Research
Various centres and institutes conduct sustainability-orientated research. The University of Göttingen advocates for the support and further development of discipline-specific and cross-disciplinary research on sustainability in all academic disciplines.
How to run a science research group sustainably
- Monitor the environmental footprint
- Foster learning and innovation
- Reduce the environmental footprint
- Nurture campus sustainability
- Embrace sustainability in private life
- Constructively deal with environmental anxiety
- Design research projects for sustainability impact
- Engage with stakeholders
- Capitalize on sustainability teaching
- Recognize biases and limits
European Green Deal Call - Research to fight the climate crisis and for transformation
Selected Research Projects dealing with Sustainability:
ECOBOOST - Boosting functional biodiversity to maximize ecosystem services for Mediterranean crop production
Current agricultural methods used in the cultivation of crops are often unsustainable and lead to a loss of biodiversity. Particularly in the Mediterranean region, pest control still heavily relies on the use of chemical pesticides. The ECOBOOST consortium, consisting of ten international partners in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Algeria, Tunesia, Morocco and Germany, is researching agricultural practices aimed at enhancing functional biodiversity and promoting ecosystem services for the cultivation of Solanaceae crops. The measures being investigated within the ECOBOOST consortium include: i) Harnessing the genetic diversity of crops, ii) Promoting beneficial insects and pollinators through tailored flower strips, and iii) Managing soil microbiomes to enhance plant health through soil improvement and seed treatment with selected symbiotic fungal strains that can protect crops against dangerous nematodes. The latter is the subject of research at the University of Göttingen. Field and greenhouse experiments will be conducted to determine optimal, location-specific combinations of these various measures.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Michael Rostás
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Department for Crop Sciences
Agricultural Entomology
michael.rostas@uni-goettingen.de
PathFinder
Forests are playing an increasingly important role in the sustainability debate, especially in the context of climate change, biodiversity conservation, and the bio-economy. In order to make evidence-based decisions in forest-relevant policy processes, reliable information is needed. At the national level, national forest inventories meet this information need. In its "European Forest Strategy", the European Commission calls for their expansion in the direction of a European forest monitoring. This is the task of the EU Horizon project "Pathfinder" under the leadership of the Norwegian bio-economy institute NIBIO. The Institute of Forest Inventory and Remote Sensing of the University of Göttingen has the task to develop an efficient inventory design, which periodically (e.g. every 2 years) informs about the development of carbon storage and biodiversity indicators and allows an efficient remote sensing integration.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Christoph Kleinn
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Chair of Forest Inventory and Remote Sensing
ckleinn@gwdg.de
INFORMA - Science-Based Integrated Forest Mitigation Management
Forests are the largest terrestrial carbon sink. This service is threatened by the increase in natural disturbances that are becoming more frequent with climate change. At the same time, knowledge about the effects of forest management on biogeochemical and biophysical processes is limited. INFORMA aims to expand this knowledge, to identify opportunities to manage and protect forests more sustainably and to conserve their biodiversity.
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More information
Contact
Dr. Michael Kirchner
Faculty for Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Chair of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
michael.kirchner@uni-goettingen.de
CLIMB – FOREST Climate Mitigation and Bioeconomy pathways for sustainable Forestry
This project will use the latest data from forest research stations and satellites to support the planning and management of Europe’s new and existing forests, it will create new tools, interactive maps and best practice guidelines. Through close collaboration with the forestry sector and policy makers, CLIMB-FOREST aims to ensure Europe’s forests are resilient to the changing climate and support people and nature.
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More information
Kontakt
Dr. Anne Klosterhalfen
Faculty for Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Bioclimatology Group
anne.klosterhalfen@uni-goettingen.de
WoodLCC - Enhanced Life-Cycle-Costing in wood construction by novel methods for service life planning
WoodLCC will enable robust and precise life-cycle-costing (LCC) based on input from novel models for detailed service life performance specification for wooden components and buildings. For this, a holistic approach will be used to integrate service life data in LCC analysis instruments. The outcome will be the WoodLCC data platform.
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More information
Contact
Philip Bester van Niekerk
Faculty of Forest Scieneces and Forest Ecology
Department of Wood Biology ad Wood Products
philipbester.niekerk@uni-goettingen.de
RECONNECT - Reconciling fragmented and contested landscapes
RECONNECT focuses in particular, the disconnect of biodiversity conservation from other aspects of contemporary landscapes and societies. Fragmentation, contestation, and disconnection can be institutional, ecological, and social. The goal is to generate in-depth knowledge about ways to manage institutional, ecological, and social boundaries in four case sites.
