Members at the University of Potsdam
Members of the Research Hub who hold a permanent post at the University of Potsdam.

Prof. Dr. Ilko Bald
Physical Chemistry • Plasmonics • Light-Matter Interaction • Nanoscale Chemistry
Prof. Bald focuses on physical chemistry, particularly on the interaction of light with matter, plasmonic effects, and nanoscale chemistry.

Prof. Dr. Peter van der Beek
Tectonics • Geodynamics • Geomorphology • Thermochronology
Prof. van der Beek studies tectonic and climatic influences on relief, erosion rates, and long-term landscape development.

Prof. Dr. Nina Brendel
Materials Science • Computational Modeling • Nanostructures • Material Properties
Prof. Brendel specializes in computational materials science, focusing on simulations of material properties and nanostructures.

Prof. Dr. Christian Bickenbach
German Constitutional Law • Administrative Law • European Union Law • Climate Litigation
Prof. Bickenbach focuses on the margins of appreciation of legislation and administration, climate protection law and climate litigation

Prof. Dr. Bodo Bookhagen
Geomorphology • Remote Sensing • Earth-Surface Processes • Hydrology
Prof. Bookhagen specializes in tectonic geomorphology, climatic variability, spatial and time series analyses, and remote-sensing.

Prof. Dr. Axel Bronstert
Hydrology • Water Resources • Flood Risk • Climate Change
Prof. Bronstert specializes in hydrology and water resources management, focusing on flood risk assessment, hydrological modeling, and climate change impacts.

PD Dr. Philip Bubeck
Flood Risk Management • Climate Adaptation • Human Behavior • Community Resilience
Dr. Bubeck studies flood risk management, focusing on climate adaptation, human behavior, and the resilience of communities to flood hazards.

Prof. Eva Eibl, PhD
Seismology • Volcanology • Earthquake Seismology • Geophysics
Prof. Eibl uses seismometers and rotational sensors to improve forecasting and monitoring of volcanic and geyser eruptions and other natural hazards such as subglacial floods.

Prof. Dr. Julia Fleischer
Public Administration • Governance • Comparative Politics • Policy Analysis
Prof. Fleischer analyzes governmental changes from a comparative perspective using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Prof. Dr. Melina Freitag
Data Assimilation • Numerical Analysis • Inverse Problems • Computational Mathematics
Prof. Freitag studies inverse problems, data assimilation, high-dimensional systems, and numerical linear algebra.

JProf. Bertrand Fournier, PhD
Landscape Ecology • Biodiversity • Human Impact • Ecological Communities
Prof. Fournier researches the interactions between ecological communities across spatial and temporal scales, with a focus on the impact of human activities on ecosystems and biodiversity.

Dr. Till Francke
Hydrology • Sediment Transport • Flood Hazards • Remote Sensing
Dr. Francke researches hydrology and climatology, focusing on sediment transport, flood hazards, and soil moisture using data-driven models and remote sensing.

Prof. Dr. Jan Härter
Theoretical Physics • Complex Systems • Nonlinear Dynamics • Dynamical Systems
Prof. Härter specializes in theoretical physics, focusing on the dynamics of complex systems and nonlinear dynamics.

Dr. Katja Geissler
Plant Ecology • Ecohydrology • Biodiversity • Drylands
Dr. Geissler researches plant ecology, focusing on ecohydrological modeling, plant traits, and biodiversity in drylands.

Dr. PD Maik Heistermann
Flash Floods • Climate change • Weather Radar • Environmental Monitoring
Dr. Heistermann focuses on flash flood hazards and water resources, using e.g. remote sensing and soil water monitoring as well as data-driven and numerical models.

Prof. Dr. habil. Nina Kolleck
Educational Governance • Social Networks • Sustainability Education • Education Policy
Prof. Kolleck focuses on educational governance and policy, exploring social networks in education and sustainability education.

