News
Decades-old museum specimens reveal ten extraordinary new worms
An international team has reconstructed the evolutionary history of branching marine worms – rare annelids that live hidden inside sea sponges and whose bodies branch repeatedly into multiple posterior ends. Until now, only three species of branching worms have been identified. By combining DNA sequencing of museum specimens with newly collected specimens and detailed anatomical analyses, the researchers discovered ten new species. more…
Award for bioinformatician
Bioinformatician Dr Jaccoline Zegers has been awarded the Wilhelm Pfeffer Prize by the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) for her doctoral thesis, which she completed at the University of Göttingen. Every year, the DBG honours scientists for outstanding achievements in plant research. The Wilhelm Pfeffer Prize is worth 2,500 euros. The award ceremony will take place on 9 September 2026 at the DBG’s international botany conference in Bochum. more…
Bats as a form of biological pest control
Labour-intensive harvesting, complex processing: the macadamia is one of the most expensive nuts in the world. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has now investigated how natural vegetation in and around macadamia plantations affects pest infestation, paying particular attention to bird and bat populations. The researchers were able to demonstrate that the higher the level of bat activity, the lower the incidence of pest infestation. more…
Working together to combat wildfires: building resilient landscapes
Wildfires in the Mediterranean region are becoming drastically more intense. The recent major fires in France, Spain and Greece show that firefighting efforts are reaching their limits. An international research team led by the Universities of Göttingen and Kassel is therefore calling for a fundamentally new approach to landscape design: in the journal iScience, the researchers demonstrate that wildfire prevention should be conceived and planned in conjunction with nature conservation, agriculture and rural development. more…
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Further news
University of Göttingen among the top 11 in Germany
The University of Göttingen has once again achieved a strong position in the Shanghai Ranking. In the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2026, it is listed in 6th to 11th place in Germany, alongside the universities of Frankfurt, Münster, Cologne, Tübingen and the Technical University of Dresden. Globally, it made it into the top 200. Data from more than 2,500 universities worldwide is analysed annually for the ranking. more…
AI research for more precise particle-physics simulations
The University of Göttingen has been awarded around 1.8 million euros for a new AI research group in the programme “KI-Forschungsgruppen Niedersachsen” funded by zukunft.niedersachsen. The five-year project “Production-ready AI for unbiased simulation in high energy physics” will be led by Dr Timo Janßen at the Institute for Theoretical Physics. more…