Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ (Germany)

Founded in December 1991, the UFZ was the first and only research institute in the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres to be exclusively dedicated to environmental research. It currently employs around 900 staff and is 90% funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with the regional governments of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt sharing the remaining 10 percent equally. UFZ is located at the towns of Leipzig, Halle and Magdeburg.

UFZ scientists study the complex interactions between humans and the environment in cultivated and damaged landscapes. The scientists develop concepts and processes to help secure the natural foundations of human life for future generations.

Environmental research at the UFZ is increasingly targeted at global challenges and problems having a strong international dimension (e.g. climate change, loss of biodiversity).  Building on a solid scientific foundation, landscape-based research and natural sciences are combined within interdisciplinary research topics with environmental medicine, social sciences and ecological economics.

Research at UFZ is structured into the following seven divisions: 

• Biodiversity and Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Inland Water Resources and Ecosystems
• Computational Environmental Systems
• Biogeochemistry / Technology
• Analytics and Ecotoxicology
• Health Research
• Social Sciences
  
  

The UFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association. The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving major challenges facing society, science and the economy with top scientific achievements in six research areas: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, Transport and Space. With 28,000 employees in 16 research centres and an annual budget of approximately 2.8 billion euro, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation. Its work follows in the tradition of the great natural scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894).