Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)

Eure Stimme zählt: Beim Helmholtz Imaging Best Scientific Image Contest 2026 könnt ihr noch bis zum 18. August für den Public Choice Award abstimmen. 🔬 Reinschauen lohnt sich. ⤵️

🚀 #job alert at #UFZ: The Knowledge and Technology Transfer Department at the is planning to set up an Industry Liaison Office to provide an additional point of contact for society and the business community. Join our dedicated team and help us realise our vision of developing solutions collaboratively and facilitating modern knowledge transfer to society. To this end, we are looking to recruit a full-time Industry Liaison Officer (ILO) (m/f/d) as soon as possible, to focus on expanding and supporting the transfer ecosystem, fostering greater innovation and cooperation. Application deadline is August 30, 2026. Place of work will be Leipzig, Germany. The first round of selection interviews will take place from 7 to 18 September 2026. More information and how to apply in the first comment. Please feel free to share this with anyone in your network who might be interested! #joboffer #Management #ResearchJobs #Transfer

Seeking work in a research group run by an ERC-funded researcher? You can find more than 145 positions open for application on the #Euraxess website 👉 europa.eu/!gdXPfd #ChooseEurope #jobs #research

The collaborative project BISON (Biohybrid Solar Power Plant) has been aiming to develop novel biophotovoltaic (BPV) systems as a sustainable, resource-efficient technology for energy generation. In collaboration between Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and Universität Leipzig, the project has studied and focused on combining electrogenic cyanobacteria with innovative electrode materials and tailored redox mediators to significantly increase the efficiency of electron transfer derived from photosynthetic water splitting. Consequently, BISON sought not only to contribute to fundamental research on microbial energy systems but also to address application-oriented challenges associated with the energy transition - such as integrating biological processes into technical systems, improving long-term stability, and developing scalable modules for practical use. One particular highlight was the "BISON scientific workshop on biophotovoltaics" held at the UFZ in June, which brought together researchers, collaborators, and experts. The insightful presentations, engaging discussions, and exchange of perspectives demonstrated the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and provided new ideas for future research directions.  "While the project is slowly coming to an end, its outcomes are only beginning to unfold. We are currently preparing several publications that will share our findings with the wider scientific community, and we're looking forward to seeing the impact they will have", says Paniz Izadi, BISON-project scientific manager from UFZ. -> Further information: https://lnkd.in/daMxGFkt

This is the first post from our research project RE-ENTRY. RE-ENTRY is co-funded by the European Union and the Sächsische Aufbaubank - Förderbank - and is based at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). The project focuses on recovering resources and energy from wastewater treatment while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. We will use LinkedIn to share updates, research findings, publications, and insights from the project. Follow us to stay up to date with RE-ENTRY 😊

Our new paper is out, and Phys.org did a nice job summarizing the main message. For the first time, we detected nanoplastics in soils from the Antarctic Dry Valleys—one of the most remote, coldest, and driest places on Earth. Even there, we found nanoplastics, including tyre wear particles. Nice to see this work getting some attention during the summer. https://lnkd.in/dv934MzC Original paper: https://lnkd.in/edd3it_Y #Nanoplastics #Microplastics #Antarctica #AtmosphericScience #EnvironmentalScience #AnalyticalChemistry #PlasticPollution

Die Weichen für die nächsten sieben Jahre Helmholtz-Forschung sind gestellt! Nach zwei Jahren intensiver Begutachtung ist es geschafft: Die wissenschaftliche und strategische Bewertung unserer Programmorientierten Förderung (PoF) ist abgeschlossen. Mehr als 600 Gutachter:innen aus aller Welt haben den Prozess begleitet. Mit der PoF legen wir die Schwerpunkte unserer Forschung fest und sichern ihre langfristige Finanzierung. Diese Planungssicherheit ist ein großer Vorteil, um den uns viele Länder beneiden. Sie gibt uns den Freiraum, die großen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit systematisch anzupacken und die dafür notwendigen Forschungsinfrastrukturen aufzubauen und zu betreiben. Besonders freut mich, dass alle Gutachtergruppen unseren sechs Forschungsbereichen eine hohe wissenschaftliche Qualität bescheinigt haben. Dabei wurde vor allem unser „System of Systems“-Ansatz hervorgehoben, der weltweit einmalig ist. Er steht für unser cross-cutting Mindset, komplexe Fragen gemeinsam und über Forschungsbereiche und Zentren hinweg zu bearbeiten. Mit unserer neuen Forschungsagenda wollen wir künftig unsere wissenschaftliche Expertise noch enger bündeln, die Zusammenarbeit mit der Industrie in Form von Public-Private-Partnerships weiter ausbauen, unsere Rolle innerhalb Europas sowie international stärken und wichtige Querschnittsthemen wie Künstliche Intelligenz noch stärker in den Fokus rücken. Dass dieser anspruchsvolle Prozess so erfolgreich und reibungslos verlaufen ist, verdanken wir dem außergewöhnlichen Engagement und der hervorragenden Zusammenarbeit aller Beteiligten. A huge thank you to everyone who made this possible! 📸 Helmholtz

The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) is seeking an outstanding scientific leader as 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁 "𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲" (𝗳/𝗺/𝘅) - a  tenured senior strategic leadership positiondirectly reporting to the executive management. In this role, you will shape the future of internationally visible biodiversity and ecosystem research, lead around 150 colleagues across eight departments, and develop a flagship research unit. This is a rare opportunity to combine scientific excellence, inclusive leadership and real-world impact at one of Europe’s leading environmental research centres - helping to generate solutions for biodiversity loss, climate change and sustainable land ecosystems. Please share this special professional opportunity within your network! You can find more information in our link below.

"In the face of global warming, driven by the rise in greenhouse gases such as CO₂ and methane, as well as the current energy crisis, research into microorganisms and enzymes capable of converting CO₂ into bulk chemicals is gaining increasing importance. Studying such enzyme complexes could make a decisive contribution to their biotechnological application and help reduce CO₂ emissions. I am therefore particularly pleased that our expertise and the instrumental infrastructure at the #UFZ, especially the protein mass spectrometry (nLC-MS/MS) and metal quantification (ICP-MS) provided by the Department of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, enabled participation in this groundbreaking research project", says Dr. Darja Deobald, UFZ-Department Molecular Environmental Biotechnology. https://lnkd.in/dPgasCEh https://lnkd.in/eMMYCMRH