking part in the audition: https://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/projects/fisi_de.html

For professionals from HR or vocational training who are interested in networking and further developing modern recruitment formats, registration is available here: https://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/zentrum/veranstaltungen-besucherservice/service/anmeldung-go-for-it_de.html

The event will be held in German!

Let's work together to break down barriers and ensure full, equal access and participation in science for all. 

You are cordially invited to join us in celebrating the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science at HZB on February 11th. This day recognizes the crucial role women play in science and technology and highlights the ongoing need for gender equality in STEM fields for future generations.  Join us for talks by leading scientists Dr Shelly Conroy (Imperial College London, UK) and Prof. Franziska Emmerling (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin), who will share highlights of their scientific research.

Through a panel discussion by leading scientists and opportunities to reflect, learn how you (regardless of your gender!) can support the next generation of female scientists and innovators. 

Register now! 

If you are unable to attend the event in person, you can join online via Zoom.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

We are thrilled to announce the Radiation Hardness Testing Workshop taking place on March 12–13, 2026 — our biennial event for anyone working at the intersection of Space, Aerospace, and AdvancedElectronicsReliability.

This workshop brings together leading experts and practitioners such as European Space Agency - ESA, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V., and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin to explore the latest methods and challenges in Radiation Hardness Testing — a critical discipline to ensure that technology performs reliably in harsh radiation environments, from space missions to high-altitude aviation and beyond.

What to expect:

- In-depth discussions on radiation effects and testing methodologies

- Insights into state-of-the-art irradiation facilities and capabilities across Europe

- Networking with specialists from research, industry, and space agencies.

- Emerging approaches to ensure robust electronics and systems for mission-critical applications.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Welcome to the HZB Photon School 2026 to be held in a hybrid format at the BESSY II Synchrotron Light Source at the Wilhelm-Conrad-Röntgen-Campus, Berlin-Adlershof. Lectures will take place online and on-site from 23 to 27 March 2026, while the practical training sessions will be conducted on-site only from 30 March to 2 April 2026 (*). 

(*) subject to BESSY II being operated at a level that allows access of external users.

About the School and Participation

The school is primarily aimed at master´s students and early-career researchers in physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, life, or environmental sciences. Participants will be introduced to synchrotron and laboratory-based characterisation methods that probe the molecular structure, function, and dynamics of complex material systems.

Application Deadline: 16 November 2025 (CET, 23:59).

BESSY II FAIR Datathon: Standardizing science through FAIR data is a hands-on workshop dedicated to tackling one of the key challenges in modern materials science—managing and integrating heterogeneous data and file formats. During this event, participants will develop practical workflows and gain experience with tools that support data standardization using the NeXus common data standards. Through collaborative problem-solving and guided exercises, attendees will learn how to make experimental data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), paving the way for more efficient and reproducible scientific research.

Specifically, you will: Learn to use the research data management platform (NOMAD) to manage your scientific data yourself in a FAIR way Learn to use, contribute to, and develop community-agreed data standards (NeXus) in your experiment to increase reusability Write a FAIR data conversion workflow of your own example Who should attend: Postdocs, PhDs, and researchers doing experiments (XAS, photoemission spectroscopy, etc.) at the Synchrotron facility, such as BESSY II Early career researcher willing to learn to manage their scientific data, complying FAIR principle Requirements: Basic knowledge of Python is advantageous Example dataset to work with during the datathon Sharing of the example dataset before the application deadline Participation in a pre-datathon remote meeting (two weeks before the event) Good command of the English language 

Registration: https://events.hifis.net/event/3274/

The SEI (Studiengruppe für elektronische Instrumentierung der Helmholtz-Zentren) is a forum for research and development in the scientific field. Yearly symposiums and workshops for scientists, engineers and technicians take place at the institutes of the Helmholtz Gemeinschaft.  These events offer the opportunity to exchange experiences to support developments in the diverse applications of scientific data aquisition, data management and control systems.

Datengestützte Forschung ist entscheidend, um gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen zu bewältigen – sei es in der Material-, Gesundheits- oder Klimaforschung. Das Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) und das Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) haben nun einen Kooperationsvertag unterzeichnet, um ein leistungsstarkes Data & AI Center in der Hauptstadt aufzubauen. Den offiziellen Startschuss des Projektes werden die beiden Partner ZIB und HZB mit der Senatorin für Wissenschaft, Gesundheit und Pflege feiern.

