[en] The department GFA (Grossforschungsanlagen, Large Research Facilities) has been established in October 1998. Its main duty is operation, maintenance and development of the PSI accelerators, the spallation neutron source and the beam transport systems for pions and muons. A large effort of this group concerns the planning and co-ordination of new projects like e.g. the assembly of the synchrotron light source (SLS), design studies of a new proton therapy facility, the ultracold neutron source and a new intensive secondary beam line for low energy muons. A large fraction of this report is devoted to research especially in the field of materials Science. The studies include large scale molecular dynamics computer simulations on the elastic and plastic behavior of nanostructured metals, complemented by experimental mechanical testing using micro-indentation and miniaturized tensile testing, as well as microstructural characterisation and strain field mapping of metallic coatings and thin ceramic layers, the latter done with synchrotron radiation