November 4, 2025. The Helmholtz Association has decided to continue the innovation platform Hi-Acts (Helmholtz Innovation Platform for Accelerator-based Technologies and Solutions) on a permanent basis. Following the successful evaluation by an independent, international committee, the project, which was launched in 2023 and initially funded for three years, will now be made permanent and thus anchored in the Helmholtz portfolio in the long term.
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Hi-Acts was launched by five Helmholtz Centers: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), GSI Helmholtzzentrum fĂĽr Schwerionenforschung, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. The aim is to work together with industry to develop innovations and technologies based on the particle accelerator facilities operated by the five centers and make them available to society. Hi-Acts networks research institutions and industrial partners in order to create new applications in areas such as new materials and analysis, electronics and the energy industry as well as health and medicine. Since its launch, more than 116 companies and research organizations have joined the platform. More than 200 experts regularly exchange ideas via the Hi-Acts platform in order to carry out joint innovation projects.
The Scientific Director of the HZDR and Vice President of the Helmholtz Association for Matter, Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt, said during the evaluation in front of the international panel of experts: “Hi-Acts makes a significant contribution to the successful implementation of the German government’s high-tech agenda. By pooling the unique accelerator infrastructures, we are able to promote key technologies from basic research in a targeted manner and transfer them to application more quickly. This strengthens the innovative and economic power of Made in Germany.”
In the past three years, the HZDR has invested an average of 1.5 million euros annually in projects with industry and the targeted strengthening of transfer capacities. “Hi-Acts enables access to existing accelerator facilities, know-how and networks across institutional boundaries. The joint platform thus also accelerates the transfer, opens up new user groups in the SME sector and significantly drives forward new strategic partnerships such as with Amplitude Laser. We are delighted that we now have Hi-Acts at our disposal as a permanent instrument,” emphasizes Dr. Björn Wolf, Head of the Technology Transfer and Innovation Department at the HZDR. Several investments initiated by Hi-Acts at the HZDR have already proven to be sustainable. For example, investments in the field of ion technology have led to an increase in the efficiency of the accelerators at the Ion Beam Center. The Radionuclide Technology Lab has also developed new manufacturing technologies and, thanks to the additional resources, significant impetus was provided for the establishment of the nukliD Radiopharmacy Cluster Dresden from within the HZDR.
Hi-Acts offers various services. A central instrument is the Use Case Initiatives, which support collaborations between research and industry with start-up funding of up to 100,000 euros per year. This funding volume will be doubled to almost one million euros for 2026. In total, the platform has so far raised around 22 million euros in third-party funding for joint projects.
With Hi-Acts Connect, the platform also offers industry uncomplicated access to master industrial challenges in research and development with the help of the Helmholtz Centers: companies can submit these requests online using a simple form, and Hi-Acts connects them with suitable research partners. The platform also organizes workshops, webinars and meet-ups between industry and research. Five Technology Labs provide external partners with targeted access to accelerator-based methods and infrastructures at the Helmholtz Centers. The Technology Labs have proven themselves as a bridge between scientific findings and their concrete market-ready applications and will be opened to all five centers from 2027, similar to the Use Case Initiatives with a selection process. Each Technology Lab can receive up to 1.8 million euros over three years.
Dr. Peggy Jungke | Strategic Alliance Manager
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e. V. (HZDR)
Tel.: +49 351 260 2710 | E-Mail: p.jungke@hzdr.de
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Photo: HZDR / K. Zheynova
