20 October 2026
Six aspiring IT specialists at FZJ have won the 2026 Helmholtz Training Award for their AI platform, JUZURA. Their project is designed to make internal knowledge more accessible and, in particular, to help new employees get started. First place comes with a prize of € 3,000.
Anyone starting out at Forschungszentrum Jülich has many questions: How do internal processes work? Who is responsible for what? And where can I find the right information? With JUZURA, a team of trainees is developing an AI platform designed to help find answers. At the heart of the project is the AI assistant AZURA: it is designed to draw on the Forschungszentrum Jülich's internal knowledge, answer questions, and assist with everyday tasks.
Developed collaboratively, implemented independently
Behind the project are six IT trainees specializing in system integration from the 2025 training cohort. Jannik Ophey from the Jülich Supercomputing Centre and Paul Steins from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences are jointly leading the project. The team also includes Dwayne Schallert and Nesibe Sural, also from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Sebastian Künne from the IT Services department, and Tobias Nieveler from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine.
The team launched JUZURA in early 2026, just a few months after the start of their apprenticeships. The apprentices develop, organize, and operate the project independently and familiarize themselves with new topics on their own. They place particular emphasis on data protection, data sovereignty, and transparency. The platform is operated on their own infrastructure.
Initiative and Technical Skill Impress the Jury
The jury recognized the team's dedication, initiative, and technical expertise. In her congratulatory letter, Helmholtz Executive Director Dr. Sabine Helling-Moegen emphasized that JUZURA supports information retrieval, the onboarding of new employees, and knowledge transfer. She noted that it was particularly impressive that the trainees had taken on responsibility and independently explored numerous new topics.
With the Helmholtz Training Award, the Helmholtz Association honours outstanding creative achievements by trainees that improve workflows, enable practical Innovations, or contribute to knowledge transfer. The official award ceremony is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027 in Berlin.
