"I will present the Astrophysical Institute of the Friedrich-Schiller-Universtity Jena. The three groups - Observations, Theory, Laboratory - will be presented in an overview. Afterwards the most important research projects are presented, with focus on the Observations group, where I'm a member of. The second part of the talk will concentrate on our observatory in Grossschwabhausen. A special issue of "Astronomical Notes" with 11 refereed articles based on observations carried out with our observatory was published recently and will be presented."