Projects


With our Helmholtz Imaging Projects, Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative (HFMI) and third-party funded projects, we aim to initiate cross-cutting research collaborations and identify innovative research topics in the field of imaging and data science.

Helmholtz Imaging offers a funding line of Helmholtz Imaging Projects, striving to seed collaborations between centers and across research fields. They are a strong incentive to enable interdisciplinary collaboration across the Helmholtz Association and an incubator and accelerator of the Helmholtz Imaging network. 

In addition to our Helmholtz Imaging Projects, the Helmholtz Imaging team has secured external funding for third-party projects contributing their knowledge and expertise on cutting-edge imaging methodology. 

Join us in unlocking the limitless potential of Helmholtz Imaging!

Find out more about Helmholtz Imaging Project call in this summary.

Helmholtz Imaging Projects


Decorative image, HI DIPLO
 

DIPLO

Paving the way from in situ plankton image data to a Digital Twin Ocean

This project will develop a user-friendly software platform to analyze plankton images independent of the instrument with which images were collected. This will help to compare data and create a common database, which is a critical step towards an image-based ecosystem component of a “Digital Twin Ocean”.
Image: DLR

TerraByte-DNN2Sim

On the trail of the mystery of the laws of calving

Researchers still face a mystery when it comes to the laws by which glaciers calve. This project aims to use satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, mathematical optimisation and a new data processing pipeline to track the movements of glacier fronts in Antarctica to get closer to solving the mystery.
 

SyNaToSe

Leveraging Cross-Domain Synergies for Efficient Machine Learning of Nanoscale Tomogram Segmentation

The aim is to develop an adaptable algorithm that can be used to perform different tasks in data and image analysis without needing to be trained with new, laboriously annotated images for each separate task.

Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative (HFMI) Projects


Image: NicoElNino on Shutterstock

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.
decorative image
Image: NicoElNino on Shutterstock

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.
Microcosmos of the Ocean by Klas Ove Möller, Hereon
Image: NicoElNino on Shutterstock

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.

UNLOCK – Benchmarking Projects


Image: FZJ

AMOEBE: lArge-scale Multi-mOdal Microbial livE-cell imaging BEnchmark

Building a large-scale, FAIR benchmark for AI-driven analysis of microbial communities using time-lapse microscopy to advance understanding of microbial dynamics, ecosystem stability, and their role in health and biotechnology.
Visual for Pero; Addressing the lack of standardized, FAIR benchmark datasets in perovskite photovoltaics. Pero enables reproducible AI models for efficiency prediction, material classification, and defect detection, which are critical for industrial scaling of sustainable energy technologies.
Image: Photo: Markus Breig, KIT; illustration: Felix Laufer, KIT

Pero – Unlocking ML Potential: Benchmark Datasets on Perovskite Thin Film Processing

Addressing the lack of standardized, FAIR benchmark datasets in perovskite photovoltaics. Pero enables reproducible AI models for efficiency prediction, material classification, and defect detection, which are critical for industrial scaling of sustainable energy technologies.
Visual for NeuroHarmonize; The benchmark addresses the lack of harmonized, reproducible, and privacy-preserving multimodal datasets for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Current AI models struggle with fragmented and non-standardized data, which limits their generalizability and clinical deployment. NeuroHarmonize creates a FAIR-compliant, decentralized benchmarking framework to accelerate reliable, transparent, and collaborative AI for AD diagnosis, prognosis, and long-term monitoring.
Image: Georg Kislinger, Martina Schifferer, Christian Haass & Maryam Khojasteh-Farat, DZNE (BSIC 2021 contribution)

NeuroHarmonize – A Benchmark Decentralized Data Harmonization Workflow for AI-Driven Alzheimer’s Disease Management

The benchmark addresses the lack of harmonized, reproducible, and privacy-preserving multimodal datasets for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). NeuroHarmonize creates a FAIR-compliant, decentralized benchmarking framework to accelerate reliable, transparent, and collaborative AI for AD diagnosis, prognosis, and long-term monitoring.

Third-Party Projects


Two people standing in a computer center; COMFORT logo is integrated in the image
Image: Tim Roith

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.
Decorative image
 

Bayesian Computations for Large-scale (Nonlinear) Inverse Problems in Imaging

During research stays with the collaborating group at Caltech, we aim to investigate various aspects of statistical inverse problems. This includes inquiries into particle- and PDE-based sampling methods, as well as robust regularization using neural networks.
GLAM, third-party funded project, Helmholtz Imaging
 

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.