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Research Profile

The University of Potsdam has established a clear profile within the research landscape of the German state of Brandenburg.
Photo: Karla Fritze
"The University of Potsdam has a strong network in and around Potsdam, with numerous extramural research institutes. This is an advantage unique to Potsdam.” - Prof. Dr. Robert Seckler, Vice President for Research and Junior Academics.

Research Support

Enhancing our strengths, developing a clear profile, becoming more visible: these are the objectives of our  research support program, with which the University of Potsdam seeks to better position itself in the national and international competition for outstanding scientists and funding. Two funding lines are established, which are distinguished by specific forms of organization, funding instruments, and evaluation periods.


The human brain, the cells of living beings and the entire earth have one thing in common – they are all complex systems whose components are constantly in reaction with and to one another.

Research Focuses

The first line of funding includes a total of four University research focuses with an initial duration of the 7/1/2019 up to the 12/31/2023.

Cultures are no longer located in separate spaces. They are in motion.

Research Initiatives

In addition to the research priorities that have been established, the University supports individual innovative research projects in a second line of funding.

In Dialogue

The University of Potsdam is networked externally just as it is internally. The University has scientific partners of global standing in the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the German Institute for Human Nutrition, and the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics, as well as the Helmholtz Association’s German Research Center for Geosciences. There are joint professorships and close cooperation with the Max Planck Institutes of Molecular Plant Physiology, of Colloids and Interfaces, of Gravitational Physics, and many other research institutions. Last but not least, the University is also working with two important Fraunhofer Society institutes in the Golm Science Park, a research campus that is earning a reputation far beyond Germany’s borders.

Unique Research Network

Potsdam qualifies as one of the most densely populated research landscapes in Germany, with Brandenburg’s largest university and numerous extramural institutions. More than 8,000 scholars and scientists already work in Potsdam. Taking advantage of synergies is clearly important. The “pearls • Potsdam Research Network,” an association of research institutions that is unique in Germany, organizes the discourse on controversial topics and future fields of research, with a focus on bringing in the next generation of scientists. In order to work together to turn ideas into reality, pearls is being expanded as a platform for acquiring new research associations. At the same time, innovations from Potsdam’s laboratories will be transferred into practical applications, thereby strengthening the state’s economic strength.