Prof. Oliver Korup, Ph.D.
Geomorphology • Remote Sensing • Climate Change • Natural Hazards
Prof. Korup's research focuses on the intersection of geomorphology, natural hazards, and data science.

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuhlmann
Public Administration • Administrative Reforms • Local Government • Public Management
Prof. Kuhlmann specializes in public administration, focusing on administrative reforms, local government, and comparative public management.

Prof. Dr. Anna-Lena Lamprecht
Software Engineering • Computational Science • Software Sustainability • Scientific Workflows
Prof. Lamprecht researches software engineering and computational science, focusing on software sustainability and scientific workflows.

Prof. Dr. Anja Linstädter
Plant Ecology • Biodiversity • Savanna Ecosystems • Grassland Ecosystems
Prof. Linstädter focuses on plant ecology and biodiversity, particularly in savanna and grassland ecosystems.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Gerd Löhmannsröben
Analytical Chemistry • Spectroscopy • Chemical Sensing • Laser Spectroscopy
Prof. Löhmannsröben specializes in analytical chemistry, focusing on spectroscopic techniques and chemical sensing.

Prof. Dr. Aswin Mangerich
Molecular Toxicology • Cancer Biology • DNA Repair • Genome Stability
Prof. Mangerich researches molecular toxicology and cancer biology, focusing on DNA repair mechanisms and genome stability.

Prof. Dr. Ralf Metzler
Theoretical Physics • Complex Systems • Stochastic Processes • Anomalous Diffusion
Prof. Metzler specializes in theoretical physics, focusing on complex systems, stochastic processes, and anomalous diffusion.

Prof. Dr. Maria Mutti
Sedimentology • Stratigraphy • Carbonate Systems • Sequence Stratigraphy
Prof. Mutti focuses on sedimentology and stratigraphy, researching carbonate systems and sequence stratigraphy.

Dr. Stephanie Natho
Landscape Management • Nutrient Retention • Ecosystem Services • Flood Hazards
Dr. Natho researches landscape management, focusing on nutrient retention, ecosystem services, and flood hazard assessment in floodplains.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Norra
Environmental Geochemistry • Urban Geochemistry • Environmental Pollution • Mineralogy
Prof. Norra researches environmental mineralogy and geochemistry, focusing on urban geochemistry and environmental pollution.

Prof. Dr. Sascha Oswald
Plant-Soil Interactions • Soil Hydrology • Groundwater • Environmental Science
Prof. Oswald focuses on spatially distributed predictive environmental models, their parameterization, and uncertainty impact estimation.

Prof. Dr. Jakob Runge
Causal Inference • Time Series Analysis • Machine Learning • Earth System Sciences
Prof. Runge develops theory, methods and accessible software for causal inference with applications in Earth sciences, among others. Causal inference complements AI by going beyond mere correlations and enables learning cause-effect relationships.

Prof Dr. Thomas Sommerer
Political Science • International Organizations • Environmental Policy • Governance
Prof. Sommerer research the design, effectiveness, and legitimacy of international institutions.

PD Dr. Wolfgang Schwanghart
Geomorphology • Climate Change • GIS • Natural Hazards
Dr. Schwanghart studies Earth surface processes in mountain environments using GIS, modelling, and field techniques.

Prof. Dr. Annegret Thieken
Risk Assessment • Climate Change • Disaster Risk Reduction • Extreme Events
Prof. Thieken researches water-related risks, focusing on loss analysis, adaptive behavior, resilient cities, risk management, and adaptation tracking.

Prof. Dr. Thorsten Wagener
Hydrological Modeling • Water Resources • Watershed Management • Natural Hazards
Prof. Wagener specializes in simulation models and data analysis for transient and uncertain hydrologic systems at various scales.

Prof. Dr. Karoline Wiesner
Complex Systems • Information Theory • Neural Networks • Dynamics of Democracy
Prof. Wiesner develops mathematical and computational tools for complex physical, climate, and social systems.