Our Stories

ECH member Andreas Richter (University of Vienna) will lead the six-year ActiveSOIL consortium funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The project integrates soil biology and microbial activity measurements into soil health assessment to link basic soil parameters with ecosystem processes and functions.

In the 2026 QS World University Rankings, the University of Vienna is ranked 140th, moving up 12 places from 2025 (152). It remains Austria’s highest-ranked university. Gains in Employer Reputation and Academic Reputation contributed to the rise. The result continues an upward trend; in October 2025, the university entered the THE top 100 for the first time.

Countries compete for many things: the FIFA World Cup trophy, access to markets and availability of minerals. And increasingly for people. Skilled workers turn out to be one of the most valuable resources for the energy transition. Preliminary research suggests that Asia and the Americas could have an edge on other regions in this race.

The OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) has published a new test guideline for the risk assessment of nanomaterials designed to determine the solubility and dissolution rate of nanomaterials under realistic environmental conditions.

We are changing the climate - and with it, the risk for landslides. Extreme weather and land use are increasing their number and severity. Particularly in urban areas, landslides have become the cause of many avoidable deaths. Now, researchers ranging from geologists to psychologists have united to rethink the issue holistically. The resulting research group wants to reduce landslide fatalities in the long run - despite urbanization and climate change.

For the third year in a row, the Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH) at the University of Vienna has awarded it's Seed Funding to four different innovative, interdisciplinary research projects by it's members. From Musicology to Toxicology, from Demography to Geoscience - these projects show the importance of our Hub's mission: working together across disciplines to foster a deeper understanding of our environment and climate.