Press release: Göttingen University acquires two new Collaborative Research Centres

Nr. 257/2011 - 01.12.2011

Studies on how to transform rain forests into plantations and on how planets are born

(pug) Starting January 1, 2012, the German Research Foundation (DFG) will be funding two new Collabora-tive Research Centres (CRC) at the University of Göttingen. The international CRC 990 titled “Ecological and socioeconomic functions of tropical lowland rainforest transformation systems (Sumatra, Indonesia)” is managed under the auspices of the Faculty of Biology. Scientists from a total of six faculties at the University of Göttingen as well as three partner universities in Indonesia are involved in the 25 sub-projects. They will be studying the impact caused by the transformation of tropical rain forests into palm oil and rubber plantations on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The DFG will initially fund the project for four years, at an overall budget of around ten million Euros. CRC 963 titled “Astrophysical flow instabilities and turbulence” will be managed by the Faculty of Physics. The scientists involved will be working on 15 sub-projects, exploring the fundamental questions about how planets, stars and galaxies are born and develop. The grant provides for a total of about seven million Euros over an initial period of four years.

The transformation of tropical rain forests into other forest systems or agricultural systems to cultivate crops for food, fodder and energy is a current global phenomenon. “We want study how the ecological functions of tropical rain forests and the areas of the rain forest converted for agricultural utilisation can be sustained and improved over the long term,” explains CRC 990’s spokesperson, Professor Stefan Scheu of the Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology. “This also includes the question of how agricultural utilisation and environmental protection can be reconciled”. One focal point of the research will be to analyse the differential ecological and socioeconomic functions of the respective areas. The CRC results could be instrumental in developing biosphere reserve concepts that would account for the rising demand for energy plants, whilst facilitating the preservation of the unique biodiversity of species in tropical lowland rain forest regions.

Besides the Faculty of Biology, other faculties involved in the CRC at Göttingen University include the Faculties of Agricultural Sciences, of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, of Geosciences and Geography, the Faculties of Economic Sciences and of Social Sciences along with the Göttingen State and University Library. The three Indonesian partners are Bogor Agricultural University, Tadulako University at Palu and Jambi University.

The scientists of CRC 963 will be studying the phenomenon of fluid flow that is ubiquitous in astrophysics and cosmology. These flows take place in the interior of stars and planets as well as in the intergalactic medium. “Turbulence is one of the key processes for the structure and evolution of a large variety of geo- and astrophysical systems,” explains the CRC’s spokesperson, Professor Stefan Dreizler of the Institute of Astrophysics. “We are analysing the different conditions under which planets, stars and galaxies originate and evolve over the course of time.” The researchers’ work, for example, will enable us to understand aspects of turbulent magnetic field creation and amplification or the turbulence and instabilities of rotating systems. Additionally, they are focussing on the interaction of turbulence and instabilities with gravitation, radiation and dust particles.

The CRC 963 benefits from the unique combination of expertise in astro- and geophysics, numerical simula-tions of turbulent flows, and experimental fluid dynamics in the Goettingen Research Campus available in University and non-University research institutes in and nearby Goettingen. Besides the Faculties of Physics and of Mathematics and Computrer Scinces, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlen-burg Lindau as well as the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Goettingen participate along with the Technical University Braunschweig , the German Aerospace Center in Goettingen and the GWDG Computing and IT Competence Centre.

Notes to editorial teams:
We have posted photos of Professor Stefan Scheu and Professor Stefan Dreizler to be downloaded from the Internet at www.uni-goettingen.de.

Contact addresses:
Professor Stefan Scheu
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Faculty of Biology
Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach – Institute for Zoology and Anthropology – Department of Animal Ecology
Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen
Phone (0551) 39-5445, Fax (0551) 39-5448
E-mail: sscheu@gwdg.de
Website: www.uni-goettingen.de/de/107728.html

Professor Stefan Dreizler
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Faculty of Physics – Institute for Astrophysics
Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen
Phone (0551) 39-5041, Fax (0551) 39-5043
E-mail:
Website: http://www.astro.physik.uni-goettingen.de