Junior Professor of High-Resolution Sedimentology to establish a specialized lab for paleoclimate research
23 July 2024
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has established a new junior professorship in the field of Earth System Science, supported by funding provided by the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany's largest private, non-profit organization engaged in the promotion and support of academic research. This Junior Professorship for High-Resolution Sedimentology is part of the JGU Institute of Geosciences and held by Dr. Igor Obreht. He will be creating a unique lab for high-resolution imaging for the analysis of terrestrial and marine sediments that formed thousands to millions of years ago. The resulting data will allow the reconstruction of the climate of the past, in some cases even in connection with individual seasons. The Volkswagen Foundation is contributing some EUR 1.6 million towards the financing of the junior professorship; JGU will provide EUR 675,000. "The Earth System Sciences funding line of the Volkswagen Foundation fits perfectly with our objective of developing an integrated approach to Earth System Science here at Mainz University," stated Professor Denis Scholz and Professor Philip Pogge von Strandmann of the JGU Institute of Geosciences, who submitted the application.
German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina recommends the establishment of Earth System Sciences as operating framework
For a better understanding of the complexity of our planet and finding effective solutions to global challenges, the Geosciences in Germany should be given new impetus and follow the guiding paradigm of Earth System Science as a conceptual and structural framework. This was proposed by the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences, in its 2022 Report on Tomorrow's Science. "We are facing worldwide problems, such as climate change and a scarcity of raw materials. These issues relate to the work undertaken in the Geosciences in many ways," said Professor Denis Scholz. "In order to obtain an overall understanding of the Earth as a system, we intend to promote Earth System Science at JGU. The new junior professorship is an integral part of this."
"Over the long term, we intend to establish a major regional research center for Earth System Sciences," added Professor Philip Pogge von Strandmann. This will be based on close collaboration between the two JGU research groups on Dynamics of the Solid Earth and High-Resolution Paleoclimatology, in cooperation with other institutions also based on the Gutenberg Campus, i.e., the JGU Institute of Geography, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at JGU, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.
Studying sediments in a unique research environment
The Junior Professorship for High-Resolution Sedimentology will significantly foster the teamwork between these groups while also extending the research capacity of JGU. To this end, Igor Obreht, who currently works at the research center MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, will be setting up a unique high-resolution imaging lab at JGU that will enable the analysis of sediments in extreme detail. Sediments represent a valuable archive of information on climates of the past. JGU intends to create a permanent professorship in this field for the period after the six-year junior professorship to ensure long-term continuation of this research strategy.