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Peter van der Beek during a sampling campaign in the Alps | Foto: T.F. Schildgen

Looking at smallest atoms to understand large-scale Mountain ranges – A welcome to Peter van der Beek at the Institute of Geosciences

Peter van der Beek has joined the academic leadership at the Institute of Geosciences at Potsdam University. The internationally well-known Earth... more
Humboldt Fellow Gautier Nicoli (3.v.l.) does his research at the Skaergaard Intrusion, Greenland …

Seen from the root of mountains – Humboldt Fellow Gautier Nicoli links plate tectonics and the carbon cycle

As a petrologist, Gautier Nicoli deals with the occurrence, composition and formation of rocks. He collects samples of metamorphic rocks from all over... more
The research team in Namibia | Photo: Olwen Evans

Where Kudu and Springbok Live – Researchers from Potsdam examine if good wildlife management can help the savanna

The savanna is in danger. The African grasslands - picturesque groups of trees on wide plains, large herds of wild animals passing by, vigilantly eyed... more
Scientific satellites traverse the challenging region of near-earth space known as the Van Allen radiation belt. | Figure: Yuri Shprits; background: NASA

Giant particle accelerator in the sky – Electrons are locally heated to extremely high energies within the Van Allen Radiation Belts, new study finds

The Earth’s magnetic field is trapping high energy particles. When the first satellites were launched into space, scientists led by James Van Allen... more
Point cloud image of the Golm Campus | Photo: Prof. Dr. Bodo Bookhagen

View from Above – Geoscientist Bodo Bookhagen relies on drones for geological remote sensing

One of the most popular gifts for Christmas: unmanned aerial vehicles, colloquially known as drones. They are widely used in the hobby sector today.... more
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... more
Sea smoke in Antarctica is illuminated by the setting sun. | Photo: Winkelmann/Reese

Into the Eternal Ice – Ricarda Winkelmann is a climate researcher and junior professor at the University of Potsdam and the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research

Very few people have been here at all, to one of the world’s most inhospitable regions, where the temperature is below the freezing point even in... more
Eva Eibl documents the status of a station after recording overnight and before it is moved to a new location. The steam of the hot water in the pool is visible in the background. | Photo: Daniel Vollmer

Fire and Ice – why Eva Eibl does research in Iceland in the mid of winter

Iceland is worth a trip or two. Well known for its awesome landscape, its famous horses and its un-pronounceable volcanoes Iceland is flooded by... more
Paleoclimatologist Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr | Photo: Antje Horn-Conrad

Popcorn and Snail Shells – Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr Measures Climate “Pulse” with Microfossils and Statistics

Some look like popcorn, others like flattened snail shells - protozoa floating in the ocean or colonizing its ground. The microorganisms known as... more
Ausbruch des Holuhraun, 2014. | Foto: Eva Eibl.

Iceland’s Boiling Ground – how to predict volcanic eruptions earlier

In August 2014, all of a sudden the earth in Iceland shook more often and more intensely than usual. The Icelandic Meteorological Office, which... more
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