The GFZ was founded on 1 January 1992 as the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (Potsdam Geoscience Centre). 

It was initially a member of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Großforschungseinrichtungen (AGF) (Working Group of Large Research Institutions), which was further developed to become the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres in 1995 (named after the Potsdam physicist and physician Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)).

Since 1995, the GFZ has been one of meanwhile 18 research centres belonging to the Helmholtz Association, Germany's largest research organisation. It is part of the Helmholtz Research Field ‘Earth and Environment’. The seven centres in this Research Field are working on the joint research programme ‘Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future’ for the period 2021-2028.

As of 1 January 2023, the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS, formerly IASS) is embedded into the administrative structures of to the GFZ and now also conducts research under the umbrella of the Helmholtz Association.

As of 31.12.2024, 1,642 individuals work at our centre (incl. RIFS). 

37 % of the people collaborating at the GFZ have an international citizenship from 81 countries worldwide. 

The individuals working here operate in different roles and they are in diverse formats connected to our centre:

• 1,193 employees (48 % of these are women) are covering roles as researchers, technical and administrative staff, including 166 trainees, and student assistants
• 449 guest scientists and former employees are utilizing GFZ's infrastructure to work together on scientific projects and related initiatives.

Both groups, permanent employees and visiting scientists, comprise a total of 209 scientists with doctoral projects supervised by the GFZ.

GFZ has its headquarters in the Albert Einstein Science Park on the historic Telegrafenberg campus in Potsdam. There are three other locations in Potsdam.

In addition, GFZ has three branch offices:

• the A. Schmidt Observatory for Geomagnetism in Niemegk (Brandenburg)
• the Oberpfaffenhofen site near Munich (due to its proximity to the German Space Control Centre (GSOC) of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen)
• the deep laboratory at the Continental Deep Drilling Project (KTB) in Windischeschenbach (Upper Palatinate/Bavaria)

Annual Budget 2024 | Actual data:

81,3 Mio. € million institutional funds provided by the Federal Government (90%) and the State of Brandenburg (10%)

of which GFZ:                             72,8 Mio. €
of which RIFS:                              8,5 Mio. €
Third-party funding:                 40,0 Mio. €

Total:                                              121,3 Mio. €

Annual Budget 2025

€ 81,9 million institutional funds provided by the Federal Government (90%) and the State of Brandenburg (10%)

of which GFZ: € 73,4 million
of which RIFS: € 8,5 million
€ 40,2 million from third-party funding

Total: € 122,1 million