The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, also known as GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam or just GFZ, is the national research center for Earth Sciences in Germany, located on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam, in the German federal state of Brandenburg, and is part of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres.
"GFZ" stands for GeoForschungsZentrum (Geo-research Centre).
The GFZ was founded in 1992. It is the latest in a long line of research institutes that have been located on the Telegrafenberg. These have included the Central Institute of for Physics of the Earth (ZIPE), which was an institute of the Academy of Sciences in the former German Democratic Republic that was actively involved in Geodesy. The history of the GFZ can be traced back to the Geodätische Institut Potsdam, an institution of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Under the directorship of Friedrich Robert Helmert from 1886 to 1917, the institute developed into the world's leading center for scientific geodesy. The current GFZ is supported 90% by the German Ministry of Education and Research, and 10% from the Ministry of Science, Research, and Culture from the state of Brandenburg.
Coordinates: 52°22′57″N 13°03′52″E / 52.3826°N 13.0644°E