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Contact
Prof. Dr. Tobias Plieninger & Dr. Marion Jay
Faculty for Agricultural Sciences
Chair of Social-Ecological Interactions in Agricultural Systems
plieninger@uni-goettingen.de & marion.jay@stud.uni-goettingen.de
BIOcean5D - Marine Biodiversity Assessment and Prediction across spatial, temporal and human scales
Marine biodiversity sustains ecosystem services for planetary and human health. Recent surveys have unveiled our ignorance of the richness and functioning of marine life, which is changing at a faster pace than terrestrial life. Uniting major European centers to allow holistic re-exploration of marine biodiversity. The focus is to understand pan-European biodiversity land-to-sea gradients and ecosystem services, including marine exposomes. This creates the opportunity for an interdisciplinary understanding, leading towards a sustainable preservation of our oceans and seas. The Animal Evolution and Biodiversity department will investigate the annelid macrofauna across the European coast. Animals are sampled across a defined transect covering the upper-, middle-, and lower-intertidal zones at sandy beaches and rocky shores. A subset of commonly found focus species (e.g., the common lugworm Arenicola marina) will be analysed genetically and morphologically to unravel taxonomic distribution patterns and to corollate the observed diversity with biotic and abiotic factors.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Christoph Bleidorn
Faculty of Biology and Psychology
Animal Evolution and Biodiversity
cbleido@gwdg.de
SUPER-G – Grassland systems and policies
The existence and management of permanent grasslands is key to the delivery of ecosystem services across Europe. However, due to various causes their maintenance and functions are under threat. The overall objective of the SUPER-G project is to co-develop sustainable systems and policies with farmers and policy makers that will be effective in optimizing productivity, whilst supporting biodiversity and achieving other ecosystem services.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Johannes Isselstein
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Institute of Grassland Science
jissels@gwdg.de
InterRest - Interactive effects of local and landscape scale restoration of semi-natural grasslands and agricultural fields on species interactions and ecosystem functions in different social-ecological system
Calcareous grasslands were created by traditional land use in European cultural landscapes and are one of the most species-rich habitat types. They harbour many rare and highly endangered species, however nowadays they are often threatened. Hence, restoration measures are urgently needed. For this reason, it is important to investigate species interactions since they are indicators of restoration success, as they are often more sensitive to environmental changes and determine vital functions that are necessary to stabilize ecosystems.
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Contact
Dr. Annika Hass
Department of Crop Sciences
Professor for Functional Agrobiodiversity
ahass[at]gwdg.de
TRUESOIL - True SOC sequestration: understanding trade-offs and dynamic interactions between SOC stocks and GHG emissions for climate-smart agrisoil management
The main goal is to assess tradeoffs between management practices aiming at increasing soil organic carbon in agricultural soils and GHG emissions, as well as the future impact of reductions in precipitation on the interactions between soil organic carbon accumulation and GHGs. We will elucidate the roles of different abiotic and biotic factors in organic carbon storage and the extent to which these factors impact on GHG emissions, in particular N2O, in contrasting soil types and climates.
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Contact
Dr. Ana Meijide
Fakculty for Agricultural Sciences
Division Agronomy/Crop Science
ana.meijide[at]uni-goettingen.de
BRACE – Barley Responses and Adaptation to Changing Environments
The BRACE project analyses the stress response of barley to drought and heat utilising a variety of techniques. As climate change exacerbates environmental stresses (e.g. temperature extremes, water availability) for plants, this is of increasing concern for sustainable crop production. BRACE therefore aims to resolve the genetic components required for resilience using wild and cultivated barley as examples.
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Kontakt
Prof. Dr. Reimund Rötter
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Institut TROPAGS
reimund.roetter[at]uni-goettingen.de
ONEforest – A multi-criteria decision support system for a common forest management to strengthen forest resilience, harmonise stakeholder interests and ensure sustainable wood flows
Europe’s forests are facing challenges due to climate change and multiple interests in the forest. Therefore, alternative management concepts that lead to multifunctional, resilient forests are needed. ONEforest is developing a multi-criteria decision support system that provides information to stakeholders about the impact of forest management and that tries to balance between different interests.
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Kontakt
Dr. Kai Husmann
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Department of Forest Economics and Sustainable Land-use Planning
kai.husmann@uni-goettingen.de
FUNPOTENTIAL - Potential of functional diversity for increasing the disturbance resiliency of forests and forest-based socio-ecological systems
Climate change probably impacts European forests by increasing natural disturbances. FunPotential develops nature-based management solutions with higher tree species and structural diversity to establish resilient forests and economically robust forest enterprises. It seeks to identify management and policy strategies that simultaneously provide sustainable timber supply, climate services, and biodiversity.
