On these pages you will find a selection of research news from the Leibniz Institutes.
  1. The Oder in the evening light

    Lessons learned?
    09/14/2022 · Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries

    The man-made environmental disaster has caused severe damage to the Oder ecosystem. Scientists have summarised what needs to be done to ensure the recovery and sustainable use of the river.

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  2. Drifting ice glaciers

    Crossing tipping points
    09/13/2022 · Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

    At the current rate of global warming, the world is already at risk of crossing five dangerous climate tipping points -  and the risks increase with every tenth of a degree of further warming.

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  3. Bonobo siblings in a research station

    Stress in the kids room
    09/12/2022 · German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research

    The birth of a younger sibling activates long-lasting stress reactions in young bonobos​.

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  4. [Translate to english:] Donau-Aue

    Improved water quality
    09/06/2022 · Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries

    Riverine floodplains are among the most species-rich ecosystems on earth. Research results show how useful the large-scale renaturation is for improving water quality. 

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  5. Wooden plank geometric pattern

    Wooden cities
    08/31/2022 · Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

    Housing a growing population in homes made out of wood could avoid more than 100 billion tons of CO2 until 2100. 

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  6. Hands of an elderly person typing on laptop

    Interruptions with an impact
    08/30/2022 · Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors

    In everyday working life, people are often interrupted in their tasks. Observations show that the performance deficit after such interruptions is often bigger in older people.

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  7. Treatment with side effects
    08/24/2022 · Leibniz Institute of Virology

    Antiviral treatment of prolonged infections promotes the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, a new study shows.

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  8. Mosquito on bloody cotton swab

    Warm summer, more mosquitoes
    08/20/2022 · Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine

    The Climate change accelerates the spread of exotic mosquitoes and pathogens. On the World Mosquito Day, researchers are calling for CO2 emissions to be reduced and mosquito control to be intensified.

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  9. A European sturgeon during a stocking campaign in the Havel River

    Dramatic decline
    08/09/2022 · Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries

    Sturgeons are the most endangered animal group in the world. The main causes are overfishing, fragmentation of water bodies, pollution and the consequences of climate change. 

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  10. View of the sky through an open window

    Clean skies in lockdown
    08/09/2022 · Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research

    During the first lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic, soot concentrations in the atmosphere over Western and Southern Europe almost halved.

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  11. City view of San Francisco coloured red by fires

    Considering catastrophe
    08/02/2022 · Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

    The world needs to start preparing for the possibility of a "climate endgame", scientists say.

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  12. Smoking chimney

    Pollution from wood combustion
    07/26/2022 · Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research

    The population living in mountain valleys is more affected by air pollution than previously assumed. A large part of this is due to heating with wood, as a new study has found. 

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  13. Lake Rummelsburg in Berlin in the evening light

    How cities urbanise water sources
    07/25/2022 · Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries

    Bacterial communities in urban waterbodies are distinctly different from those of rural lakes in surrounding regions. The process can drastically favour specific bacteria over others and change the makeup of the microbiome. 

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  14. Elephants in a waterhole

    Triple crisis for Africa's biodiversity
    07/11/2022 · Senckenberg Society for Nature Research - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research

    The impacts of climate change, population growth, and land-use change threaten Africa's biodiversity. Almost all protected areas are affected by at least one of these factors.

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  15. Close-up of an eye

    An eye on genes
    07/07/2022 · Senckenberg Society for Nature Research - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research

    A team of scientists discovered previously unknown genes in their large-scale genomic analysis with important roles in the eye. 

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  16. Red parasol in front of the sun

    More heat in Europe
    07/05/2022 · Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

    Heatwaves over Europe have increased faster than in the rest of the northern mid-latitudes. A study shows that these heat extremes are linked to double jet streams.

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  17. Photo plate imaging star clusters

    Astronomical treasure chest
    07/04/2022 · Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam

    The fourth data release of the APPLAUSE project offers a total of 94,000 digitised astronomical photographic plates - including, for the first time, digitised images of the Vatican Observatory.

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  18. Minor protection
    07/04/2022 · German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research

    Infections with the old omicron subvariants provide little protection against the new ones. They are inhibited less efficiently by antibodies.

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  19. Bioblitz in the Botanical Garden in Tbilisi

    Biodiversity in the Caucasus
    06/23/2022 · Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change

    Researchers and Citizen Scientists worked together to record biodiversity in the Caucasus. The Project led by the LIB yielded a large number of first records of animal species.

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  20. Fragile balance
    06/23/2022 · Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute

    The yeast Candida albicans can be life-threatening especially for immunocompromised people. Researchers have now found that human intestinal cells play an important role in fighting fungal infections.

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