What moved us this year

Cause of sharp rise in global warming possibly found

The year 2023 was the warmest since records began. The global average temperature was almost 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial level. Greenhouse gas emissions played a large part in this, but they do not fully explain the extent of the warming. The search for the causes of the sharp rise has been a puzzle for experts, with a gap of 0.2 degrees remaining in the models. Now researchers from the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research may have found the causes: Our planet’s reflectivity is decreasing because it lacks certain clouds. Clouds influence how much sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface and how much energy is reflected back into space. Low-lying clouds tend to cool the earth, while high-lying clouds cause warming. The researchers were able to show in model calculations that the loss of low clouds can explain the missing 0.2 degrees. The researchers are still discussing why there are fewer low clouds. One cause could be fewer man-made aerosols, which serve as condensation nuclei for clouds.

Sharp rise in global warming is largely due to the planet’s reduced reflectivity (AWI)

Helmholtz invests millions in research into basic AI models

The use of artificial intelligence is pushing the boundaries of science and helping to find completely new solutions to global challenges. The Helmholtz Association is doing pioneering work in this field. Huge amounts of data are generated in climate research, medicine and research into new materials for the energy transition. However, its full potential can only be exploited if research can also evaluate ever larger volumes of data. A new generation of AI foundation models is now set to tackle a whole series of major challenges in science. The Helmholtz Association is funding seven pilot projects and a Synergy Unit as well as the necessary infrastructure with around 25 million euros. The majority of Helmholtz Centers are involved in the projects, which aim to use AI to make radiological diagnoses more reliable, improve our understanding of the global carbon cycle, take climate models to a new level and accelerate the development of a new generation of photovoltaic modules, for example.

Selected projects (Round 1)

Selected projects (Round 2)

 Ausgewählte Projekte (Runde 1)

Ausgewählte Projekte (Runde 2)

Accumulation of spike protein possible cause of long-COVID symptoms

The causes behind Long Covid disease are still not properly understood. Researchers from Helmholtz Munich and LMU Munich have discovered a mechanism that may explain the neurological symptoms of the disease. They were able to show that the spike protein of the virus remains in the meninges and bone marrow of the skull for up to four years after infection. The deposition of the protein, which the virus uses to enter the cells, could lead to chronic inflammation of the brain. This is accompanied by neurological symptoms such as accelerated brain ageing or so-called brain fog. The research team was also able to show that vaccination with an mRNA vaccine significantly reduces the accumulation of the protein. The findings open up new possibilities for the treatment of neurological symptoms resulting from a Sars-CoV-2 infection.

Long COVID: accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein associated with lasting effects on the brain

Construction of the new Polarstern. Contract awarded for the German research icebreaker

Good news for the German research fleet, German shipbuilding and international polar research: Shortly before the end of the year, the budget committee of the German Bundestag approved the funds for the construction of the research vessel. This clears the way for one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the history of the Helmholtz Association. For 40 years, the Polarstern has sailed to the Arctic and Antarctic, giving people from all over the world the opportunity to conduct research in the most extreme regions of the planet. The successor vessel will be built by Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems in Wismar, Germany. The shipyard won the contract after a Europe-wide bidding process that took almost two and a half years. The project is also an important economic development measure and shows how science can become a driving force for sustainable future technologies. After a construction period of five years, the new Polarstern is expected to be handed over to the research community in 2030.

The new Polarstern: Contract for new German research icebreaker awarded

A cause of fish mortality discovered in the Oder in 2022

In the summer of 2022, thousands of fish died in the River Oder near the Polish border. The cause was the bloom of the brackish water algae Prymnesium parvum. It produces a toxin that was ultimately responsible for the death of the fish. Analyses by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research have now shown that high concentrations of organic micropollutants intensified the toxic effect of the algae toxin. The substances are a mix of organic compounds such as flame retardants or polymer additives, but also pesticides and their degradation products. The pollutants originate from sewage treatment plants, directly from industrial wastewater and from agriculture. The researchers fear that the combination of warmer temperatures and extreme weather events could lead to more frequent algal blooms.

Fish mortality on the Oder 2022: micropollutants amplified the effect of algal toxins

How a science think tank is helping to strengthen the Ukrainian energy system

The current winter will be the hardest for the Ukrainian population since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression. One reason for this is the deliberate destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, at least half of which is already in ruins. Scientists from the Helmholtz Association have been researching what measures need to be taken to secure Ukraine's electricity needs over the next two winters. Together with their Polish and Ukrainian colleagues, they developed a model that simulates possible developments in the Ukrainian energy system. This will help them make important decisions to secure the supply of electricity and heat in winter. An important role could be played by an “energy situation center” yet to be established: It could better coordinate efforts both within Ukraine and between Ukraine and its partners and increase the flow of information between the players.

”Ukraine needs an energy situation center” - Frank Meissner’s (HZB) point of view

Compact systems for the production of synthetic fuels

The company INERATEC, a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), has developed a particularly efficient technology for the production of synthetic fuels (e-fuels). A chemical reactor that is 80 times more compact than conventional reactors. This made it possible to install the first production plant for the manufacture of sustainable fuels in a conventional shipping container. The plants can be used wherever renewable electricity and CO₂ are available. The company raised capital of 118 million euros in a financing round this year.

Leibniz Prizes for two Helmholtz researchers

The German Research Foundation has announced the winners of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2025. Among them are biochemist Ana Pombo from the Max Delbrück Center and biologist Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla from Helmholtz Munich. Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla is being honored for her research in the field of stem cell biology and early development. Born in Mexico, she is Head of the Stem Cell Center and Director of the Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells at Helmholtz Munich, as well as Director of Biomedicine at the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus and Professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Ana Pombo receives the prize for her pioneering work on the influence of the environment on diseases such as autism and epilepsy. Ana Pombo was born in Portugal and came to the Max Delbrück Center and Humboldt University Berlin as a professor via the Helmholtz  Professorship Program in 2013. She is Deputy Director of the MDC-BIMSB and Deputy Program Spokesperson of the Max Delbrück Center. The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is the highest scientific award in Germany and is endowed with 2.5 million euros.