Skip to main content

News from the University of Potsdam

Subjects
Selected Subject:
3D point cloud model of the Golm Campus

From Space and From the Air, with Laser and Neutrons – Modern Sensor Technology Helps to Better Understand the World

Archimedes discovered the law of hydrostatic buoyancy because he himself caused his bathtub to overflow, Isaac Newton is said to have discovered the …
Prof. Peter van der Beek researches the driving forces behind mountain formation

Across Mountains and Valleys – Prof. Peter van der Beek researches the driving forces behind mountain formation

Geoscientist Peter van der Beek is a specialist in thermochronology. With this method, he looks far back into the history of mountain ranges and …
Dr. Maximilian Korges and Prof. Dr. Max Wilke | Photo: Sandra Scholz

The Nursery of Mineral Resources – Geoscientists research ore genesis

They come in all kinds of colors and shapes – black, white, green, blue or shiny silver, as nondescript as rock or formed into impressive crystals. …
Dr. Savi collecting sand for geochemical analyses | Photo: Velio Coviello

Moving Rocks – How climate warming changes mountain regions

Since 2015, geologist Sara Savi has been researching the influence of climate on debris flows in the high mountains of Argentina. In her current …
The Olorgesailie Basin in the Kenya Rift Valley, part of the Eastern Branch of the East African Rift System.  In the background the high topography of the Rift’s border faults. | Photo: Corinna Kalich, University of Potsdam

Calculated – Why a whole region is rotating in the middle of Africa

For the first time ever, the causes for the strange motion of a tectionic plate have been identified by using three dimensional computer models. The …
Prof. Peter van der Beek. Photo: T. Schildgen.

The Ups and Downs of Mountains – Peter van der Beek, guest scientists at the University of Potsdam, obtains an ERC Advanced Grant

The internationally well-known geologist Prof. Peter van der Beek who is currently a guest professor and scientist at the Institute for Geosciences …
Simon Schneider and Yannick Garcin. Photo: Corinna Kallich

The Mystery of the Rainforest – Geoscientists show that humans were already shaping the central African landscape 2,600 years ago

Fields, roads, and towns but also forests planted in neat rows, and dead-straight rivers: people shape nature to better suit their purposes. The fact …
Diskussion am Kalderarand des Mount Longonot. Foto: Henry Wichura.

Underway in Kenia – February, 15: “Oloonong’ot – mountain of many ridges

Geoscientists on an Excursion in the East African Rift System

February, 15th Today we want to study one of the largest caldera volcanoes of the Kenya Rift - Mount Longonot at an elevation of about 2560 m. …
Prof. Dr. Dirk Wagner. Photo: Karla Fritze.

Quite Warm, Quite Cold – Geomicrobiologist Dirk Wagner researches the smallest lifeforms in extreme environments

The Arctic, deserts, and volcanos: Life exists in very unexpected places – and on a surprising scale. Geomicrobiologist Prof. Dr. Dirk Wagner tracks …
Dr. Natalia Ospina-Alvarez. Photo: Karla Fritze.

In Her Element – Why thallium and other trace elements are becoming a problem for the environment and what can be done about it

They are everywhere: in the soil, in the water, and sometimes even in the air, albeit often in such small quantities that they are hardly traceable. …