Building

With its low-vibration, highly specialised laboratories, the MPSD extension building, which opened in May 2024, offers optimal conditions for research into quantum materials and the production of micro- and nanostructures. The new building enables the institute to venture into new research areas and expand from three to five scientific departments.

Up to 160 scientists and employees find space in light-filled offices and communal areas. More than a third of the total usable area of 6,185 m² houses laboratories, while a modern and energy-efficient IT infrastructure for the institute's increasingly data-intensive research will be set up in the server room. The building's roof garden also plays an important role: it provides space for scientific discussions and meetings while making a contribution to climate protection and insect diversity on the campus.

The City of Hamburg contributed € 37 million of the € 54 million construction costs; the Max Planck Society the remaining € 17 million.

Since its foundation in 2014, the MPSD has been co-located with the University of Hamburg and the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in the neighbouring Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL). Some parts of the institute will remain at the CFEL, but the extension building paves the way for the current and future growth of the MPSD.

The building is located in the heart of Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld, which hosts an outstanding scientific infrastructure and a unique range of high-performance laser and X-ray light sources. At the research campus, scientific collaboration is practised across disciplines and institutional boundaries.