Because of the close research collaboration of DESY and Universität Hamburg in the field of particle and astroparticle physics, the science campus Bahrenfeld is recognised internationally as one of the most powerful and highly regarded German sites for high-energy physics. For over sixty years, research in this field finds expression in a large number of joint collaborative projects.

The most recent one of these joint research projects is the Cluster of Excellence "Quantum Universe" granted in 2019. Its research objective is the understanding of mass and gravity at the interface between quantum physics and cosmology.