Excellence through Shared Infrastructure

Each participating center offers a diverse portfolio of core facilities and technology platforms, providing specialized services, access to state-of-the-art equipment, as well as expert knowledge and training courses tailored to their scientific missions.

A key focus of the network is to promote a collaborative ethos that extends beyond institutional boundaries and catalyzes joint projects. Researchers benefit from the collective expertise, resources, and throughput of multiple centers – an approach that creates synergies and significantly enhances the quality and efficiency of data collection. By promoting excellent scientific research and sustainable methods, the network strengthens Helmholtz Health’s role as a leader in addressing the health challenges of our time. It underscores the commitment to advancing scientific innovations for the benefit of society through united efforts.

The network’s services are available to all Helmholtz researchers, with many also accessible to external customers from academia and industry.

Further details about our core portfolio, current and future initiatives, training offerings, and key contacts at the individual centers can be found below.

Key contacts for all Helmholtz Health Core Facilities 

Please click on the name of each center to be transferred to their core facilities landing page. Please reach out to the key contacts listed below for more information on services and accessibility.

Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg (DKFZ)
Key Kontakt: Dr Elisa May, Chief Enabling Technology Officer
Email: elisa.may@dkfz-heidelberg.de
Phone: +49 6221 42-2682

Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen(DZNE)
Key contact: Dr Philipp Denner, Service Leader Laboratory Automation Technologies Core Research Facilities & Services, philip.denner@dzne.de, +49 228 43302-580

Helmholtz Zentrum München
Key contact: Dr Susanne Heck, Head of Core Facilities
Email: susanne.heck@helmholtz-munich.de
Phone: +49 89-3187-49004 (office)

Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rosendorf (HZDR)
Key contact: Dr Sandra Hamann
Email: s.hamann@hzdr.de
Phone: +49 351 260 3649

Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Braunschweig (HZI)
Key contact: Robert Geffers, Head of Genome Analytics
Email: robert.geffers@helmholtz-hzi.de
Phone: +49 531 6181-3058

Max-Delbrück Center, Berlin (MDC)
Key contact: Dr Jutta Steinkötter, Group lead Scientific infrastructure,
Email: jutta.steinkoetter@mdc-berlin.de
Phone: +49 30 9406-2880

Training and Course Offerings of the Helmholtz Health Core Facility Network

The Helmholtz Health Core Facility Network offers an extensive training portfolio for members of all Helmholtz Health Centers (subject to capacity), including:

• Regular, open-access training at individual centers
• Jointly developed schools at rotating locations
• Internships and cross-center training opportunities

Highlights of the offerings:

• Statistical consulting and programming courses
• Helmholtz Munich – Statistische Beratung
• Bioinformatics courses
• Helmholtz Munich – Bioinformatik

Planned specialized courses:

• Single-Cell and Spatial Biology School
  • Q4/2025 at Helmholtz Munich: Histology and Spatial Omics Analysis
  • Q2/2026 at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ): Transcriptomics and Data Analysis
  • Q4/2026 at the Max Delbrück Center (MDC), Berlin: MS-based Spatial Proteomics

Examples of Activities by the Helmholtz Health Core Facility Network

Joint NAKO WGS Sequencing Initiative 2025
In 2025, the Genomics Core Facilities of four Helmholtz Health Centers – DKFZ, HZI, Helmholtz Munich, and MDC – will join forces to deliver 15,000 whole genome sequences from selected participants of the National Cohort (NAKO). NAKO is a large-scale, long-term population health study involving 200,000 participants across Germany, aiming to identify the causes of severe diseases and improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
This initiative enables harmonized, quality-controlled data generation on a large scale and within significantly reduced turnaround times by leveraging the collective high-throughput NGS capacity of the participating centers. This ambitious sequencing initiative is being conducted in collaboration with Illumina Inc., acting as the industry partner.
By agreeing on common standards for sequencing and data management, as well as coordinated negotiations and contract management, the network demonstrates a new model for jointly building infrastructures within the health research sector with the NAKO study.

Shared Use of the Monoclonal Antibodies (CF-MAB) Core Facility at Helmholtz Munich
Since 2016, Helmholtz Munich has operated a professional infrastructure for generating monoclonal antibodies. Over 5,000 usable clones have been produced, with more than 300 licensed to companies. The CF-MAB has been used by the DZNE as part of the SyNergy Cluster for many years to provide high-quality antibodies for researchers within the network. In 2025, Helmholtz Munich and the German Cancer Research Center began a collaboration for the shared use of the CF-MAB.

DZNE Summer School in Microscopy 2024

The "Helmholtz-Health Core Facilities Network Summer School" took place from September 2 to 7, 2024, at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn. This inaugural summer academy of the network was specifically aimed at PhD students and early-career postdocs in the biomedical field. The goal was to provide participants with hands-on knowledge of advanced research technologies and promote interdisciplinary exchange.
The program was divided into four thematic areas: FAIR Data Use, where participants learned the principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability (FAIR) of research data, including the handling of sensitive data; Advanced Light Microscopy, with in-depth training in techniques such as light-sheet microscopy, high-resolution deep tissue imaging, and super-resolution microscopy; Advanced Laboratory Automation, covering training in automated liquid handling techniques and high-throughput screening assays; and Image and Data Analysis, which focused on the analysis of high-content screening images, building neural networks for cell classification, and spheroid segmentation.

The event provided the 30 selected participants not only with theoretical knowledge but also with practical experience in cutting-edge research technologies.