New centre for environmental research founded at Heidelberg University
Statute for the Heidelberg Center for the Environment was signed on 19 July 2011
Photos on this page: Florian Freundt
Heidelberg University has established a new centre in the area of environmental research. The Rector of Heidelberg University, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel, signed the statute for the Heidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE) on Tuesday, 19 July 2011. The founding of the centre for the environment was finalised in the presence of Prof. Dr. Thomas Rausch, Vice Rector for Research and Structure, and other founding members from the participating institutes. The HCE’s focus will be to combine existing competences in environmental sciences as well as to intensify and enhance activities in research, teaching and the transfer of knowledge. Going beyond the traditional boundaries of a specific subject or discipline, the HCE aims at providing academic solutions to challenges and ecological effects of natural, technological and societal changes.
For years now, Heidelberg University has featured interdisciplinary research projects and groups that study environmental issues. Examples of such activities are the project on Climate Engineering being carried out at the Marsilius Kolleg or the research group on “Global Change and Globalization”. Numerous other initiatives are being conducted by researchers from natural sciences as well as social sciences and cultural studies. Ten departments and institutes at Heidelberg University have contributed to the founding of the HCE. These include the Institute of Geography, the Institute for Earth Sciences, the Institute of Environmental Physics, the Research Centre for Biodiversity, the Research Centre for Environmental Economics, the Research Centre for Sustainable Development Law, the Max Weber Institute for Sociology, the Institute for Political Science, the Institute of Prehistory, Protohistory and Near-Eastern Archaeology, as well as the South Asia Institute.
The HCE sees itself as an initiator for new projects in research and training for young academics and will serve as a platform to facilitate the exchange of information. The new centre’s goal is to intensify the dialogue between other researchers and the public by organising colloquia, lectures and symposia. Activities for schools are also planned.
