The German Engineering Materials Science Centre (GEMS) is the central user platform of Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht with a unique infrastructure for the complementary research with photons and neutrons. The instruments using synchrotron radiation are at the outstation of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht at DESY in Hamburg, instruments which use neutrons are located at the outstation of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht at the FRM II in Garching near Munich.

As part of the Institute of Materials Research, Materials Physics Division, GEMS is a major center for the use of photons and neutrons in materials research.