Impetus for the region

Impetus for the region

DESY is one of the most important and renowned institutions on the international research scene. But the centre’s significance for the metropolitan regions of Hamburg and Berlin/Brandenburg is also growing. The DESY campus in Hamburg, in particular, strongly enhances the appeal of the region. Its large-scale facilities are major economic factors and attract researchers and doctoral students from all over northern Germany. Local residents are also fascinated by the research done at DESY. Groups of visitors, including schoolchildren, visit the centre regularly to find out about current research. And on the DESY open days, the campus in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld attracts more than 10 000 visitors. DESY is also creating jobs in both regions, as is documented by various studies. Approximately 2000 men and women are directly employed at the research centre. In addition, indirect economic effects safeguard more than 2000 additional jobs, most of them in northern Germany.

The benefits for Hamburg and Berlin/Brandenburg are not merely material ones. For example, DESY cooperates closely with the universities and institutes in the region and offers them unique opportunities for research and training, especially for up-and-coming young scientists. And the fact that DESY attracts thousands of experts from all over the world every year lends the regions renown and international flair.

 

A high in the north

The DESY campus in Hamburg is setting benchmarks

The DESY research campus is of growing importance for the metropolitan region of Hamburg. Since 2011, DESY and the University of Hamburg have been cooperating closely within PIER, the Partnership for Innovation, Education and Research. Both institutions are networking their research and training activities more strongly than before and promoting the transfer of science and technology throughout the Hamburg region. In addition, DESY is involved in various initiatives and cooperations that aim to strengthen Hamburg’s position as a leading location for high tech, such as the Center for Applied Nanotechnology (CAN) with commercially relevant research projects in nanoscience, or the creation of a technology park in the vicinity of DESY. The research centre is also a highly successful partner in the Excellence Initiatives of the German government and the federal states.

Hamburg
The construction of new research facilities, in particular the large-scale project European XFEL, directly enhances growth in the region. DESY itself is also an important employer, providing jobs for about 2000 employees and more than 100 apprentices in commercial-technical and business management professions. In addition, DESY attracts over 3000 guest scientists from more than 40 countries every year and provides research opportunities for about 700 diploma candidates, doctoral students and postdocs.

 

Open Day at DESY

Crowds of visitors on the campus in Hamburg

DESY opens its doors to the public every two years,and each of these open days attracts more than 10 000 visitors. In addition, school classes, groups of students and other interested visitors come every day to tour the research centre. Physics students act as tour guides and offer the visitors a lively impression of the many different kinds of research conducted at DESY. DESY is also a regular participant at events such as the Hamburg Harbour anniversary celebration. Over and over again, the centre demonstrates that its researchers don’t work in an ivory tower.

 

DESY in Brandenburg

The campus in Zeuthen generates momentum for the entire region

The DESY location in Zeuthen is one of the largest scientific institutions in the German federal state of Brandenburg. DESY in Zeuthen operates its own top-class accelerator, the PITZ photo injector test facility, and it also serves as a national centre for astroparticle physics. The centre is ideally networked with the Berlin/Brandenburg region. DESY in Zeuthen has joint appointments with the University of Potsdam and Humboldt University in Berlin, and it also cooperates with other universities and research institutes.

DESY in Zeuthen participates in a variety of regional networks, including the Berlin-Brandenburg cluster and the Potsdam Research Network “pearls”; it is an important partner for science and business. The centre is also is strongly involved in the promotion of up-and-coming young scientists. Its offerings for students, its traineeships and internships and its school laboratories on the topics of vacuum and the cosmos are highly coveted and quickly booked out. In addition, DESY maintains partnerships with schools and regularly participates in events such as the Future Day for boys and girls and the Science Night in Berlin and Potsdam.