News
Vibrant environments: sonic agency in the Anthropocene
Birgit Abels, Professor of Cultural Musicology at Göttingen University, has been awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The ERC has funded her project “Vibrant Environmentality: Sonic Agentivity in the Anthropocene” (VibE) with around 2.6 million euros over five years. This will allow Abels and her team to investigate how people co-create their world through interaction with sound and how making music can be key to possible responses to existential crises. more…
Honour for agricultural law expert
Professor José Martinez, an expert in agricultural law, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Universidad Santo Tomás in Bogotá, Colombia. This recognises his long-standing contributions to academic collaboration between the law faculties of the two universities. In addition, the award recognises his work at the German-Colombian Peace Institute CAPAZ which promotes peace and reconciliation in Colombia. more…
Traditional farming supports food, nature and cultural identity
Traditionally farmed landscapes can help produce food while also protecting nature and keeping cultural traditions alive. Researchers studied “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)”. The researchers found that these landscapes can offer practical lessons for sustainable land use worldwide — but only if strategies are adapted to local people, environments and farming traditions. more…
Evolution of algal sunscreen
A new study sheds light on how the ancestors of modern land plants survived one of the most challenging aspects of life outside water: exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. By examining a microscopic alga closely related to the earliest land plants, researchers have uncovered a sophisticated and dynamic system for coping with sunburn – one that likely helped plants to colonize land over 500 million years ago. The results were published in Current Biology. more…
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Further news
INSIDE: Sun’s hidden magnetic field
Professor Laurent Gizon, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and the University of Göttingen, has been awarded an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The ERC has funded his project, "Mapping Magnetic Fields in the Solar Interior’ (INSIDE)" with 2.5 million euros over five years. It aims to answer one of the most important unresolved questions in solar physics: what does the Sun’s magnetic field look like beneath its surface? more…
Frontiers Planet Prize: Göttingen biodiversity researcher one of three German candidates
The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities has nominated three German candidates for the global final round of the Frontiers Planet Prize 2026, which is endowed with one million US dollars. Among them is ecologist and biodiversity researcher Dr Gustavo B. Paterno from the University of Göttingen. Paterno has been nominated for an article published in the journal Science in November 2024, in which multiple researchers from the University of Göttingen and from two Indonesian universities were involved. more…