Forschungszentrum Jülich

From Waste to Raw Material

In the future, microorganisms could help return hard-to-recycle plastics back into the recycling loop. Nick Wierckx, a molecular biologist at Jülich, explains the opportunities offered by biological recycling processes and the challenges of a truly circular economy.

Photovoltaics

Top International Award for Uwe Rau

Prof. Dr. Uwe Rau has been awarded the 2026 IEEE William R. Cherry Award. Presented today at the 54th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) in the United States, the award is one of the most prestigious honors in the field of photovoltaics worldwide. It recognizes Rau’s fundamental contributions to the development of more efficient solar cells—a key technology for the climate-neutral energy supply of the future.

Photovoltaics

Top International Award for Uwe Rau

Knowledge. Creation.

Grasping the present. Shaping the future. We research to revolutionize information processing, to transform the energy sector, and to develop a biobased circular economy. Across disciplines, creatively, and successfully.

7,571

employees

26

ERC Grants

2,390

publications

NEWS

Sleep Research

A Night Without Sleep Alters Synaptic Density in the Brain

What happens in the brain when people stay awake all night? A new PET/MRI study by researchers at the Forschungszentrum Jülich involving 40 healthy adults provides one of the most direct indications to date in humans: After approximately 28.5 hours of wakefulness, a marker of synaptic density was elevated in several brain regions.

People

Leadership Change at Europe’s Leading Neutron Research Centre

The Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble has announced its new leadership team. From October 2026, Regine Willumeit-Römer will take over as Director of the Institute. Ken Andersen and Jacques Jestin will continue to serve as Deputy Directors.

d Day to Combat Drought 2026

Drought Begins Beneath the Surface

Prolonged dry periods, irregular rainfall, and scarce water resources are posing growing challenges for agriculture and society. To mark the Day to Combat Drought and Desertification, we are showcasing how Drought Analytics, a spin-off from Forschungszentrum Jülich, is helping farmers to irrigate their fields in line with their needs.

Our 3 strategic research priorities

Information

The priority of information combines Jülich research in three areas: simulation and data science in high-performance-computing (HPC), brain research, and research on bio- and nanoelectronic information technologies of the future. Quantum technologies are another priority at Jülich.

Energy

Jülich energy research concentrates on an energy system based on renewable energy. Scientists research technologies on all scales – from the atomic level right up to industrial innovations – covering the entire value chain from basic to applied research.

Bioeconomy

The sustainable bioeconomy is a biobased circular economy that does away with fossil resources and utilizes renewable resources instead. Scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich are developing new value creation processes.

Helmholtz Research Fields

As a founding member of the Helmholtz Association, we are part of the largest German research organization and contribute our top-class expertise to four of the six Helmholtz Research Fields: Energy, Matter, Information, and Earth & Environment.

At Jülich, we conduct research in the fields of digital transformation, climate protection, the energy transition, and the sustainable circular economy. Our research strengthens the technological and digital sovereignty of our country. It is important to me to use the potential that arises from scientific findings and innovations for practical application.
Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht, Chair of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich

Topics

JUPITER

JUPITER at Forschungszentrum Jülich is the first European supercomputer in the exascale class. JUPITER is the first system in Europe with a computing power of more than one quintillion floating-point operations per second

AI

AI is already revolutionizing many areas of life. With our infrastructure and expertise, we are working towards fully and safely exploiting the potential of this technology in the future.

Quantum technologies

Quantum computers are changing computing in a fascinating way. At Jülich, we are testing systems and prototypes that users from all over Europe can utilize for their development work.

JUNIQ

The ‘Jülich UNified Infrastructure for Quantum computing’, or JUNIQ for short, is the world's first quantum computing infrastructure to offer users from science and industry access to a variety of quantum systems at different stages of development.

Sustainability

Our findings make an important contribution to achieving global sustainability goals. Our research is also sustainable and we use resources responsibly.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is set to become a mainstay of the energy transition. But sustainable and marketable technologies are needed first. We are testing possible solutions.

Neuromorphic Computing

Computers modeled on the human brain, so-called neuromorphic systems, are much more economical than conventional computers.

Atmosphere and Climate

Often invisible to the human eye, they influence the global climate: chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere. We are tracking down these processes.

effzett - Forschungszentrum Jülich's magazine

Can a person’s individual traits be determined from their brain? For a long time, this was unclear, partly because there were no suitable methods of investigation. Artificial intelligence and big data are now opening up new possibilities and have heralded a change of perspective in brain research.