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Kontakt
Prof. Dr. Carola Paul
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Department of Forest Economics and Sustainable Land-use Planning
carola.paul@uni-goettingen.de
Lignin2Wood - Bio-phenols from Lignin to Wood
This project aims to develop a wood modification technology which increases the durability and weathering performance of wood and is based on using resol type phenol-formaldehyde resin, where petroleum-based phenols will be partly replaced by mono-phenolic compounds from lignin, which are obtained by a pyrolysis process. The long-term goal is to better understand the different process parameters, since using lignin as a renewable resource could be a sustainable alternative to produce wood treatment resins.
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Kontakt
Prof. Dr. Holger Militz
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Department of Wood Biology and Wood Products
hmilitz@gwdg.de
ENOUGH – European food chain supply to reduce GHG emissions by 2050
The project ENOUGH has been funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. It will develop technologies, tools and methodologies that contribute to the EU's “farm-to-table” strategy to achieve climate neutrality in the food industry. The project consortium is composed of 28 partners. In Goettingen Prof. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso (Department of Ibero-America Research) is coordinating the economic policy work package.
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Contact:
Prof. Dr. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso
Faculty of Business and Economics
Chair of Development Economics
Twitter: @merinei1
imartin@gwdg.de
RTG 2654: Sustainable Food Systems
Food and agriculture are key elements of many global challenges such as poverty, undernutrition, overweight and obesity, climate change, and biodiversity loss. It is obvious that the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without major changes in food production and consumption. But what types of changes are useful at what level and how these changes can be implemented politically, economically, and socially are open questions that will be addressed by the new RTG, focusing on both rich and poor countries.
Picture © Eva-Marie Meemken
- More information
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Meike Wollni
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development
Chair of Enviornmental and Resource Economics
mwollni1@uni-goettingen.de
KOOPERATIV – promoting Biodiversity at the landscape level
KOOPERATIV intends to promote biodiversity at the landscape level. Based on a landscape experiment with several farms, perennial flower strips will be implemented in different spatial arrangements and landscape proportions in the Northeim district. Ecological, economic and socio-ecological examinations will scientifically accompany the flower strip implementation. The project is funded in the Federal Program Biological Diversity by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds from the Federal Ministry of the Environment.
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Contact:
Dr. Stefan Schüler
Department of Crop Sciences – Functional Agrobiodiversity
Project coordinator KOOPERATIV
stefan.schueler@uni-goettingen.de
Native Fine Flavor Cacao - Diversifying native fine or flavor cacao production in Peru for enhanced productivity and income
The Fine Flavor Cacao (FFC) project focuses on Cacao Blanco from Piura and Cacao Chuncho from Cusco, two in Peru native cacao varieties. The interdisciplinary team of ecologists, economists, and development experts focuses on a long-term sustainability strategy that considers future climate change, as well as an improved agroforestry management and the conservation of genetic resources. Thereby, productivity, quality, biodiversity friendliness and economic feasibility of the native cacao production may be promoted.
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Contact
Prof. Teja Tscharntke
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Chair of Agroecology
ttschar[at]gwdg.de
Improved risk assessment of forestry-important tree species in climate change: climate sensitivity of the root system of European beech, Sessile oak, Scots pine, douglas fir and silver fir
A large part of the annual carbon gain of trees is allocated to the fine root system, therefore, a better understanding of the climate sensitivity of the fine root system of trees is essential for a better ecological as well as a economic risk assessment of our tree species in central Europe. Our research project investigates the response of the fine root system of mature trees of the economically important species European beech, Sessile oak, Scots pine, Douglas fir and silver fir to the climate change process (i.e. decreasing soil water availability and increasing temperature) along precipitation and temperature gradients in Germany.
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Contact
Dr. Dietrich Hertel
Faculty of Biology and Psychology
Department of Ecology and Ecosystems Research
dhertel[at]gwdg.de
Participative development of high quality tomatoes for a sustainable regional cultivation (PETRAq+n)
This project aims to form the scientific foundation for the cultivation of improved and optimally adjusted tomatoes that are suitable for sustainable regional and urban growing. Initial steps of the project are being tested in organic farming enterprises.
