[Image: DESY]
The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg, Germany, and the University of Illinois system’s Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), Chicago, IL, USA, have announced a partnership aimed at advancing commercialization of research and startup activity in the two cities. The hope, according to a DESY press release announcing the alliance, is that the connection will strengthen the “respective innovation ecosystems of Hamburg and Chicago.”
Coming in 2026: Innovation centers
The activities of the recently unveiled partnership will take place through “innovation centers” to be started up in 2026 in the both cities. One of these, the DESY Innovation Factory, is envisioned as an “integrated startup hub” aimed at commercializing tech—especially in laser and photonic systems, sensors, robotics and life science—that’s built with DESY fundamental research.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, a new innovation center is slated to open in the same year on the Chicago River, south of the city’s famous Loop. According to a DPI press release, the innovation center will aim to “further [DPI’s] three-pronged mission” of high-tech workforce training, conducting applied R&D, and building businesses “to grow Chicago’s tech ecosystem.”
Operationally, the DESY-DPI partnership will involve using these two innovation hubs as bases for mutual support and cooperation. For example, DPI will, under the alliance, serve as “an entry point for the American market” for DESY-incubated technologies, while DESY will serve as a similar gateway to the European market for DPI. The partnership will also involve joint marketing efforts and events, as well as “exchange programs for research faculty.”
Toward a “Science City” in Hamburg
The DESY side of the partnership in particular plays into the development of Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld, a multi-decade effort to build “a new flagship” for science-industry connections in Hamburg’s west. According to DESY, the 125-ha site of Science City will ultimately provide R&D space for more than 4,000 researchers and teachers and for 3,000 students—as well as “an attractive new residential location with high leisure quality.”
The city’s boosters have described the nascent Science City as “the central example of a new type of urban development for the future and a unique model for interconnecting science, research and neighborhood development and creating positive societal impact.”
For his part, Bill Jackson, DPI’s executive director, was more focused on the impact of specific technologies—and bringing them to market. “DESY and DPI are on a parallel path and timeline in terms of supporting entrepreneurs and taking academic research from the lab into the real world,” he said. “And when you want to get your research out to the entire world, you need to have global partners.”