Thuringian Research Prize, Basic Research category, goes jointly to two groups at MPI-BGC
On November 11, 2025, Minister of Science Christian Tischner presented the 2025 Thuringian Research Award to teams from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Jena University Hospital, and Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences in the book cube of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar.
The award in the “Basic Research” category, worth €25,000, went to two research teams from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena for their research work “Global interactions of the carbon and water cycles of ecosystems in climate change – quantification using observational data and artificial intelligence.” The scientists honored were Nuno Carvalhais, Fabian Gans, Martin Jung, Sujan Koirala, Jacob Nelson, and Sophia Walther.
The research groups led by Dr. Martin Jung and Dr. Nuno Carvalhais used machine learning to investigate the global carbon and water cycles. Their findings, which show that carbon turnover interacts strongly with the global water cycle, contribute to improving understanding and modelling of future climate change.
Global carbon and water flows between ecosystems and the atmosphere are an important driver of the Earth's climate system, but have been insufficiently researched. Using machine learning, the dependencies and interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere were modeled and visualized based on measurement data.
The response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to climatic changes is one of the greatest uncertainties in predicting future climate change. The groups' work shows that carbon turnover in terrestrial ecosystems is influenced not only by temperature, but also strongly by water availability.
The acceleration of the global water cycle is considered a key indicator of the effects of global warming on the Earth system. The researchers were able to show that the water cycle is not only influenced by climate fluctuations, but also significantly controls the dynamics of carbon turnover in ecosystems.
