Environment and Climate Research Hub

Our Research

Interdisciplinary research at the ECH explores the complex dynamics of environmental change – bridging humanities, natural and social sciences to generate impactful knowledge.

Overview | Focus Areas | Projects

Shaping Tomorrow: The Impact of Today’s Research

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.

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.

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.

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.

Composition of 4 pictures showing different people discussing with each other and presenting

Our Focus Areas

Projects

Research projects are hosted at the specific Faculty of ECH members. The selection here reflects the diverse range of research excellence at the University of Vienna in the field of environment, climate change and sustainability. We list projects led by ECH members as a PI, or those in which they are part of a larger consortium such as in Horizon Europe projects.

FOCAL-Points: Leverage Points for Demand-Side Mitigation

22.05.2025 Changing Society

Alina Brad from the Department of Political Sciences and Etienne Schenider from the Department of Development Studies are part of the “FOCAL-Points” project.

Achieving climate neutrality by 2040 requires major transformations in all parts of society. Demand-side solutions are increasingly acknowledged as potentially powerful levers towards climate-change mitigation, reducing emissions by…

Biodegradable Plastics in Compost

22.05.2025 Clean Environment

Thilo Hofmann at the Department of Geosciences is leading the Biodegradable Plastics in Compost project.

In a research collaboration between the University of Vienna and BASF, Thilo Hofmann and his co-researchers develop robust methods that contribute to ongoing international standardization of biodegradable plastics.

Highreslearn: Extracting Information From High-Resolution Climate Data

22.05.2025 Climate Resilience

Lukas Brunner at the Department of Meteorology and Geophysics is leading the HighResLearn Project.

Funded by the Austrian Climate Research Programme (ACRP) and the Austrian Climate– and Energy Fund, the project develops methods to make the most out of the newest, highly resolved climate simulations.