The
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres is the largest scientific organisation in
Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical
research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry". Scientists at Helmholtz therefore focus research on complex systems which affect human life and the environment. The namesake of the association is the German physiologist and physicist
Hermann von Helmholtz.