Gemeinsam mit der Senatorin Dr. Ina Czyborra möchten wir den Blick nach vorn richten: Welche Rolle spielt das neue Daten- und KI-Zentrum für den Wissenschafts- und Innovationsstandort Berlin? 

Emotionale Erschöpfung kommt schleichend; gerade bei Menschen, die engagiert und verantwortungsvoll sind. Pflegende Angehörige gehen oft über eigene Grenzen hinweg, um eine bestmögliche Situation für die pflegebedürftige Person herzustellen. Dabei vernachlässigen Sie Ihre eigenen Bedürfnisse, und es kann schnell zu Überlastung kommen. ​​​​​​​In diesem Vortrag lernen Teilnehmende typische Warnsignale von Überlastung kennen und reflektieren, welche individuellen Muster und „inneren Antreiber“ eine Rolle spielen können. Ziel ist es, frühzeitig gegenzusteuern: mit Strategien, die sich gut in den Arbeitsalltag integrieren lassen.

Referentin: Jana Toppe, Systemische Therapeutin/Familientherapeutin (DGSF)

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Have you ever thought about the application potential of your own research? If not, this workshop is for you. You will reflect about user groups and how your research might benefit them.

Together with your peers, you will learn methods and skills to realise your innovative potential. Brainstorm potential use cases and help each other to take your ideas to the next level.

Admission is free and no previous knowledge is required.

Am 23. April 2026 ist Girls'Day – Mädchen-Zukunftstag! An diesem Tag erleben Schülerinnen von Klasse 5 bis 10 die Welt der Naturwissenschaften, der Technik und der Ingenieurwissenschaften.

Wir bieten am Girls’Day spannende Workshops an unseren Standorten Adlershof und Wannsee an. In diesen lernt ihr die Arbeitswelt von Wissenschaftlerinnen, Technikerinnen und Ingenieurinnen kennen.

Meldet euch jetzt bis zum 17. April 2026 an! 

To prevent the climate crisis from worsening, humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to zero. HZB researcher Klaus Jäger explains how we can achieve a climate-neutral future and the key role that renewable energy – particularly solar energy – plays in this.

📅 24 April 2026, 10–11 am

Register at: https://helmholtz-berlin-de.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/xMhNnwl8Sfay-ju-Gi9JYw

The lecture, to be held in German, is part of Helmholtz Earth Week. From 20 to 24 April, the Helmholtz Centres are hosting a diverse programme that brings together science, innovation and social dialogue. The focus is on key future topics such as climate protection, energy and resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

The PhD2CEO Seminar Series targets advanced students, young scientists, and startup enthusiasts interested in scientific entrepreneurship and deep-tech startups, with a particular focus on optical, quantum, and microelectronics technologies. 

The seminars cover various science-startup-related topics, including the startup journey, funding strategy and insights from experienced speakers. It also features pitch training and culminates with a first-class stage at Photonics Days 2026 as the closing event.

Participation is at no-cost and we offer a participation certificate for those who meet the minimum attendance requirement (events are in Berlin, presential-only).

Participate and get to know like-minded people, maybe, your future co-founder! Spread the word and register soon! (Limited availability)

The seminar series starts with Opening seminar "Introduction Ecosystem" on

Thursday, April 30, 2026 

at 

Leap Quantum Technology Hub & EventsRudower Ch 296. Floor12489 Berlin

and will take place every last Thursday of the month until October (Closing event at the Photonics Days 2026).

Take your career into your own hands in the Young Entrepreneurs in Science Workshop!

Reflect on the impact of your research, sharpen your vision, and learn how to communicate convincingly.

You will develop and practise key innovation and pitching skills while expanding your network. 

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Do you have a business idea and want to develop it further as a team? Then take advantage of our “Adlershof Startup Lab (ASL)” and take your idea to the next level. 

In addition to financial support, your team will benefit from workshops and coaching on topics relevant to starting a business, receive a free workspace, be able to use our high-tech makerspace free of charge, and gain access to an inspiring network.

The ASL is funded as part of the Berlin Startup Scholarship (BSS).

In 2026, we will once again be opening our doors for the Long Night of Science. Visit us on 6 June 2026, 5 p.m. to midnight, at our campus in Berlin-Adlershof. Take a look behind the scenes at BESSY II. Embark on an exciting journey through modern research with many information stands. 

The sixth tandemPV Workshop will take place in Berlin, Germany from June 17-19, 2026, hosted by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, and led by the Local Organizing Committee of Steve Albrecht, Angelika Harter, Lars Korte, and Silvia Mariotti of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.  

