Konrad Zuse is widely known as the creator of the Z3, the first working electronic computing device that was freely programmable and fully automated. In 1941, Zuse assembled the Z3 in the living room of his parents’ apartment in Berlin. It is not so well known, however, that about 1945/46 he also invented the computer language “Plankalkül“ which anticipated essential aspects of modern programming languages. Konrad Zuse, who graduated as a civil engineer from the Technische Hochschule (today the TU Berlin), incorporated in his work the concepts of mathematics and computer science in an ideal manner. Even when he was abstract, he still always remained focused on specific solutions for scientific and technological problems. This approach is the guiding principle for the Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum in Berlin.
The Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik Berlin (ZIB) is a non-university research institute of the state of Berlin. In close interdisciplinary cooperation with the Berlin universities and scientific institutions it implements research and development in the field of information technology with a particular focus on application-oriented algorithmic mathematics and practical computer science. ZIB also provides high-performance computer capacity as an accompanying service. ZIB was founded by law as a statutory establishment in 1984.
Research and development at ZIB focus on Scientific Computing and Computer Science which include
ZIB contributes in solving urgent problems in science, technology, environment or society which conventional methods are incapable of handling but which can be resolved by mathematical analysis. ZIB’s part is to develop innovative algorithms and to use high performance computers in close cooperation with scientific, economic and social institutions. Basic funding through the state of Berlin as well as third party funding make this research possible.
In addition to cooperating with scientific institutions, ZIB currently implements joint projects with partners from telecommunications, computer assisted medicine, biotechnology, public transportation, transport and logistics, vehicle construction, the chemical, electrical and computer industries, energy supply, and nano-optics. Furthermore, ZIB – together with the three Berlin universities FU, HU, and TU as well as the WIAS – is one of the five institutions operating the DFG research center Matheon "Mathematics for key technologies: Modelling, simulation, and optimization of real-world processes" which is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
In the framework of the North-German Supercomputing Alliance (HLRN), ZIB operates a high-performance computing system that is one of the top computers in Germany. An identical system is installed at the Hannover HLRN site. The computing and memory capacities of the two system components are primarily reserved for the universities and scientific institutions in Northern Germany; it may to a certain extent be accessed by users from the other German states also.
Access to the supercomputer is approved by an admission council which makes its decision according to criteria specified by the German Research Council (DFG). Each approved project has an expert consultant as advisor. Users from industry and commerce may use the high performance computers in the course of joint projects with scientific partners.
The state of Berlin closely cooperates in the HLRN with the federal states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein to procure and use supercomputers. These six states have signed an agreement on the joint financing of the computer systems. The operating costs are paid by the hosting states of Berlin and Niedersachsen.
ZIB aims to make the algorithms developed by its scientific staff publicly available. ZIB’s software libraries can normally be used by the scientific community free of charge.
Industry partners commercially use ZIB’s algorithms and methods on the basis of licensing agreements. Software systems developed at ZIB, e.g. the Amira visualization software are distributed worldwide. ZIB provides software for documenting various museum inventories. ZIB has also shared in the development of global Internet-oriented systems for information retrieval in science and runs the Cooperative Library Network Berlin-Brandenburg (KOBV).
ZIB issues print and electronic versions of reports that are then published in professional journals. ZIB’s annual reports give a detailed survey of its scientific achievements.
Scientists working at ZIB are editors and co-editors of various international journals. Numerous publications and presentations as well as national and international meetings organized by ZIB members document the scientific achievements of the institute.
Department Numerical Analysis and Modelling
The department performs research and development in the field of algorithmic numerical mathematics with the focus on nonlinear models, especially differential equation models. The aim is to construct efficient and reliable algorithms capable of simulating, identifying and optimizing (Optimal Control included) complex technological problems. The department is composed of the working groups Computational Medicine, Computational Nano-Optics and Computational Drug Design, which at present mainly address the fields biotechnology, nano-optics and computer-assisted medicine.
Department Visualization and Data Analysis
New techniques in the fields of scientific visualization and image processing are developed and implemented. The department is composed of the working groups Visualization Algorithms, Comparative Visualization, Visualization Systems and Medical Planning. Current major application areas are molecular biomedicine, neurobiology and plant biology, medical therapy and surgery, environmental sciences and flow analysis. The department provides visualization software and hardware and supports researchers to implement complex visualization projects.
The research focus of the department is in the areas of algorithmic discrete mathematics and the theory of integer, nonlinear, and stochastic programming. The emphasis is on the solution of hard, real-world optimization problems. Our aim is to analyze the mathematical models that come up in these applications, and, based on the structural insights obtained in this way, to develop and to implement efficient solution algorithms. The department is subdivided into three groups according to our main application areas: Linear and Nonlinear Integer Programming, Telecommunications, and Traffic and Logistics.
Department Scientific Information Systems
The department works in the field of design, development and implementation of mathematical information systems. Internet-based information technology has been implemented, for instance, in the projects Information Services for Mathematics in the Internet (Math-Net) and Information Technology Tools for Museum Documentation. The Cooperative Library Network Berlin-Brandenburg (KOBV) is a network of independent local library systems of scientific libraries using open interfaces. The holdings are accessible with a search engine which queries a joint virtual catalogue containing external and authority file data.
The Computer Science Research department focuses on the theory and practice of parallel and distributed systems. In our research, we benefit from the access to our supercomputers and from the experiences made with the Berlin metropolitan network BRAIN, which we operate as a service for scientific and cultural institutions in Berlin. New developments in these domains create the background for the design and implementation of reliable, adaptive distributed systems. Our research focuses on the management of large data volumes in Grid systems, a problem that is gaining importance in networked and mobile environments.
zib.dezib.dezib.dezib.deProf. Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Deuflhard
Phone: +49 30 84185-101
Fax: +49 30 84185-107
Email: deuflhardzib.de
Dr. Martin Weiser
Phone: +49 30 84185-170
Fax: +49 30 84185-107
Email: weiserzib.de
Hans-Christian Hege
Phone: +49 30 84185-141
Fax: +49 30 84185-107
Email: hegezib.de
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Martin Grötschel
Phone: +49 30 84185-210
Fax: +49 30 84185-269
Email: groetschelzib.de
Dr. Ralf Borndörfer
Phone: +49 30 84185-243
Fax: +49 30 84185-269
Email: borndoerferzib.de
Dr. Thorsten Koch
Phone: +49 30 84185-213
Fax: +49 30 84185-269
Email: kochzib.de
Prof. Dr. Alexander Reinefeld
Phone: +49 30 84185-130
Fax: +49 30 84185-311
Email: reinefeldzib.de
Hubert Busch
Phone: +49 30 84185-135
Fax: +49 30 84185-311
Email: buschzib.de
Wolfgang Pyszkalski
Phone: +49 30 84185-152
Fax: +49 30 84185-125
Email: pyszkalskizib.de
Annerose Steinke
Phone: +49 30 84185-100
Fax: +49 30 84185-125
Email: a.steinkezib.de
Sylke Arencibia
Phone: +49 30 84185-123
Fax: +49 30 84185-125
Email: arencibiazib.de
Uwe Neumann
Phone: +49 30 84185-138
Fax: +49 30 84185-125
Email: neumannzib.de
Regine Kossick
Phone: +49 30 84185-233
Fax: +49 30 84185-125
Email: kossickzib.de