Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Joint labs – shared equipment

Cooperation agreements in the natural and life sciences often involve the joint procurement and use of technology. In many cases, this scientific collaboration results in joint research proposals by the partners involved.

Humboldt-Universität runs joint labs in the fields of computer science and physics:

Wireless Communications Systems
Ever higher data rates are needed in order to store, process and transmit large amounts of data. This research area is of great importance to many future fields of application. The Joint Lab for Wireless Communications Systems is co-run by the Department of Computer Science of the Humboldt-Universität, which is based at the Science and Technology Park Berlin-Adlershof, and the Leibniz institute IHP – Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics in Frankfurt/Oder. Both partners pool their strengths in the joint research and will supervise students and PhD candidates in the future.

Humboldt-Universität works closely with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) on three research projects that involve the use of shared technology.

Protein Crystallography
In the Joint Lab for Protein Crystallography, researchers share the use of state-of-the art shared beamline technology to determine the three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules and to further develop methods in the field of structural biology. The findings from structural biology are of particular importance to medicine as regards the development of medicinal products. Apart from Humboldt-Universität and HZB, the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and Freie Universität Berlin also participate in the joint lab.

Joint Lab for Structural Research (JLSR)
The Joint Lab for Structural Research (JLSR) combines all of the structural research work conducted at the Science and Technology Park Berlin-Adlershof. The aim is to further develop structural research methods using the equipment in the joint lab and to make these methods available to a larger number of users. The research field is extensive, ranging from crystalline semi-conductors and insulator materials to organic molecular systems and supramolecular systems and biomaterials. High-resolution electron microscopy is the main technology shared in the lab. Technische Universität Berlin is also a partner in the joint lab.

Joint Lab for Accelerator Physics
Humboldt-Universität and HZB also collaborate in the Joint Lab for Accelerator Physics. As a key technology, accelerator physics forms the foundation for basic research on high energy and particle physics, but also for research using synchrotron radiation and for medical research. Apart from helping to further basic research, accelerator technology is also very important for medical applications in fields such as diagnostics and cancer therapy.

BeID-Labor
The BeID Lab is a joint initiative by Bundesdruckerei and Humboldt-Universität, which collaborate on research and measures to promote young researchers in the field of secure identities and security technologies. “BeID Lab” stands for “Berlin electronic Identity Laboratory” and developed from earlier research collaborations between the Department of Computer Science of the Humboldt-Universität and Bundesdruckerei. The eIDClientCore software is the basic code for programming software to use the online ID function of the new German ID cards. This software was brought to the joint lab by Bundesdruckerei and is provided by HUmboldt Universität as an open source code.