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Walking back to the base camp after a long day of measuring. Photo: Stephan Schennen.

Thaw in the Permafrost – Will the Siberian tundra become a source of carbon emissions?

The permafrost soils of the Arctic are the cold stores of the North. What they shut in over thousands of years is kept safe: plant remains, animal …
Mormyrids in an experimental aquarium. Picture: Karla Fritze

The Electric Code for a Partner – Mormyrids rely on electrical signals to choose partner

How do new species develop? This question has plagued researchers for centuries and remains one of the most topical questions in evolutionary and …
Frank Bösch, Professor of German and European 20th Century History at the University of Potsdam and Director of the Centre for Contemporary History (ZZF). Picture: Karla Fritze

A Direct Detour – What contemporary historian Frank Bösch brought to Potsdam

Frank Bösch’s office is spacious—and necessarily so. A shelf covering a whole wall is filled with countless folders. Books jockey for attention in …
Water flea Daphnia magna. Picture: Christina Schirmer

Eat or Be Eaten – The interplay of biodiversity and ecological dynamics

Biodiversity is rapidly declining worldwide. The reasons are commonly known: climate change, overuse, land-use changes, and pollution. Ecological …
Alexander Kranz, Paul Fröhlich, and Sebastian Szelat (from left to right) are studying the duty diaries. Picture: Karla Fritze

The Forgotten Duty Journals – Historian Prof. Bernhard Kroener and his team are working on an annotated edition of National Socialist duty journals.

A few years ago Prof. Bernhard Kroener of the Institute of History at the University of Potsdam made a very interesting discovery. While doing …
Potsdam biologists are researching the connection between biodiversity and root herbivores on agricultural areas. Photo: Hans Pfestorf.

A Glance Underground – Florian Jeltsch and his team research the connection between biodiversity and root herbivores

What determines the biodiversity of grasslands? Florian Jeltsch and his team have been examining this question for quite some time now. They are …
The Iranian visiting scholar Dr. Rana Raeisi and the Potsdam literary scholar adjunct Prof. Dr. Brunhilde Wehinger. Picture: Karla Fritze

Paths to Peace – Religious tolerance in Persian and German literature

The path to other religions and cultures is inspiring, enriching – and yet has always been a very difficult one. In the name of religion, wars have …

Layer by Layer – Project group develops new method to enable a complex analysis of social scientific texts

Modern information and communication technologies have been changing all spheres of society and have long been indispensable at German universities. …
A look through the microscope shows the structure of bacteria inhibiting the human intestine. Photo: Prof. Dr. Michael Blaut.

The Human Ecosystem – Innumerable microorganisms inhabit the human intestine – and influence health

They are on the skin, in the intestine and on the teeth. Microorganisms inhabit our body. The colon in particular is an ideal place for microbes. One …
Bullying – also at schools – is a complex web of victims, perpetrators, and spectators. Photo: fotolia.com/Luis Louro.

A Question of Conduct – How do teachers and students deal with violence and bullying in the classroom?

In a DFG-funded research project, Wilfried Schubarth, Professor of Education at the University of Potsdam, in close cooperation with the …