30 April 2026
The President of the Helmholtz Association spoke with staff, gained insights into the world of microscopic structures, and discussed with early-career researchers and start-ups how research can make a tangible difference to people's lives.
How does research translate into tangible benefits for everyday life? The journey often begins in highly specialised laboratories, where structures are millions of times smaller than a millimetre. This is where materials are developed, components tested and processes refined that later underpin applications such as more powerful chips, more efficient energy storage systems and new production technologies. In doing so, they address some of the key challenges of our time - from sustainable energy supply and key digital technologies to industrial transformation. This link between research at the microscopic scale and its real-world application was a key focus of the visit by Professor Martin Keller, President of the Helmholtz Association, to Forschungszentrum Jülich on 27 April.
Research should make a difference
Martin Keller has been President of the Helmholtz Association since November 2025. He represents a clear vision: research should not remain confined to the laboratory, but enable breakthroughs that make a tangible difference to people's lives and open up new opportunities for industry. For Keller, collaboration and teamwork are not optional, but essential. The major challenges of our time, he emphasises, can only be addressed together.
"At Jülich, pioneering innovations are emerging - from quantum research and artificial intelligence to sustainable approaches for a liveable planet, as well as strong technology transfer, for example in mRNA-based medicines that are already improving people's lives in Germany. Through close partnerships with industry, Forschungszentrum Jülich is driving structural change and creating jobs, particularly in the Rhenish mining region. At the same time, its advisory activities make an important contribution to evidence-based policymaking - demonstrating how science can serve as a compass in challenging times," says Martin Keller.
Exchange as a starting point
At Forschungszentrum Jülich, this vision meets an environment where basic research, technological excellence and societal impact are closely intertwined. Together with Professor Astrid Lambrecht, Chair of the Board of Directors, Keller began his visit with the moderated town hall "Campus in Dialogue", engaging directly with staff from across the research centre.
This exchange highlighted a key point: research thrives not only on individual excellence, but on the people who make knowledge, infrastructure and collaboration possible every day.
Where the future begins on a small scale
The visit then led to the Helmholtz Nano Facility - a place where the future quite literally begins on a small scale. Together with Astrid Lambrecht and Prof. Kobus Kuipers, Member of the Board of Directors, as well as researchers from the Peter Grünberg Institute, Keller gained insights into a research infrastructure dedicated to nanoscale structures with far-reaching impact.
Work carried out here lays the foundation for new materials, high-performance electronics and future quantum technologies. It also illustrates how closely scientific precision and technological sustainability are linked.
Making the invisible visible
The next stop focused on what remains hidden to the naked eye: the Ernst Ruska-Centre 2.0. Using ultra-high-resolution electron microscopy, researchers examine materials and biological structures in minute detail.
What may sound like highly specialised basic research has very concrete implications: a better understanding of materials enables the development of improved batteries, more efficient components and more robust materials. Similarly, visualising biological processes in greater detail lays the groundwork for advances in medicine and biotechnology. Here, research becomes visible in the truest sense.
Research with impact
At the public press event at Brainergy Park Jülich, the perspective shifted once more - from infrastructure to application, from insight to impact. In the discussion format "Meet the Minds @FZJ", Martin Keller spoke with early-career researchers and start-ups about a central question: how can research generate impact?
The discussion centred on what research and young technology-oriented companies need today to achieve tangible impact - for example in the energy transition, the hydrogen economy and key digital technologies.
Martin Keller's visit to Forschungszentrum Jülich thus went far beyond a tour of laboratories and facilities. It illustrated how fundamental knowledge, cutting-edge infrastructure, bright minds and entrepreneurial drive together pave the way from research into society. For Keller, this is a guiding principle of his presidency. For Forschungszentrum Jülich, it is already everyday practice.