The tandemPV Workshop Series is a unique platform that brings together leading experts and researchers from the silicon and thin-film photovoltaic communities, fostering collaboration and innovation. Join us for the sixth tandemPV Workshop at the forefront of photovoltaic innovation. Take part in the interdisciplinary collaboration paving the way for the next generation of solar energy devices

Artists and students from the Berlin University of the Arts are exhibiting in the shell of the VTII services building on the Helmholtz Campus in Berlin-Adlershof. Emerging research architecture and artistic interventions in sculpture, painting, video and photography create a dynamic blend in a space that constantly challenges the boundaries of perception.  This is the third edition of the event, organised once again in collaboration with the client, the Helmholtz Centre Berlin. The art exhibition is curated by DGI Bauwerk and Enno Wallis. 

The event will be offered with English subtitles.

Every day, you make decisions, shoulder responsibilities, and maybe even lead a team to success. In the business world, you’re the rock. You deliver. You win. But what happens when the door closes and the silence at home is louder than any applause in a meeting? Many successful men dominate the market but, unnoticed, lose touch with the people for whom they’re actually doing all of this: their partner, their children, and—ultimately—themselves. The problem isn’t a lack of effort. The problem is the misconception that professional success can replace emotional presence.

Conflicts in your personal life aren’t just “personal issues.” They’re performance killers. They rob you of the focus, energy, and clarity you need to stay successful. If you stagnate at home, you’ll pay the price in business in the long run.

This talk is for men who no longer want to make compromises.

Discover how you can:

Move from merely functioning to truly feeling: Why “presence” is more than just physical presence.

Gain true confidence: How to use the clarity you gain from your job to take the lead in your personal relationships as well.

Define true success: Why professional success is worthless if you feel like a stranger at your own dinner table.

Stop just being the provider. Become the most important connection again and a co-creator in your family’s life and in your relationship. Because true success begins at home.​​​​​​​

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

The HZB is taking part in the Lesbian and Gay City Festival once again this year. We look forward to seeing you at our stand. We will be presenting our research into sustainable energy solutions for the future, and explaining why diversity is so important to us. We have also got some small experiments planned for our visitors. 

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Quantum materials host emergent phenomena such as superconductivity, magnetism, and topological states driven by strong electronic interactions. High pressure provides a powerful and disorder-free tool to tune their structural, electronic, and magnetic properties. In this talk, I will present recent advances in the study of quantum materials under extreme conditions, focusing on our investigations of transition metal dichalcogenides, intermetallic compounds, and unconventional superconductors. The results reveal pressure-induced quantum phase transitions and hidden states of matter, offering new insights into the fundamental mechanisms governing correlated electron systems.

Every second week on Friday, we welcome a chat with a cup of coffee outside the control room. Meet the user coordination team, relax with your beamline scientist, inspire and be inspired by our accelerator scientists, recharge your caffeine levels for the final stretch of the week.

Crystals are the hidden pillars in the world of modern technology. Bulk single crystals used as sub-strates enable production of micro- and optoelectronics devices. They founded and continue to shape the basis of virtually all of the technology we constantly use today. However, getting new crys-talline materials to commercial production is extremely challenging as industry demands mature and scalable processes while academia typically cannot provide decade-long development. It is IKZ’s mis-sion to bridge this gap by service and prototyping of crystalline materials, including bulk single crys-tals, in their pre-industrial validation phase. After a short general introduction to the topic and to the IKZ in Berlin-Adlershof, I will highlight the current activities in the Oxide and Fluoride Section, which addresses preparation of bulk single crystals for photonics (optics, lasers, sensors, scintillators) and electronics (semiconductors, piezo- and ferroelectrics, spintronics, magnonics).

Please see the full text in the pdf....

Prof. T.K. Sham will report three case studies: (i) phase transition in TiO2 nanotubes (amorphous to anatase to rutile) tracked with XAS, XEOL and XRD. (ii)  the dynamics at the primary and secondary sites during charging and discharging of Li ion batteries with operando XAS and XES on LiFePO4 cathode and black P anode, respectively. (iii) retrieving clear images from tarnished 19th century daguerreotypes using a tender X-ray microbeam. The implications for a wider application will be discussed.

Location:  Seminar Room WCRC 14.51-3303 ("Aquarium"), Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, 12489 Berlin

Zoom link and credentials for those who are willing to attend online:

https://helmholtz-berlin-de.zoom-x.de/j/67718034128?pwd=N5RaTz6GX68kLW7hLwTSqGOP9ja5m6.1

Meeting ID: 677 1803 4128

Passcode: 496540

Please see the full text in the pdf....

