The founding mission of Helmholtz Institutes was to foster scientific collaboration between Helmholtz Centres and universities. This turned into a story of success and trustful collaboration –through numerous joint projects and excellent promotion of young scientists, three former university groups have started HIPS, which has since become an institute with nine research groups and close to 200 employees. HIPS scientists profit from close ties to both Saarland University and the HZI, placing them in a unique network of excellent partners to support their research endeavours.