Our Stories

Michael Zumstein, associate professor at the Institute of Environmental Geosciences and ECH member, is taking over as head of the new Christian Doppler Laboratory for Biological Degradation of Water-Soluble Polymers at CeMESS at the University of Vienna. Christian Doppler Laboratories aim to conduct high-level, application-oriented basic research – Zumstein’s research team will provide important insights into the development of sustainable strategies for dealing with water-soluble polymers.

Sustainability has long been a guiding principle, but our structures often stand in the way of change: political objectives, economic interests and individual options for action come into conflict with one another, making ecological behaviour in everyday life a challenge. At the 14th Environmental Dialogue, experts from science, politics and business discussed how sustainable living can be achieved without sacrifice – and what systemic changes are necessary for social change to succeed.

Ulrike Felt, researcher at the Department of Science and Technology Studies and member of the ECH of the University of Vienna, has been awarded the Friedrich Schiedle Prize for Social Sciences and Technology by the Technical University of Munich together with Harvard Professor Martha Minow. Urs Gasser, Dean of the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology, emphasised Felts “intellectual brilliance joined with moral courage and leadership” in his address.

We are proud to congratulate our members Franz Essl, Lucia Fuchslueger, Andreas Richter, Mathew White, and our Co-Director Thilo Hofmann for making the list of the Most Cited Researchers 2025 together with six other researchers at the University of Vienna. Having the University of Vienna and its Environment and Climate Research Hub represented in this way shows the excellent scientific work conducted by our researchers.

When science speaks, society benefits. Climate research is too urgent and complex to remain within academia. For the ECH, silence is not an option. This is why the ECH reaches out to society to communicate complex environmental research.

The burning of fossil fuels, megafires and land-use changes drive CO2 levels up. How will that affect the Amazon? Will the elevated carbon fertilise the forest, boosting leaves and roots so that they will store more CO2? Or will the nutrient-deficient soils nullify the fertilisation effect that works so well in glasshouses? A spectacular international project is about to find out - and ECH is on board.