The Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging –named after the physicist and inventor of the spin echo Erwin Louis Hahn– is an inter-university facility of the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen. Founded in 2005, it focuses on the research, development and application of research, development and application of ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging (UHF MRI). Currently, the institute is home to nine research groups on a great variety of topics. Research is carried out with a whole-body MAGNETOM Terra 7-Tesla MRI system from Siemens Healthcare.

The MAGNETOM Terra 7-Tesla MRI system works with a magnetic field strength of 7 Tesla, while standard models used in a hospital environment work with 1.5 and 3 Tesla. Thus, the scientists at the ELH work with ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging - UHF MRI for short. The 7-Tesla MRI system provides high sensitivity for structural and functional measurements in the body and allows images with very high resolution. The scanner weighs 20 tons and is the strongest magnet in the in the Ruhr area. For reference: 7 Tesla equals about 140,000 times the magnetic field of the earth.

Renowned cooperation partners of the Erwin L. Hahn Institute include the Ruhr University Bochum and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.

The institute is located on the premises of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zollverein in Essen, in the former control station of the coking plant. The Zollverein colliery was once regarded as the largest and most efficient mine in the world.