On 28 August from 2 pm, we will be opening our site in Wannsee free of charge to all visitors. You can look forward to fascinating insights into our research, ideas and the people behind them, as well as a varied programme featuring exciting guided tours, informative talks and numerous hands-on and information stands. A wide range of food and drink will be available to keep you refreshed. From 6 pm, we’ll round off the summer’s day together with you, enjoying music in a relaxed atmosphere amidst the greenery.

We look forward to seeing you there!

28 August from 2 pm to 8 pm

Address: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin

Please bring the original of a valid identity document with you when you arrive. Further details about the programme will follow shortly.

We warmly invite users who would like to help us design the signature instruments for BESSY III.

Information, call for abstracts etc: https://events.hifis.net/event/3728/

Research is one way to uncover hidden connections. Art is another. Artist Sarah Dudley visited BESSY II and the Science and Technology Park Adlershof and had a series of in-depth conversations with researchers.

“Through paintings and sculptures I give form to immaterial forces that shape our lives.

My intuitive visual language draws upon current research in cosmology, physics, and mythology.” Sarah Dudley.

Inspired by these visits, Sarah created a series of paintings which we are pleased to exhibit in the BESSY II foyer. Her works are an artistic exploration of what lies beyond human perception.

Artist Talk: Monday, 21st September, 2026 at 5 pm

With the kind support of the Friends of the Helmholtz Centre Berlin e.V.

It is our pleasure to invite you to Berlin for the 7th International Sodium Battery Symposium, SBS-7.

In recent years, we have witnessed rapidly growing global interest in sodium batteries, driven by their increasing adoption in electric vehicles, power tools, and stationary energy storage systems.

It is therefore our great pleasure to invite you to Berlin for the 7th International Sodium Battery Symposium (SBS-7). Alternating biennially with our colleagues from IKTS in Dresden, the Sodium Battery Symposium has become a key meeting point for researchers and industry leaders in this field.

From macroscopic materials down to individual macromolecules, modern infrared (IR) spectroscopy now spans vast spatial scales. Given the immense scope and recent breakthroughs in near-field nano-IR we are pleased to announce a workshop focused exclusively on the current capabilities of modern IR spectroscopy. Organized in collaboration with HU the workshop will take place as a "satellite" meeting of the annual meeting "Make and Measure: Interfaces 2026" making it easy to attend both of these closely related events within a single week.

By bringing together experts across multi-scale dimensions, we aim to bridge the gap between macroscopic material analysis and nano-scale breakthroughs, promoting the application of the modern IR techniques by the scientific community.

We are living in times of social polarisation. Anti-democratic tendencies, rejection of scientific expertise and hostility towards scientists are on the rise. Many people are asking themselves: What can I actually do? And what responsibility do scientific institutions bear? We want to discuss these questions together with experts from the fields of science and science communication, as well as HZB’s scientific director.

📅 28 September 2026, 1.00–3.00 pm

📍 In person: BESSY Lecture Theatre, Helmholtz Centre Berlin, Albert-Einstein-Straße 15, 12489 Berlin

💻 Alternatively, online participation is also possible. Registered participants will receive the login details by email in good time before the event.

An event organised by HZB with the support of BR50 and IGAFA

International conference dedicated to revealing dynamic functional interfaces through operando and in situ characterization. Bringing together leading researchers advancing interface science through experiment, theory, and materials design, ONI provides a unique forum to advance atomic- and molecular-scale understanding of dynamic interfaces in catalysis, electrochemistry, batteries, and energy materials.

The scientific program features keynote lectures, invited and contributed talks, poster sessions, and a roundtable discussion moderated by Nature Catalysis, where leading researchers will discuss emerging scientific challenges and future directions in operando nanoscale science. Complementing the scientific program, a second high-level roundtable discussion will bring together representatives from academia, industry, and public policy to explore how science and innovation can accelerate the global energy transition. 

With the series of annual user meetings, we bring together our user community to intensify scientific exchange and stimulating new collaborations. The meetings will provide an overview of the many exciting and inspiring research results obtained at our facility in the past year and will emphasize on future developments in particular on BESSY III. Plenary talks, discussions, a public lecture, the market place of innovation and a poster session will provide vast possibilities of information and discussion. The bestowals of the 'Prizes for Young Scientists' donated by the Freundeskreis Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin e.V. (FHZB) are traditional highlights of the user meetings.