Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy, HZB) is part of the

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...

. The institute studies the structure and dynamics of materials and investigates

solar cell A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.

technology. It also runs the third-generation BESSY II

synchrotron A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...

Adlershof Adlershof (, literally "Eagle's Court") is a locality (') in the Boroughs of Berlin, borough (') Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany. Adlershof is home to the new City of Science, Technology and Media (WISTA), located on the southwestern edge of ...

. Until the end of 2019 it ran the 10 megawatt BER II

nuclear research reactor Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for nuclear power plant, electricity production, heat ge ...

at the Lise Meitner campus in

Wannsee Wannsee () is a locality in the southwestern Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany. It is the westernmost locality of Berlin. In the quarter there are two lakes, the larger '' Großer Wannsee'' (Greater Wannsee) and the '' Kleiner Wannse ...

History

Following the renaming of Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin GmbH to Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH on 5 June 2008, the legal merger of Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung (BESSY) with HZB became visible on 1 January 2009. The Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin für Kernforschung (HMI), named after

Otto Hahn Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the field of radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and discoverer of nuclear fission, the science behind nuclear reactors and ...

and

Lise Meitner Elise Lise Meitner ( ; ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission. After completing her doctoral research in 1906, Meitner became the second woman ...

, was named 14 March 1959 in Berlin-Wannsee to operate the BER I research reactor that began operation with 50 kW on 24 July 1958, then named Institut für Kernforschung (IKB). The IKB was founded by the senate of Berlin (West) in winter 1956/57 as a dependent authority. Research originally focused on radiochemistry. In 1971, the federal government took over 90% of the shares in the HMI by converting it into a GmbH (limited liability company). The Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung GmbH ( BESSY) was founded in 1979. The first synchrotron BESSY I in Berlin-Wilmersdorf began operations in 1982. In May 2022, South African President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

and German Chancellor

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

, who was in South Africa on the final leg of a trip to Africa, publicly announced that HZB and

Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...

had agreed to conduct research into catalysts (CARE-O-SENE project) to help produce sustainable aviation fuel on a commercial scale.Promit Mukherjee (24 May 2022)
South Africa's Sasol, Germany's HZB to study sustainable jet fuel
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''.

References

External links

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
Official English language website
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
Official German language website {{Authority control Nuclear technology Nuclear research institutes Neutron facilities Research institutes in Berlin Synchrotron radiation facilities