Latest News

PIK’s junior scientists address uncertainties

05/10/2013 - „Nothing is as uncertain as the future“ – about 100 aspiring junior scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research discussed uncertainties in climate impact research at their annual „PhD Day“ this week. At the fourth meeting of that kind, the scientists talked about various aspects of uncertainties in their research in „World Café“ style, switching discussion groups and topics regularly to exchange views with each other. Tony Patt from the International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA) gave a keynote on uncertainty and the science/policy interface.
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Schellnhuber reappointed for government advisory council

05/08/2013 - The Federal Governement of Germany today decided upon the appointments for the German Advisory Council on Global Change (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Globale Umweltveränderungen, WBGU). Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and long-standing chair of the council, has been confirmed as a member. Being an independent scientific counseling body, WBGU is charged to develop recommendations for the governement. Its members will be in office until 2016.
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Edenhofer to advise „Energiewende Research Forum”

05/06/2013 - Science is an important partner in implementing the German energy transition. Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist and research domain co-chair of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), has been asked to join the working group on economics of the “Energiewende Research Forum”, whose job is to provide scientific advice for political measures to realize the energy transition. The interdisciplinary initiative was sparked by the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities.
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Research on Antarctica awarded with prize for upcoming scientists

05/03/2013 - For her research on climate change and the Antarctic ice shield, Ricarda Winkelmann was awarded with a young scientists prize. The Natural Sciences Department at the University of Potsdam presents this prize for outstanding publications. Winkelmann, aged 27, leads the group on projections of Antarctica´s contribution to future global sea level rise at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The jury highlighted her "most impressive contribution to our understanding of the physics of Antarctica's ice shield dynamics."
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Climate-KIC: Strategy retreat and green garage

04/25/2013 – More than 60 representatives of science and industry meet at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) this week for a two-day strategy meeting of Climate-KIC. The European network of Climate Knowledge and Innovation Communities brings together research, businesses and technology to kick off innovation in climate mitigation and adaptation with creative partnerships. Partners of Climate-KIC in addition to PIK are for instance the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich, the Imperial College in London and companies like Bayer Technology Services or Electricité de France.
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Schellnhuber briefs stakeholder conference on the 2015 agreement on climate policy

04/17/2013 - The preparations for the next climate agreement that is supposed to be reached in 2015 are already taking shape – and civil society is being asked to accompany and support the EU´s development/decision process. On invitation by Connie Hedegaard, the EU´s Commissioner for Climate Action, a number of experts and decision makers meet at a stakeholder´s conference in Brussels today. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, has been asked to hold a keynote on the state of play in climate science.
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The renowned Lewis Fry Richardson Medal is awarded to Jürgen Kurths

04/09/2013 - Jürgen Kurths is awarded the Lewis Fry Richardson Medal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) that honours outstanding achievements in nonlinear geosciences. The renowned prize will be given to him this week at the EGU General Assembly in Vienna that brings together more than 10.000 scientists from all disciplines from earth to space sciences. Kurths is head of the research domain "Transdisciplinary Concepts and Methods" at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Professor at Humboldt University of Berlin.
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Risk management in climate impact research

04/04/2013 - Even the best research cannot predict the future. To respond to the challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation, decisions have to be made based on uncertainties – for example when a new embankment is to be built that is supposed to withstand even a strong storm surge. Systematic strategies of risk management could enhance such decision processes and play an important part in the development of robust policy options, a team of international scientists, among them Ottmar Edenhofer from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), writes in Nature Climate Change. Their study “Risk Management and Climate Change” analyses the use of appropriate instruments for the assessment of potential climate impacts.
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