The institute studies the structure and dynamics of materials and investigates solar cell technology.

[3] Until the end of 2019 it ran the 10 megawatt BER II nuclear research reactor at the Lise Meitner campus in Wannsee.

The IKB was founded by the senate of Berlin (West) in winter 1956/57 as a dependent authority.

In 1971, the federal government took over 90% of the shares in the HMI by converting it into a GmbH (limited liability company).

In May 2022, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was in South Africa on the final leg of a trip to Africa, publicly announced that HZB and Sasol had agreed to conduct research into substances to help produce sustainable aviation fuel on a commercial scale.