Science City Hamburg BahrenfeldConstruction begins on the Hamburg Fundamental Interactions Laboratory (HAFUN)

19 January 2026

Photo: UHH/Yzer

Together, they broke ground for the new HAFUN research building: Prof. Dr. Erkia Garutti, Dr. Andreas Dressel, Maryam Blumenthal, Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, and Martin Sowinski (left to right).

With a ceremonial groundbreaking today, Senator for Science Maryam Blumenthal, Senator for Finance Dr. Andreas Dressel, President of the University of Hamburg Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, Martin Sowinski, Managing Director of Sprinkenhof GmbH, and Prof. Dr. Erika Garutti from the Institute of Experimental Physics at the UHH heralded the official start of construction work on the Hamburg Fundamental Interactions Laboratory (HAFUN).

HAFUN, a unique research building, is being constructed on the campus of Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld. In the future, around 200 scientists from the Quantum Universe Cluster of Excellence, the Department of Physics, and the MIN Faculty at the University of Hamburg will use state-of-the-art infrastructure to research fundamental questions in particle physics and cosmology. What makes it special is that the new research building, with its highly specialized laboratory space, large-scale equipment, and experimental infrastructure, will itself become a measuring instrument thanks to the installation of various sensors. The integrated gravity laboratories will enable precision experiments in gravitational wave research and cosmic radiation. In one of the laboratories, a nine-meter-high pendulum will be installed on an air-suspended experimental table, opening up new and improved dimensions of physical experimental accuracy for researchers.

The construction project is being carried out on behalf of the Authority for Science, Research, and Equality (BWFG) by the municipal Sprinkenhof GmbH as the overall project manager in a tenant-landlord model and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2029. The total project costs amount to around €247 million gross, with partial financing from federal and state funds of around €27 million planned.

More details can be found in University of Hamburg's Newsroom (in German).