Welcome to the Environment and Climate Research Hub!

Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution are highly complex global challenges and require integrated and interdisciplinary collaboration. We are facing a triple global crisis that threatens our future. Solutions for these problems are urgently needed - and they lie in front of us: science and research are key enablers in displaying the interconnectedness of multiple crises and together highlight that tackling each crisis needs to be done from all angles and disciplines. To meet these challenges, the "Environment and Climate Research Hub" (ECH) bridges faculties and centres, considering disciplinary anchoring and existing high-class track records, to promote excellent research in the field of environment and climate.

The ECH delivers the versatile knowledge and understanding that is necessary to secure our common future.


We are motivated to deliver scientific research that contributes to the protection of our climate and environment. We work jointly in excellent cross-disciplinary teams beyond the border of each discipline on research ideas and collaborations.

© Barbara Mair/ECH

We focus on training, education and excellent qualification of our members. We constantly develop our knowledge and competencies further to develop innovative concepts and approaches for solutions in the areas of environment and climate.

© Barbara Mair/ECH

At the University of Vienna, one of the biggest and most renowned in Europe, we want to advance environmental research for society. We use the strength of networking excellent expertise of individual disciplines in our research hub.

© Markus Korenjak

We want to shape society – as an education institution, a hub and a partner for dialogue. For this reason, we educate students and early career scientists and enter active dialogues with civil society and decision-makers in government and society.

© Barbara Mair/ECH

 News

ECH member Sanderien Verstappen was a guest on PolgovTalks by PARES, an Indonesian organization that addresses political risks and approaches to solutions. She discussed whether bicycles can become the mainstream of transportation and what policies are needed.

Invasive species are a major cause of global species loss and threaten human livelihoods and health. A new report by the World Biodiversity Council IPBES summarizes for the first time the current state of research worldwide and describes what options are available for action. Bernd Lenzner and Franz Essl from the University of Vienna were part of the international team of experts that compiled...

Peatlands are underestimated - yet they are flood protection, drought insurance, sewage treatment plants and carbon reservoirs all in one. Geoecologist and ECH member Stephan Glatzel explains the serious consequences of the increasing bog dieback for all of us.

Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health: Under this title, 30 scientists led by microbiologist Michael Wagner from the University of Vienna pool their competences. Together, they aim to understand how microbiomes – specific communities of microorganisms occupying all ecosystems, animals, plants and humans – regulate planetary health. Based on this knowledge, they intend to significantly advance the...

In the Cluster of Excellence Materials for Energy Conversion & Storage (MECS) researchers from the Vienna University of Technology, IST Austria, the University of Innsbruck and the University of Vienna develop new technologies for efficient energy conversion and storage, in order to pave the way for a climate-neutral society. The chemist and ECH member Leticia González represents the University of...

During a research cruise, an international research team led by marine biologist Monika Bright of the University of Vienna discovered a new ecosystem in the deep sea. This is located beneath the surface of hydrothermal vents of a well-studied underwater volcano on the East Pacific Ridge off Central America.