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ePaper created 2014-12-22, 09:34:33 | version 1.34.00
14 The most important objective: Today we are good – tomorrow we are better! A total of 17 programmes and 13 large-scale research facilities were reviewed. The evaluations took place between January and April 2014 as part of an international peer- review process involving 59 female and 163 male experts, mostly from foreign research organisations. The results have provided a foundation to formulate requirements and recommendations for the programmes and the participating centres. These recommendations cover content-related issues linked to the optimisation and study of research topics, as well as financial resources. The Helmholtz Senate monitors the development of research programmes and, in particular, the implementation of strategic recommen- dations. The reviews confirmed all the programmes’ outstanding scientific quality and performance, which in some cases is unique in the world. In the research field Energy, the experts welcomed the restructuring of the programmes. Five programmes, including two that are pursued jointly with the field of key technologies research, address topics especially important for the Energiewende, or energy transition. These topics include renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage, as well as related economic and social issues. The field of energy research plans to launch the cross-programme initiative “Energy System 2050” in order to pool the results of the individual programmes and strengthen collaboration. An additional critical focus for the overall system is research on nuclear fusion, which is expected to replace coal and gas as a base load energy source, as well as on nuclear safety. Significant advances and internationally unique activities are also hallmarks of the research field Key Technologies. These activities include above all work on nanosystems, supercom- puting and big data. The reviewers were particularly positive in their evaluation of a project that is bringing together the neurosciences and computing technologies to achieve a better understanding of the human brain (also a goal of the European Human Brain Project, to which there are close ties). This project is part of the research field’s strategy of more closely connecting research on generic technologies with applications in life sciences for the benefit of a world with more than seven billion inhabitants. Important topics here are degenerative diseases, regenerative medicine and plant research. Finally, the reviewers welcomed the research field’s strategy of broadening its activities and organising them around three pillars: information technology, materials science and life sciences. The research field Structure of Matter will begin the new programme period with a new name – Matter – and a signifi- cantly changed programme structure. The evaluations con- firmed the correctness of this repositioning, especially the pooling of research on particles smaller than atoms and the launch of an independent programme that will conduct tech- nological research into the accelerators and detectors needed for large-scale experiments. Research into the structure of matter is closely associated with large-scale infrastructure, particularly with the photon, neutron and ion sources operat- ed by the Helmholtz Association. Evaluations highlighted the uniqueness of these facilities and their integrated use at the association. They include not only the FLASH and BER sys- tems, which are already in operation, but also the large-scale international facilities XFEL and FAIR, whose assembly will continue at the Helmholtz centres DESY and GSI during the programme period. Multidisciplinary activities to meet the major challenges of society Many research topics transcend the boundaries of the individual programmes. Bioenergy, for example, has a special significance within the context of renewable ener- gies and also for a sustainable bioeconomy. Likewise, energy storage systems need to be seen in conjunction with both Germany’s energy transition and the area of mobility in general. The evaluations provided confirmation for the Helmholtz Association’s decision to combine programmes’ contributions to research focuses that cut across programmes and research fields and to organise them into five multidisciplinary alliances and thirteen multidisciplinary themes. The interplay between the pro- grammes and the multidisciplinary activities will be one of the challenges in the new programme period. All in all, the reviews of the third programme period have produced very positive results and provided valuable support for the Helmholtz Association’s efforts to focus its research. At the same time, they have produced a number of results that are important for further strategic planning and will make it possible to improve the programmes on an ongoing basis.