News
Trees: on your marks, get set, grow!
The fight for survival in the forest is fierce: light, water and nutrients are all limited. This is particularly true in “mast years” – times when trees and shrubs produce an unusually large crop of fruits, nuts, or seeds. Then the race for growth is really on. But can differences in height between trees in their first year of life make a difference to their future, even if these differences are just one or two centimetres? The researchers' findings were published in the Journal of Ecology. more…
Alpine peatlands under pressure
Peatlands in the Alps are mostly small, scattered and difficult to access. As a result, up-to-date information on their extent and condition is often lacking so researchers developed a cross-border approach to identifying these particular areas. A comparison with official maps shows that the model identifies many peatlands as smaller than previously mapped – particularly in areas where aerial photographs reveal visible signs of disturbance. more…
Beyond deportations
In June 2026, the European Union adopted a new Return Regulation. An international research project involving the University of Göttingen has now demonstrated, through a comparison of eight European countries, the ineffectiveness of deportation policies. The authors identify that regularization – meaning granting legal rights and secure status – is a more effective alternative for managing migration flows. more…
Two kinds of subduction recorded in one rock
When two tectonic plates collide, one plate sinks below the other – a process known as “subduction”. An international research team led by Göttingen University has discovered a rock in Papua New Guinea that, four million years ago, travelled over 90 km down into a subduction zone. The rock records an unusual journey, with higher-than-expected temperature conditions at a depth of around 45 km. The results were published in Nature Geoscience. more…
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Further news
University of Göttingen: eleventh in Germany
The most recent World University Rankings by the Times Higher Education (THE) have placed the University of Göttingen 11th in Germany. In the global rankings, it is in 133rd place this year. The University performs very well in the area of research quality, scoring 85 out of a possible 100 points, as it did last year. more…
Accounting for uncertainty in AI-based tree cover monitoring
Researchers from the Institute of Computer Science and the Department of Economics at the University of Göttingen have received the Best Paper Award at the ACM International Conference on Information Technology for Social Good (GoodIT 2026). The award, the conference's sole Best Paper Award this year, recognizes their research on making AI-based tree cover monitoring from satellite imagery more reliable. more…