News
Traffic rules inside nerve cells and the search for Earth-like planets
Team awards at European level: Two researchers from the University of Göttingen have each been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant in collaboration with international partners. The Göttingen-based biophysicist Professor Stefan Klumpp is involved in the project ‘TransportRules’, together with researchers from the University of Warwick and the TUD Dresden University of Technology. The Göttingen-based astrophysicist Professor Ansgar Reiners is involved in the project ‘Spectral Fidelity’, together with researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Geneva. more…
Protecting wild bees in Europe
Calcareous grasslands are wildflower-rich ecosystems that develop on shallow, alkaline, nutrient-poor soils over chalk or limestone bedrock. They are rare and important habitats for wild bees and other pollinators – yet how well they can support these valuable communities depends on how they are managed. An international research team has shown that long-term abandonment or intensive management threatens the diversity of wild bees. more…
Smart use of trees and crops brings best yield
Cultivating crops – such as wheat, barley and rye – alongside rows of trees is a system of agroforestry that is known as “alley-cropping”. It serves many functions: in addition to enhancing ecosystems and biodiversity, it can also counteract the negative effects of growing crops in treeless open land. Benefits include improved soil quality and reduced wind erosion, but nearby trees can create competition for resources. It's not easy to weigh up the benefits of alley-cropping so researchers investigated to find what works. more…
Deep evolutionary history of land plants’ closest algal relatives
What did the algae that gave rise to the first land plants look like? Researchers investigated the closest living algal relatives of land plants: Zygnematophyceae. Despite their relatively simple appearance, they are particularly important for understanding plant evolution due to their close relationship with land plants. Researchers analysed a dataset covering more than 100 species and 2,000 genes to shed light on the evolution of multicellularity. more…
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Further news
Top marks for Göttingen University academic subjects
In the 2026 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, the University of Göttingen’s Ecology department is in first place in Germany again. The ranking also places Agricultural Sciences (including Forestry) in second place in Germany. Earth Sciences, Statistics and Human Biology have made it into the top ten nationwide. Ecology is in 25th place and Agricultural Sciences in 38th place in the world. more…
University of Göttingen: eleventh in Germany
The most recent World University Rankings by the Times Higher Education (THE) have placed the University of Göttingen 11th in Germany. In the global rankings, it is in 133rd place this year. The University performs very well in the area of research quality, scoring 85 out of a possible 100 points, as it did last year. more…