High Profile Area Environment

The high-profile area ENVIRONMENT at the University of Koblenz-Landau originated in the teacher training for natural sciences subjetcs in school but has evolved into an independet core research area of our university.

A key feature of the high profile area ENVIRONMENT is the increasing national and international visibility of environmental sciences at our university. In general the high profile area is characterised by three research approaches: Environmental sciences study the natural environment, informatics deals with the digital environment and the humanities with the cultural environment.

For years the research infrastructure for environmental sciences has steadily been upgraded at the University of Koblenz-Landau. This includes the renovation of existing laboratories and the construction of new laboratories, the acquisition of large-scale analytical equipments, and the installation of outdoor experimental facilities.

One research focus has been established to promote the university's special research capabilities in environmental sciences: "Land-water-interactions influenced by new anthropogenic stressors" (AufLand). Three interdisciplinary groups study the influence of new, human-induced stress factors on ecosystems in the transition zone land-water. One of the early results of this research focus has been the establishment of the nationwide research group INTERNANO (Mobility, aging and functioning of anorganic synthetic nanoparticles in the transition zone land-water, FOR 1531, since 2011), which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and coordinated at the University of Koblenz-Landau. In addition, the university coordinates the DFG young researcher group "Mechanisms and consequences of aquatic invasions in European rivers" (Emmy Noether program). The Project "Water 3.0 - StressFix" received special recognition at the national and international level when it won the category "water and wastewater" of the GreenTec Award in 2015, Europe's most renowned environmental and business award.