Shaping the European Research Environment

The Helmholtz Association is a driving force in creating the kind of research environment that Europe needs if it wishes to remain competitive in science, technology and industry. Through its Brussels office, the Association can reinforce and expand cooperation on a European and worldwide level and intensify its research and business activities within Europe. In addition, the Brussels office facilitates the participation of Helmholtz centres in research projects launched by the EU. The Helmholtz Association has already actively contributed to shaping the European research environment by responding to the call for proposals within the Sixth Research Framework Programme (FP6). These activities were successfully continued in FP7. 

European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures

The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) identified 35 large-scale research projects as having particular significance for the infrastructure of European research in the next decades. The fact that Helmholtz centres are involved in almost half of these is proof of the important role Helmholtz-affiliated large-scale research projects play in Europe. Among the major projects included in the recently published roadmap for the future of Europe are the European Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser XFEL, the particle accelerator FAIR and the research ship "Aurora Borealis". All three projects have been planned under the aegis of the Helmholtz Association and have been recommended by the German Science Council. Projects of this scope cannot be financed by federal and state grants alone, but only by means of international cooperation.

The European Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser XFEL being built near the Helmholtz research centre DESY in Hamburg will provide entirely new insights into processes on the molecular and atomic level. The extremely short and ultra-high-energy X-ray flashes will enable researchers to capture chemical reactions on film and observe biological processes within cells. The construction of the particle accelerator FAIR at the GSI (Society for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt will provide us with a new understanding of the atomic structure of matter. The research vessel "Aurora Borealis" will be designed by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research to allow research to be conducted in the polar regions all year round. The icebreaker will be furnished with laboratory and deep-sea drilling equipment allowing scientists to extract and evaluate deep-sea cores from the ocean floor. Helmholtz centres are involved in a further 13 projects. This means that Helmholtz centres are wholly or largely responsible for 16 of the 35 roadmap targets. The roadmap also refers to the CERN Strategy Council’s projects in particle physics (Large Hadron Collider and International Linear Collider), in which the DESY is also involved.

For further information see the ESFRI report on the web at: http://cordis.europa.eu/esfri/home.html

Projects with Helmholtz Participation on the Roadmap for Research Infrastructures:
Aurora Borealis (AWI): European Polar Research Icebreaker
EMSO (AWI): Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory
EURO-ARGO (AWI): Ocean Observing Buoy System
EU-FAR (AWI): Long-Range Tropospheric Aircraft
XFEL (DESY): Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser
IRUVX-FEL (DESY): Infrared to Soft X-rays Complementary Free Electron Lasers
IAGOS (FZJ): Climate Change Observation from 20 Commercial Aircraft
EU-HPC (FZJ): Integrated European High-Power Computing Service
ESRF-Upgrade (FZJ): Upgrade of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
ESS (FZJ, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin): European Spallation Source for Neutron Spectroscopy
IFMIF (KIT): International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility
INFRAFRONTIER (Helmholtz Zentrum München): Distributed Infrastructure for the Archiving and Phenotyping of Mice as Models for Studying Human Diseases
European Biobanking (Helmholtz Zentrum München) Network of Existing and New Biobanks and Molecular Resources
LIFE-WATCH (Helmholtz Zentrum München): Infrastructure for Research on the Protection, Management and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity
FAIR (GSI): Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research
EATRIS (HZI, DKFZ, Helmholtz Zentrum München): Network of New Research Centres to Translate Basic Discoveries into Clinical Interventions in Major Diseases