Focusing Expertise – Shaping the Future: This has been the motto of the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA for short, since 2007. JARA represents the combined expertise of RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich. In this model, which cannot be found anywhere else in Germany, the partners overcome a simple juxtaposition of university and non-university research and teaching.

The alliance thus establishes a world-class scientific environment that attracts the very best scientists. At the same time, JARA opens up new research opportunities and facilitates projects that would not be attainable for either of the partners on their own.

The cooperation combines the disciplinary research at RWTH Aachen University with programme-oriented research at Forschungszentrum Jülich. JARA brings together complementary research fields which have already proven instrumental in tackling key societal challenges.

• brain research (JARA-BRAIN)
• simulation and data sciences (JARA-CSD)
• sustainable energy (JARA-ENERGY)
• information technologies of the future (JARA-FIT)

The individual research sections therefore concentrate on the topics of health, energy, and information. The two partners, RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, thus selectively combine research fields in which they can effectively complement each other’s specific expertise.

In JARA-BRAIN, scientists from Jülich and Aachen pool their expertise in medical imaging and clinical research and undertake translational brain research in psychiatry and neurology.
In 2018, RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, the JARA partners, restructured and expanded the former JARA-HPC section - a change also marked by the new name, JARA-CSD. The research area has since focused on simulation and data sciences.
The JARA-ENERGY section, sustainable energy research, represents a highly interdisciplinary consortium for the transformation of the energy system.
JARA-FIT, fundamentals of future information technology, works on new concepts in information technology.

After ten successful years, the JARA-FAME section (Forces and Matter Experiments) and, in 2025, JARA-SOFT were dissolved in order to streamline and sharpen JARA’s portfolio.

Collaboration within JARA goes well beyond research alone, it also covers strategic and structural aspects to create excellent conditions for science. Infrastructure is jointly planned and used, early-career researchers are supported and prepared for academic careers, and tailored services are provided to meet researchers’ specific needs.

In this integrated partnership model, science policy strategies are jointly defined and coordinated. Research goals are set collaboratively, investments are made, and academic staff are appointed and trained. Currently, more than 190 professors and institute directors are involved in JARA. Around 4,800 scientific and administrative staff work within its institutes. The overall budget amounts to approximately €500 million.