Research Field Earth and Environment

This is why the Helmholtz Association is engaged in preventive research. The research regarding Earth and Environment studies the fundamental functions of the system earth and the interactions between society and nature, thereby creating a sound knowledge base for securing the long-term foundations of human life. This is about understanding the complex changes of Earth and Environment in detail and to develop future scenarios so that decision-makers in politics and society are given sound scientific recommendations for their actions.

The diversity of questions calls for the effective use of the scientific infrastructure and new kinds of strategic research networks within and beyond the Helmholtz Association. Expertise and resources are pooled through national and international collaboration with universities and extramural research institutions, for example in virtual institutes and also in increased collaboration and cooperation activities at a European level. The 18 current Helmholtz Virtual Institutes demonstrate the excellent links and connections between the individual centres and university partners. In addition, the research field also contributes to two Excellence Clusters: “The Ocean in the Earth System” (University Bremen/AWI), “Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction” (University Hamburg/HZG) and a Graduate School “Global Change in the Marine Realm” (University Bremen/AWI) from the federal government’s excellence competition, which underlines the first-rate cooperation with university partners outside the Helmholtz Association.

The Climate Initiative “Regional Climate Changes” (REKLIM) constitutes a new research alliance. It pools the expertise and competencies of various Helmholtz Centres in close collaboration with universities and non-university research groups in order to study and explore the regional impact of global climate change. Socioeconomic aspects are also taken into account to draw up concrete recommendations on the sustainable cultivation of forests and agricultural areas as well as on efficient water management. Furthermore, the Climate Initiative works closely together with the regional Helmholtz Climate Offices (Southern, Central, and Northern Germany, Polar Regions and Sea Level Rise), and the newly founded Climate Service Centre as a communication platform for climate-relevant questions. A further initiative featuring strong involvement of university partners is represented in the “Water Science Alliance”, which strategically focuses the competencies in hydrological research. Cross-centre and cross-institutional research projects at international level are playing an ever more important role in the Helmholtz Association. The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and the University of Alberta, Canada intend to cooperate more closely in particular in the research fields Energy and Earth and Environment. For this purpose, the President of the Helmholtz Association, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mlynek, and the President of the University of Alberta, Prof. Dr. Indira Samarasekera, signed a corresponding “Memorandum of Understanding” in the presence of government representatives on 29 September 2009. The cooperation projected for the next years covers research topics such as the environmentally friendly use of oil sands, the separation and geological storage of CO2 (CCS), geothermal energy, the reclamation of water bodies and land as well as recultivation and landscaping. Apart from the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, initially three more Helmholtz Centres contribute their expertise: the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ and the Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Another task for the Research Field is the promotion of young scientists and researchers. The existing measures and structures are continually developed, in most cases in cooperation with external partners. In the field of education and training, these are the Graduate Schools and Helmholtz Research Schools, in the field of independent, autonomous research the Young Investigators Groups. Currently, two Graduate Schools are sponsored within the research field Earth and Environment (“Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Graduate School for Environmental Research” at the UFZ with six university partners and the “Helmholtz-Graduate School for Polar and Marine Research” at the AWI with three university partners) in addition to the “Helmholtz Research School on Earth System Science” (AWI with two university partners). The number of supervised doctoral candidates reached a record high with 841 in 2009. Furthermore, 15 Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups with reference to the research field are currently being funded.