Scientific network

Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN)

SICSS is the graduate school of the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), a trans-disciplinary research center located at University of Hamburg.

Grischa Perino (CEN Director): “The CEN School SICSS addresses both natural and social science climate and earth system research. It familiarizes its master students, doctoral candidates and postdocs with the interdisciplinary approach that is at the heart of CEN and supports them closely. Deeply rooted in methodological and disciplinary expertise, we bring together the strengths of our own backgrounds. Combining perspectives and paradigms allows our community to make substantial scientific progress and to find solutions that are out of reach for each of us individually. By crossing disciplinary and faculty borders in teaching, supervision and research, SICSS prepares the next generation of scientists to shift the frontier of scientific knowledge.”

SICSS is also integrated into University of Hamburg’s academic infrastructure. Research and education at University of Hamburg is organized into eight faculties, of which the faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences and the faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences are the most important to SICSS.

The Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences (MIN)

The MIN Faculty is the largest faculty at University of Hamburg and scientific home to SICSS.

Faculties are divided into departments. In the Department of Earth Sciences, most ICSS lecturers and advisors are affiliated. The department hosts institutes and runs study programs in meteorology, oceanography, geology, soil science, geography, and global change and sustainability. Many institutes offer student jobs which provide a good opportunity for MSc students to engange in the daily work of science and research or to find a topic for their MSc thesis.

The Department of Earth Sciences is the academic home to the ICSS MSc program. The ICSS curriculum is interdisciplinary. Several lecturers and advisors are also affiliated with the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Biology.

In addition to the natural sciences, CEN also focuses on the societal and economic impact of climate change.

The Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Lecturers and advisors in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences teach in the MSc ICSS program and act as supervisors in the SICSS programs.

Many of them are also members of the CLICCS research cluster theme B: Climate-Related Dynamics of Social Systems.

The Max Plank Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M)

The MPI-M is an important research partner for CEN (e.g., partner in CLICCS and many other projects). It is also an important educational partner. There are lot of lecturers who regularly teach in the second and third semesters of the ICSS program and most of them also supervise MSc theses as the main or co-supervisor. The MPI-M frequently offers student jobs, which provide a good opportunity for MSc students to engage in the daily work of science and research or to find a topic for their MSc thesis.

At the doctoral level, SICSS co-operates with the International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling (IMPRS-ESM). Doctoral candidates benefit from jointly run courses and informal career planning events as well as from the allocation of remaining places in the course program.

The Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon

The Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon is also an important research partner for CEN and CLICSS. The hereon Institute of Coastal Research and SICSS are linked in particular through the doctoral and post-doctoral program: Approx. 20 to 25 % of all doctoral candidates at SICSS are employed at or supervised by the hereon. This also includes doctoral candidates at the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), founded in 2009 by the German government and now operated by the Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon. Like the MPI-M, the hereon and GERICS offer student jobs, which may lead further to supervision from those institutions.

The KlimaCampus Hamburg

Climate research in Hamburg is internationally renowned. Much of today’s understanding of the future of the climate is based on results developed by institutions in Hamburg.

This is why Universities, research institutes, and federal authorities have joined forces to form a unique network: The KlimaCampus Hamburg. The focus is on climate, climate change, and climate consequences. A special seminar series focuses on especially urgent topics and the ideas of scientists from Hamburg and from all over the world.

Whether you are employed in a student job, studying climate research, or enjoying excellent supervision, you will benefit from this unique network of excellent, highly specialized institutions in and around Hamburg.