The HFHF Academy founded as part of GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research is dedicated to the investigation of properties and behaviour of particles in order to gain new insights into the evolution of the Universe. A crucial part of this research is the accelerator facility FAIR under construction at GSI Darmstadt. Gold or lead ions as well as protons and anti-protons will be accelerated to almost the speed of light. In addition to fundamental questions in basic research, various topics in applied science are addressed. Examples are the development of new materials or further development of radiotherapy that is cancer therapy with particle radiation.