DESY

DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) is a German national research center for fundamental physics and photon science. It is headquartered in Hamburg, with a second major site in Zeuthen near Berlin. DESY operates large accelerator facilities and hosts international user programs in particle physics, materials science, biology, and chemistry.

The center was founded in 1959 and developed into a leading hub for accelerator science and particle physics while expanding its photon science program. It conducts basic research and technology development and provides training and user support for scientists at universities and research institutes.

Facilities include storage rings and free-electron lasers. Notable facilities at DESY’s sites include the PETRA III synchrotron radiation source in Hamburg and the FLASH free-electron laser. DESY also provides the driving accelerator for the European XFEL, a large international x-ray laser facility hosted at the DESY campus.

Research areas cover high-energy physics, detector development, accelerator physics, and photon science. Researchers use X-ray, infrared, and terahertz beams to study matter at atomic scales, while particle physics programs explore fundamental forces and particles through collider and fixed-target experiments.

DESY is funded by the German federal government and the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and operates as a foundation under public law. It collaborates with universities, research institutes, and industry worldwide and hosts thousands of scientists, engineers, and students each year.