The Helmholtz Association is a community of 16 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centres. These centres have been commissioned with pursuing long-term research goals on behalf of the state and society. The Association strives to gain insights and knowledge so that it can help to preserve and improve the foundations of human life. It does this by identifying and working on the grand challenges faced by society, science and industry. Helmholtz Centres perform top-class research in strategic programmes in six core fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, Aeronautics, Space and Transport.

Click through the pages to discover how the Helmholtz Association defines its "Mission" and how it fills these ambitious goals with concrete content. Where does the Association see those "grand challenges" and what answers can it produce - to secure a sustainable energy supply or forward-looking transport planning solutions, to develop key technologies for the future or therapies for treating diseases which are still incurable today?