Coordinates: 51°03′49″N 13°56′59″E / 51.06361°N 13.94972°E
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is a German research laboratory in Dresden and member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. Research is conducted in three of the Helmholtz Association's research areas: matter, health, and energy. While the research center was formerly known as Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (since 1992), the research site dates back as far as 1956, when the Zentralinstitut für Kernforschung (national institute for nuclear research) in East Germany was founded.
HZDR conducts research in the sectors matter, health, and energy in Dresden and at three other locations in Germany and France. In Grenoble, France, it operates a beamline for materials and radiochemistry research at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ESRF. Three of HZDR's five large-scale facilities are also available to international scientists.
Matter HZDR scientists are investigating the structure and function of new materials in order to better understand, optimize, and use them for specific applications. This includes research on novel superconducting and semiconducting materials using extremely high magnetic fields or ion beams. What's more, they are developing detectors applied in medicine and technology, and they are advancing modern technologies for particle acceleration.
Health HZDR aims at making progress in early diagnosis and therapy of cancer, which sees 450.000 incidences in Germany each year. It collaborates closely with partners from university medicine (National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology - OncoRay - in Dresden, Germany). Cancer research at the HZDR focuses on three major fields: new radioactive pharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and therapy, innovative medical imaging methods used in oncology as well as particle acceleration using new laser technologies for radiation oncology.