Backed by approximately 9 million euros from the Helmholtz Initiative and Networking Fund, the campaign brings together nine Helmholtz centers in a collaborative effort that bridges research, industry, government, and civil society. At the heart of this initiative are three “Solution Labs” – real-world demonstration sites where innovative water management approaches are tested and refined. These labs operate across different scales, from entire river basins to urban infrastructures and even microscopic pollutant processes. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) contributes with two projects: the URBAN-LE Solution Lab in Leipzig and the SOLVE initiative in the Elbe River basin.

Photonic circuits are key tools for information processing but scaling them usually requires many optical layers. We demonstrate a programmable free-space photonic platform performing a wide class of translation-invariant, high-dimensional transformations using only three layers. Encoding information in structured light, we realize quantum-walk dynamics over large lattices, distributing a single input into thousands of outputs. The approach supports operation with single photons, highlighting free-space optics as a promising route toward scalable photonic information processing.

Researchers led by Andrew Barnabas Wong at the National University of Singapore have developed a simple, low-cost method to significantly improve the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into valuable fuels and chemicals, offering a potential pathway to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. By coating copper catalysts with nanometre-thin films of biopolymers derived from waste materials such as seafood shells and wood, the team achieved up to 90% selectivity for multicarbon products like ethylene at industrially relevant reaction rates, while also replacing expensive and environmentally harmful PFAS-based materials commonly used in such systems. Reported in Nature Energy, the approach enhances efficiency by concentrating CO₂ at the catalyst surface and suppressing unwanted reactions, demonstrating a scalable route towards greener, more cost-effective production of fuels and chemical feedstocks using renewable electricity.

An Ehime University research group has discovered that antiaromatic molecules, typically unstable, can form stable dimers through π-stacking. The homoHPHAC cation, despite its positive charge, adopts a slightly offset stacked structure. This interaction induces electronic reorganization, partially attenuating antiaromaticity. The findings reveal a new mode of molecular assembly for antiaromatic molecules and provide insights for designing functional π-conjugated materials.

In-memory computing, which processes data directly within memory units, is emerging as a powerful solution to overcome the energy and speed limitations of modern computers. Scientists in China have developed a quantum-enhanced stochastic system using a room-temperature quantum memory. It computes by accumulating randomly generated photons, enabling secure and accelerated processing. This approach turns intrinsic quantum randomness into a computational resource, provides intrinsic security against eavesdropping, and paves the way for future quantum computing architectures.

Many pharmaceutical molecules contain mirror-image isomers, known as enantiomers, which must be carefully controlled during synthesis. Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have shown that limonene—a naturally occurring oil found in citrus fruit peels—can act as an effective reaction solvent, facilitating the efficient formation of target molecules while enabling easy removal of by-products.

Femtosecond nonlinear frequency conversion underpins classical and quantum photonics but typically requires synchronized mode-locked lasers and complex enhancement cavities. We demonstrate a fundamentally different approach by mode-locking nonlinear frequency conversion through dissipative quadratic soliton physics. This paradigm shift extends soliton-based technologies to diverse cavity platforms and previously inaccessible wavelengths, enabling new opportunities in precision metrology, quantum information science, field control, and ultrafast spectroscopy.

The advancement of sustainable energy solutions hinges on highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts, which are crucial for water electrolysis and metal-air batteries. Ruthenium single atoms anchored on defective nickel-iron layered double hydroxide (Ru SAs/D-NiFe LDH@NF), synthesized via hydrothermal etching, emerge as a breakthrough catalyst. It achieves a low overpotential of 206 mV at 50 mA cm^-2 and exceptional stability over 350 hours in zinc-air batteries. Density functional theory confirms Ru single atoms optimize electron distribution near defects, accelerating reaction kinetics. This innovation sets a new benchmark for next-generation catalysts, driving scalable green energy technologies.