News
Bats as a form of biological pest control
Labour-intensive harvesting, complex processing: the macadamia is one of the most expensive nuts in the world. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has now investigated how natural vegetation in and around macadamia plantations affects pest infestation, paying particular attention to bird and bat populations. The researchers were able to demonstrate that the higher the level of bat activity, the lower the incidence of pest infestation. more…
Working together to combat wildfires: building resilient landscapes
Wildfires in the Mediterranean region are becoming drastically more intense. The recent major fires in France, Spain and Greece show that firefighting efforts are reaching their limits. An international research team led by the Universities of Göttingen and Kassel is therefore calling for a fundamentally new approach to landscape design: in the journal iScience, the researchers demonstrate that wildfire prevention should be conceived and planned in conjunction with nature conservation, agriculture and rural development. more…
Trees in extreme drought in Germany
Forests in many regions of the world are increasingly under stress caused by drought as a result of climate change. Even forest ecosystems traditionally considered to be water-rich are being affected by prolonged periods of drought with increasing frequency. Since 2021, researchers from the University of Göttingen, in collaboration with the nearby Lauterberg Forestry Office, have been investigating how soil moisture affects the vitality of beech trees in the Harz Mountains in Germany. more…
Zooming in: electron orbitals photographed in 3D
Fundamental particles, such as electrons, cannot be pinned down to one single location. Instead, a particle is described by its “wavefunction”. The electron wavefunctions within a molecule, known as “molecular orbitals”, carry information about how the molecule interacts with its surroundings so imaging the wavefunction is a major challenge. Researchers managed to image the 3D wavefunction of a nanometer-sized organic molecule by combining state-of-the-art photoelectron spectroscopy with powerful mathematical algorithms. more…
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Further news
University of Göttingen among the top 11 in Germany
The University of Göttingen has once again achieved a strong position in the Shanghai Ranking. In the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2026, it is listed in 6th to 11th place in Germany, alongside the universities of Frankfurt, Münster, Cologne, Tübingen and the Technical University of Dresden. Globally, it made it into the top 200. Data from more than 2,500 universities worldwide is analysed annually for the ranking. more…
AI research for more precise particle-physics simulations
The University of Göttingen has been awarded around 1.8 million euros for a new AI research group in the programme “KI-Forschungsgruppen Niedersachsen” funded by zukunft.niedersachsen. The five-year project “Production-ready AI for unbiased simulation in high energy physics” will be led by Dr Timo Janßen at the Institute for Theoretical Physics. more…