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Contact
Prof. Dr. Elke Pawelzik
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Department of Crop Sciences, Division of Quality of Plant Products
epawelz[at]gwdg.de
Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems (Sumatra, Indonesia)
The aim of this project is to gain new insights on how the ecological functions of tropical rainforests and agricultural transformations systems can be maintained and improved on a landscape scale. Furthermore, human welfare needs to be improved as well as the integration of the agricultural land use and environment protection.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Stefan Scheu
J.F. Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology
sscheu[at]gwdg.de
ReconCycle: Self-reconfiguration of a robotic workcell for the recycling of electronic waste
The aim of ReconCycle is to make the recycling of electronic waste more efficient. This goal should be reached through the Self-Reconfiguration of robots with the help of sensor-motor learning approaches and other artificial intelligence technologies.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Florentin Wörgötter
III. Physical Institute
Biophysics
florentin.woergoetter[at]phys.uni-goettingen.de
FOR 5000: Biotic interactions, community assembly, and eco-evolutionary dynamics as drivers of long-term biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships
The central aim of the research group is to find out which mechanisms influence the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions in the short and long term. As these relationships strengthen over time, they are probably the key to a general understanding of the interrelationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
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Contact
Prof. Dr. Stefan Scheu
J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology
Chair for Animal Ecology
sscheu[at]gwdg.de
FOR 2569: Agricultural Land Markets - Efficiency and Regulation
This research group aims to answer questions that result from the worldwide increase in prices for agricultural land. Among many other factors, this increase is probably caused by a growing demand from non-agricultural investors. One of these questions relates, for example, to whether existing regulations of agricultural land markets are sufficient or whether they should be reinforced to protect sustainable agriculture.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Oliver Mußhoff
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Chair of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development
oliver.musshoff[at]agr.uni-goettingen.de
FOR 2716: Spatial community ecology in highly dynamic landscapes: from island biogeography to metaecosystems (DynaCom)
The motivation of the DynaCom research group is to create a trait-based food web perspective in the spatial context of ecological communities in highly dynamic landscapes. Information on multiple trait axes is required to predict the dispersal, use of resources and tolerance of interacting (trophic) organisms in the face of rapid environmental change.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Holger Kreft
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Chair of Biodiversity, Macroecology & Biogeography
hkreft[at]uni-goettingen.de
OXYFLUX – tracing the carbon and nitrogen cycles in terrestrial ecosystems
In this research project, the exchange of atmospheric oxygen (O2) between land and atmosphere is measured to trace the carbon cycle at local as well as global scales. In OXYFLUX we are developing a worldwide unique measurement infrastructure to detect continuously and in near-real time smallest changes in the O2 exchange of ecosystem components as well as the entire ecosystems at a forest and agricultural field site.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Alexander Knohl
Faculty for Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Bioclimatology Group
aknohl[at]uni-goettingen.de
Agricultural systems of the future: NOcsPS - Agriculture 4.0 without chemical-synthetic crop protection
The aim of the research is to develop an innovative and sustainable agricultural system. NOcsPS can form a bridge between the two most established systems. In the future it could represent an independent alternative between conventional and organic farming. Furthermore, this innovative system has the potential to inspire organic farming with regard to alternative fertilisation strategies and crop measures as well as conventional farming towards reducing csPSM with optimised fertilisation.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Achim Spiller
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Marketing Research
a.spiller[at]agr.uni-goettingen.de
Sustainable diet styles - Plant-based diet styles as the key to sustainability (NES)
The interdisciplinary collaborative project "Plant-based nutritional styles as a key to sustainability" investigates the very different (and sometimes novel) plant-based nutritional lifestyles from a comprehensive sustainability perspective, taking into account human health and performance. Furthermore, it is investigated whether consumers maintain these nutritional styles in the long term.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Achim Spiller
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Marketing Research
a.spiller[at]agr.uni-goettingen.de
SPP 1374: Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research
Within the framework of this large joint research project on biodiversity, three exemplary large-scale long-term study areas have been established. They are called biodiversity exploratories, as opposed to mainly descriptive observatories. With their scientific infrastructure, the exploratories provide a unique framework to address crucial questions on the impact of land-use on biodiversity and to assess the effects of these changes on ecosystem processes.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Christian Ammer
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Chair of Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones
christian.ammer[at]forst.uni-goettingen.de
Politics and Ethics of Finiteness
The cooperation project with the CAU Kiel aims to develop a deeper understanding of the origin of the idea of growth and a perspective on a "great" transformation that is not only morally appellative but also grounded in social theory and political science, reflecting on what might be descriptive and normative preconditions for a transformation to an open future.
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More information
Contact
Prof. Dr. Tine Stein
Department of Political Science
Chair of Political Theory and History of Ideas
endlichkeit.stein@uni-goettingen.de
Is your research project not yet on the list? Please feel free to contact the team of the Green Office.
Contact - Green Office
Do you have questions or suggestions about sustainability in research?
Or in your studies?
Do you have any ideas about sustainability in your studies?
For these and general questions, suggestions contact us!
Email
nachhaltigkeit@uni-goettingen.de
Sustainability Coordinator
Marco Lange, Coordinator of the Green OfficePhone: 0551 39-21356
Email: marco.lange@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Staff
Anuschka Linner, Student of International EconomicsEmail: anuschka.linner@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Katja Stieger, Student of Physics
Email: katja.stieger@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Tabea Kothe, Student of Resource analysis and management
E-Mail: tabea.kothe@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Felix Heller, Student of Ethnology
E-Mail: felix.heller@zvw.uni-goettingen