News
Keeping our sights on big breakers with radar
Scientists of the Geesthacht GKSS Research Centre have developed a radar system with which it is possible to study the behaviour of sea waves. This technology will be used immediately on the North Sea on the FINO3 research platform in order to determine the interactions between offshore wind power machines and swells. more
Director of GKSS-Institute Andreas Lendlein advocates for Innovation Centre
Today, the director of the Centre for Biomaterials at the GKSS-Research, Dr.
Andreas Lendlein, was appointed as the new science ambassador for the State of
Brandenburg.
more
Thailands Minister of Science visited GKSS-Biomaterials Researchers in Teltow
Close research connections between the Teltow biomaterials researchers at the GKSS-Institute for Polymer Research and Thai experts have existed for years. Currently there is a bilateral science project on the topic of regenerative medicine in development. more
Digital North German Climate Atlas now available online
The North German Climate Office Atlas of the GKSS-Research Centre in Geesthacht has developed a unique digital Online Atlas for future climate change in northern Germany. Decision makers and interested lay people can now get detailed information about the current state of research on climate change in the region using the internet. One of the numerous results from the Climate Atlas: Summer precipitation in northern Germany could decrease by as much as 40% by the end of the century. more
Research in the Nano-Realm
Transparent foils which are conductive and thus use sunlight for generation of energy. Hulls of ships, which no longer rust due to a nano-coating (nano-technology offers numerous surprising solutions for a variety of applications). The new Helmholtz-Group of Academic Talents ‘Nanochemistry and Nanoengineering’ deals intensively with the design and the development of new materials for industrial applications and, as part of the Geesthacht Institute for Polymer Research, the new group thus expands the research programme of the GKSS. more
Coastal research: GKSS to invest twelve million euros in a new observation system for the North Sea
With the major COSYNA project (Coastal Observation System for Northern and Arctic Seas), a comprehensive observation system is being created in the area of the German North Sea for the collection, prediction and scientific analysis of the current condition and development of the coastal sea. This project is being coordinated by the GKSS Geesthacht Research Centre. more
GKSS scientists refute argument of climate sceptics
Scientists at the GKSS Research Centre of Geesthacht and the University of Bern have investigated the frequency of warmer than average years between 1880 and 2006 for the first time. The result: the observed increase of warm years after 1990 is not a statistical accident. The results will now be published in the journal „Geophysical Research Letters“. more
China and Germany: working together for the good of the coasts
During his trip to Europe, Prof. Dr. LU Yongxiang, Deputy President of the National People’s Congress of China and President of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), visited the GKSS research centre in Geesthacht on 11th December with a delegation. The activities of the Geesthacht coastal researchers drew particular attention during his visit. In future there should be suitable scientific cooperation invested in this more
On the Trail of Polar Lows
Scientists from the GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht have developed a mathematical method that enables a reconstruction of the occurrence of polar cyclones — so-called polar lows — in the North Atlantic. more
Stirred, not struck — new riveting process from GKSS
Friction riveting, or FricRiveting, is the name of the new joining process developed by materials researcher Dr. Sergio Amancio of the GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht. The new process is particularly suitable for joining plastics or plastic-metal composites. On the strength of his research work, the young materials scientist received the prize donated by the Nordmetall-Stiftung for the best doctoral thesis in 2007 at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg. more
Later, warmer and greener autumn as climatic change comes to North Germany
Evaluations carried out by the North German Climate Office at the GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht reveal how the North-German autumn could change with tomorrow’s climate. more
Hamburg’s citizens regard climate change as a great threat
61 per cent of Hamburg’s citizens believe climate change to be a great, or very great threat to the city, citing storm surges and flooding as possible climate-related natural disasters. This is the result of the forsa Study, which was commissioned by the scientists from the GKSS-Research Centre in Geesthacht. more
Palaeoclimate: Linking events across a key climate transition
The Earth experienced a dramatic climate transition some 34 million years ago, when the Antarctic underwent extraordinarily rapid glaciation. A paper in this week's Nature looks into the connection between this glaciation and a deepening of the calcite compensation depth — the ocean depth at which the rate of calcium carbonate input from surface waters equals the rate of dissolution.
Agostino Merico and colleagues used a global model to test competing ideas put forward to explain the events triggering the climate transition. more
Oil spill in the Wadden Sea! Which areas are especially at risk?
Germany’s Wadden Sea is a unique and very sensitive ecosystem that would be severely impacted by a serious shipping accident. That’s why it’s important for response teams to be able to react quickly and effectively to accidents that could cause widespread pollution. To make this possible, comprehensive precautionary measures need to be planned in advance.
Thanks to its extensive precautionary planning activities, the Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) in Cuxhaven can quickly identify which areas of the Wadden Sea should get top-priority protection following an accident. To do so, the CCME uses an operational system developed by the Institute for Coastal Research at the GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht. This system has now been upgraded and given the designation "Sensitivity Grid German North Sea II". more
Neue Graduiertenschule für Lebenswissenschaftler - Berliner Universitätsmedizin feiert Erfolg bei Exzellenzwettbewerb
Mit rund fünf Millionen Euro fördert die Exzellenzinitiative von Bund und Ländern die Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies (BSRT) bis zum Jahr 2012. Dies gab der gemeinsame Bewilligungsausschuss der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft und des Wissenschaftsrats heute bekannt. Die Graduiertenschule ist eine gemeinsame Initiative von Medizinern, Biologen und Ingenieuren unter Führung der Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin und der Humboldt-Universität. Ebenfalls beteiligen sich das GKSS-Institut für Polymerforschung in Teltow sowie die Universitäten Potsdam, die Freie und die Technische Universität Berlin. more