NUM is the home of the Swiss centre for Neutron scattering and Muon spin spectroscopy as well as the operator of SINQ - presently the highest power spallation target station worldwide. SINQ is a continuous neutron source equipped with state of the art instrumentation and a wide range of very flexible ancillary equipment. The continuous muon source SµS with its variety of µSR spectrometers is unique in Europe and well known for its low energy muon capability and for the muons on request. The facilities at NUM are open for external use by academia and industry. This opportunity is annually being exploited by several hundreds of national and international scientists, by some tens of companies and several museums.

The research in NUM is centred around these facilities and ranges from basic studies of magnetism to the study of materials for use in very intense particle beams. Visitors at NUM will not only meet state of the art equipment, which often is unique world wide, but will also be able to benefit from an active and lively scientific atmosphere.

The NUM department consists of six organizational units:

The four divisions

- Spallation Neutron Source (ASQ)
- Laboratory for Neutron Scattering ETHZ&PSI (LNS)
- Laboratory for Muon Spin Spectroscopy (LMU)
- Laboratory for Developments and Methods (LDM)

and the two groups

- Theory of Condensed Matter Physics (CMT)
- PSI User Office (PUO).