Internationality and excellence - the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen
Founded in 1737, the University of Göttingen is a research university of international renown with a strong focus on research-based teaching. Approximately 24,000 young people currently study in Göttingen, some twelve per cent of whom are from outside Germany. This clearly reflects the strong pull that the University has long exerted internationally. In 2007, the Georg-August-Universität achieved success in the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Government and the Länder (states) with its concept entitled "Göttingen. Tradition - Innovation - Autonomy". This makes Göttingen one of nine German universities that have officially been recognized as having potential for global visibility and a place amongst the world's foremost institutions of higher education.
Agriculture and the environment: (un)reconcilable?
The Research Centre for Agriculture and the Environment (ZLU) was founded in 1985 as an institution of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. The Centre engages in interdisciplinary cooperation in order to find resource-saving, environmentally friendly and socially responsible solutions in the field of agriculture. In the conflict between agriculture and environment, problems are identified and forward-looking solutions developed. The ZLU's work includes the following priority areas: land use concepts, agricultural environment programmes, biodiversity management in agricultural landscapes, integrated crop protection, and environmentally sound feeding in livestock farming systems.
Committed to interdisciplinary research
The main task of the ZLU is to encourage, organize and conduct interdisciplinary research activities. It supports research activities from the funding application process to project implementation to knowledge transfer. As a result, the ZLU has close contacts with scientists working in different research fields, potential research sponsors, and the agricultural community.
For example, the ZLU is involved in various sub-projects and coordination activities within the research collaboration KLIFF (climate change impact and adaptation research in Lower Saxony). KLIFF aims to investigate the impact of climate change at a regional and local level in order to develop sustainable adaptation strategies.
