diff --git a/nomad/api/repository.py b/nomad/api/repository.py
index d90a60da1adee1fa25d5b897605af3f215fd5558..b0a7634674ac45cc38eb32f34eb9b3d7a3fe5ac8 100644
--- a/nomad/api/repository.py
+++ b/nomad/api/repository.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from flask_restful import Resource, abort
 
 from nomad.repo import RepoCalc
 
-from .app import api, auth, base_path, login_if_available
+from .app import api, base_path, login_if_available
 
 
 class RepoCalcRes(Resource):
diff --git a/nomad/api/upload.py b/nomad/api/upload.py
index 7cf2ce81c4dfe12a020607b76a6e3661d72f4ec2..0ec2cea36dee121a1885e94c727b781fa14a0ea7 100644
--- a/nomad/api/upload.py
+++ b/nomad/api/upload.py
@@ -159,6 +159,74 @@ class UploadsRes(Resource):
 
         return upload.json_dict, 200
 
+    @login_really_required
+    def put(self):
+        """
+        Upload a file and automatically create a new upload in the process.
+        Can be used to upload files via browser or other http clients like curl.
+        This will also start the processing of the upload.
+
+        There are two basic ways to upload a file: multipart-formdata or simply streaming
+        the file data. Both are supported. The later one does not allow to transfer a
+        filename or other meta-data. If a filename is available, it will become the
+        name of the upload.
+
+        .. :quickref: upload; Upload a file directly and create an upload.
+
+        **Curl examples for both approaches**:
+
+        .. sourcecode:: sh
+
+            curl -X put "/nomad/api/uploads/" -F file=@local_file
+            curl "/nomad/api/uploads/" --upload-file local_file
+
+        :qparam name: an optional name for the upload
+        :status 200: upload successfully received.
+        :returns: the upload (see GET /uploads/<upload_id>)
+        """
+        # create upload
+        upload = Upload.create(
+            user=g.user,
+            name=request.args.get('name'))
+
+        logger = get_logger(__name__, endpoint='upload', action='put', upload_id=upload.upload_id)
+        logger.info('upload created')
+
+        uploadFile = UploadFile(upload.upload_id)
+
+        if request.mimetype == 'application/multipart-formdata':
+            # multipart formdata, e.g. with curl -X put "url" -F file=@local_file
+            # might have performance issues for large files: https://github.com/pallets/flask/issues/2086
+            if 'file' in request.files:
+                abort(400, message='Bad multipart-formdata, there is no file part.')
+            file = request.files['file']
+            if upload.name is '':
+                upload.name = file.filename
+
+            file.save(uploadFile.os_path)
+        else:
+            # simple streaming data in HTTP body, e.g. with curl "url" -T local_file
+            try:
+                with uploadFile.open('wb') as f:
+                    while not request.stream.is_exhausted:
+                        f.write(request.stream.read(1024))
+
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.error('Error on streaming upload', exc_info=e)
+                abort(400, message='Some IO went wrong, download probably aborted/disrupted.')
+
+        if not uploadFile.is_valid:
+            uploadFile.delete()
+            upload.delete()
+            abort(400, message='Bad file format, excpected %s.' % ", ".join(UploadFile.formats))
+
+        logger.info('received uploaded file')
+        upload.upload_time = datetime.now()
+        upload.process()
+        logger.info('initiated processing')
+
+        return upload.json_dict, 200
+
 
 class UploadRes(Resource):
     """ Uploads """
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index 861690acbc4f4087074503076f24a60c6d9f84da..4d87360984ddd31568c662754c302fb71b296ce5 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -288,6 +288,27 @@ def test_processing_local_path(client, file, worker, mocksearch, test_user_auth,
     assert_processing(client, test_user_auth, upload_id, repository_db)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('file', example_files)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('mode', ['multipart', 'stream'])
+@pytest.mark.timeout(10)
+def test_processing_upload(client, file, mode, worker, mocksearch, test_user_auth, no_warn, repository_db):
+    if mode == 'multipart':
+        rv = client.put(
+            '/uploads',
+            data=dict(file=(open(file, 'rb'), 'file')),
+            headers=test_user_auth)
+    elif mode == 'stream':
+        with open(file, 'rb') as f:
+            rv = client.put('/uploads', data=f.read(), headers=test_user_auth)
+    else:
+        assert False
+    assert rv.status_code == 200
+    upload = assert_upload(rv.data)
+    upload_id = upload['upload_id']
+
+    assert_processing(client, test_user_auth, upload_id, repository_db)
+
+
 def test_repo_calc(client, example_elastic_calc, no_warn):
     rv = client.get(
         '/repo/%s/%s' % (example_elastic_calc.upload_hash, example_elastic_calc.calc_hash))