Capturing the
world of science.
Unlock
the potential of imaging in the Helmholtz Association across all research domains and along the entire imaging pipeline.
Improve
leverage and accessibility of the innovative imaging modalities, applications and data treasures.
Enable
the delivery of generalizable imaging solutions.
Helmholtz Imaging empowers and supports scientists in all aspects of imaging:
News, Events & Jobs
Cast Your Vote in the Best Scientific Image Contest 2025
Vote for your favorite scientific image(s) by May 30, 2025! Who will win this year's Public Choice Award? Find out at the award ceremony on June 26 during the Helmholtz Imaging Conference!
Helmholtz Imaging Project Call 2025 – Now Open
Submit your proposal by July 30 for seed funding of collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects in imaging and information and data science. Need a partner? Join our matchmaking channel on Mattermost or connect at the Helmholtz Imaging Conference (June 25–27). Want to learn more? Don’t miss our info session on May 23!
Helmholtz Imaging Conference 2025: Registration & Call for Abstract Open
The Helmholtz Imaging Conference is back for 2025, scheduled to take place from June 25-27 in Potsdam. Registration & call for abstracts are OPEN. Join us in June!Portfolio
Support Hub
The Support Hub is your gateway to the world of Helmholtz Imaging! Simply send an e-mail to support@helmholtz-imaging.de and we will help you out. Any request is welcome, whether it is a question about administrative or imaging-related matters, consulting requests, project support, Helmholtz Imaging Collaborations or access to our portfolio.
CONNECT
Helmholtz Imaging CONNECT is the heart of the Helmholtz Imaging Network. Get to know the imaging experts from the Helmholtz Association, explore the amazing portfolio of cutting-edge instruments from satellites to synchrotrons, dive into the exciting world of imaging applications. Helmholtz Imaging CONNECT facilitates finding partners and collaborators for innovative projects, with just the right complementary expertise necessary to conduct research for grand challenges.
We want you! If you are affiliated to one of the Helmholtz Centers, we invite you to add your profile, your modalities and your applications to the website. Be Helmholtz Imaging!
Collaborations
Struggling with an imaging-related project? Apply for a Helmholtz Imaging Collaboration and tap into the expertise of Helmholtz Imaging! Collaborations enable you to team up with one of our units for an elongated period of time (up to 6 months or even longer) to work on a project together. Whether you require support in (AI-based) image analysis, image reconstruction, annotation, data management, software solutions, addressing inverse problems, developing novel imaging modalities, 3D visualization and more – we are your partner.
Solutions
Helmholtz Imaging Solutions provide software driven strategies for solving common problems across imaging domains and tools. In reality, being aware of a software solution for a scientific problem is often followed by a time-consuming process of figuring out how to install the specific tool and how to precisely use it to reproduce a published result. We provide a framework to unify and simplify this process. Additionally, we curate a catalog of Helmholtz Imaging Solutions developed within our community.
Research
Projects
Helmholtz Imaging Projects are granted to cross-disciplinary research teams that identify innovative research topics at the intersection of imaging and information & data science, initiate cross-cutting research collaborations, and thus underpin the growth of the Helmholtz Imaging network. Discover our outstanding projects or apply for the annual call.
Publications
Helmholtz Imaging captures the world of science. Discover unique data sets, ready-to-use software tools, and top-level research papers.
The platform’s output originates from our research groups as well as from projects funded by us, theses supervised by us and collaborations initiated through us. Altogether, our publications showcase the whole diversity of Helmholtz Imaging.
Highlight Projects
The Human Radiome Project (THRP)
The Human Radiome Project (THRP) aims to drive a paradigm shift in medical research, providing novel insights into human health and disease through the power of AI. By integrating diverse radiological data, it seeks to enable groundbreaking advancements in personalized medicine, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and improving patient care.Image: ChatGPT. Prompt: MRI image of the knee with a touch of AI
Fast-EMI
Deep-learning assisted fast in situ 4D electron microscope imaging
FONDA: Dependability, Adaptability and Uncertainty Quantification for Data Analysis Workflows in Large-Scale Biomedical Image Analysis
The project aims to enhance infrastructures for machine learning (ML)-intensive DAWs in advanced biomedical imaging applications.Image: Envato Elements
Synergy Unit
The Synergy Unit amplifies the Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative's impact by developing AI principles for diverse fields. Collaborating with HFMI projects, it focuses on knowledge sharing, community building, and representation to ensure the initiative's lasting influence.Image: NicoElNino on Shutterstock
GLAM: Generative lung architecture modeling
This project is developing generative methods for designing bio-printable lung tissues across a spectrum of disease severity in the specific context of mouse and human lung disease.
COMFORT
COMFORT aims to achieve breakthroughs in developing compact, flexible, and robust machine learning models for image, audio, and network data. In doing so, its application-oriented research program will advance the mathematical understanding of machine learning at the intersection of effectiveness and robustness.
UMDISTO: Unsupervised Model Discovery
The project aims to develop novel methods for unsupervised multi-matching to map cellular-level correspondences in organisms like C. elegans.
AqQua
AqQua aims to build the first foundational pelagic imaging model using billions of aquatic images worldwide. These images, spanning species from plankton, will help an AI classify species, extract traits, and estimate carbon content, offering key insights into biodiversity, ecosystem health, and the biological carbon pump's role in climate regulation.
Helmholtz Imaging’s mission is to unlock the potential of imaging in the Helmholtz Association. Image data provide a substantial part of data being generated in scientific research. Helmholtz Imaging is the overarching platform to better leverage and make accessible to everyone the innovative modalities, methodological richness, and data treasures of the Helmholtz Association.
For us, imaging is the whole process from data acquisition and data preparation to data management and data analysis. For this reason, we feel that the anchoring at the three host centers DESY, DKFZ and MDC is optimal to serve the entire imaging pipeline and jointly generate the greatest possible added value for the entire association. We are dedicated to making Helmholtz Imaging an internationally visible platform for imaging research.
Helmholtz Imaging is one of five platforms (HIDA, HIFIS, Helmholtz.AI and HMC) initiated by the Helmholtz Information & Data Science Incubator.
People of Helmholtz Imaging
Prof. Dr. Martin Burger
Prof. Dr. Dagmar Kainmüller
Dr. Philipp Heuser
Dr. rer. nat. Fabian Isensee
Dr. Annika Reinke
Deborah Schmidt
