Current Third-Party Projects

As a member of the German Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, our institute is jointly funded by the German government and the State of Thuringia. In addition, our researchers very successfully acquire funding from competitive grant programs.

Below, current research projects are listed that have been competitively acquired from third parties, e.g. European Commission (EU), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and other ministries or organisations.

AI4Biodiv: Artificial intelligence in biodiversity research
Duration: 10/2020 - 09/2024
Collaboration: TU Ilmenau (Data-intensive Systems and Visualization Group)
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Contact: Dr. Jana Wäldchen more
AI4PEX - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Enhanced Representation of Processes and Extremes in Earth Systems Models

AI4PEX - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Enhanced Representation of Processes and Extremes in Earth Systems Models

Duration: 04/2024 - 03/2028
Funding: EU - HORIZON EUROPE (grant ID GA 101137682)
Contact: Nuno Carvalhais, Markus Reichstein
AI4SoilHealth: Accelerating collection and use of soil health information using AI technology to support the Soil Deal for Europe and EU Soil 

AI4SoilHealth: Accelerating collection and use of soil health information using AI technology to support the Soil Deal for Europe and EU Soil 

Duration: 01/2023 - 12/2027
Funding: EU - HORIZON EUROPE (grant ID 101086179)
PI / Co-PIs: Bernhard Ahrens, Melanie Weynants
The objective of AI4SoilHealth is to co-design, create and maintain an open access European-wide digital infrastructure, compiled using state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods combined with new and deep soil health understanding and measures. The AI-based data infrastructure functions as a Digital Twin to the real-World biophysical system, forming a Soil Digital Twin. This can be used for assessing and continuously monitoring Soil Health metrics by land use and/or management parcel, supporting the Commission’s objective of transitioning towards healthy soils by 2030.
AQUA DIVA follow-up (Gleixner)
Importance of biological drivers and the water transport for the explanation of biodiversity effects on carbon and nitrogen storage in the soil
Duration: 7/2016 - 6/2025
Funding: DFG
Contact: Gerd Gleixner more
AQUA DIVA follow-up (Trumbore)
Exploring mechanisms underlying the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Duration: 8/2016 - 6/2025
Funding: DFG
Contact: Susan Trumbore more
ATTOplus
Earth system and climate studies at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO)
Duration: 8/2021 - 3/2025
Funding: BMBF (Grant ID: 01LK2101A)
Contact: Susan Trumbore more
Balzan Award: Carbon and Water Cycling in a Changing Amazon

Balzan Award: Carbon and Water Cycling in a Changing Amazon

Duration: 1/2022 - 12/2024
Funding: Internat. Foundation Prize E. Balzan Fond, Zürich
Contact: Susan Trumbore
BetterWeeds: Knowledge-based site-specific analysis for environmentally sustainable weed management in integrated crop production
Duration: 5/2021 - 10/2024
Funding: Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)
Contact: Jana Wäldchen more
Biodiversity Exploratories
Duration: 05/2014 - 04/2026
Funding: DFG
Contact: Marion Schrumpf, Susan Trumbore, Qing-Fang Bi more
BiodivMon-Monitoring the functional properties of the forest in the Congo Basin (CoForFunc)
Duration: 03/2024 - 02/2027
Funding: BMBF
Contact: Gregory Duveiller
Project webpage: https://coforfunc.eu/
Projekt GZ: 16LW0499 more
CAP7 - Climate projections for CMIP7

CAP7 - Climate projections for CMIP7

Duration: 09/2024 - 08/2027
Funding: BMBF
Contact: Sönke Zaehle
Projekt 01LP2401D
C-BLUES - Carbon sequestration in BLUe EcoSystems
Duration: 01/2024 - 12/2027
Funding: EU - HORIZON EUROPE (grant ID 101137844 )
Contact: Sung-Ching Lee
C-BLUES aims to advance knowledge and understanding of blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) such as seagrasses, tidal marshes, mangroves, macroalgae, and macroalgae mariculture. more
DeepESDL: Deep Earth System Data Lab
Duration: 04/2022 - 04/2025
Funding: ESA, European Space Agency
PI/ Co-PIs: Fabian Gans
DeepESDL is a virtual laboratory providing data, tool, and computational resources to efficiently implement comprehensive processing workflows for Earth System data.

Participating department members: more
DUKE: Deep-learning-based hybrid uncertainty-aware modeling of the coupled water and carbon cycle with Earth observation data
Duration: 1/2022 - 12/2024
Funding: DLR-RM-/BMWI-Förderrichtlinie
Contact: Basil Kraft, Martin Jung, Markus Reichstein more
eco2adapt

eco2adapt

Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Changemaking to Shape, Protect and Maintain the Resilience of Tomorrow’s Forests
Duration: 09/2022 - 08/2027
Funding: EU-Horizon Europe (grant ID 101059498)
Contact: Henrik Hartmann
ELIAS: European lighthouse of AI for Sustainability

ELIAS: European lighthouse of AI for Sustainability

Duration: 09/2023 - 08/2027
Funding: EU - HORIZON EUROPE (grant ID GA 101120237)
Contact: Nuno Carvalhais, Markus Reichstein
ELLIS-CZS

ELLIS-CZS

Knowledge intregration for spatio-temporal environment modeling
Duration: 01/2023 - 12/2027
Funding: Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung
Contact: Markus Reichstein
ESM2025: Earth system models for the future
Duration: 6/2021 - 5/2025
Funding: EU, HORIZON 2020
Contact: Nuno Carvalhais, Sönke Zaehle more
Flora Incognita++
Flora Incognita – Systematic and reliable monitoring of German flora as a citizen science challenge
Duration: 8/2019 - 12/2024
Funding: BfN, TMUEN, MPI für BGC
Contact: Jana Wäldchen more
Flora Incognita Moni
Methods for closing data gaps in nationwide biodiversity monitoring
Duration: 8/2024 - 7/2026
Funding: BfN
Contact: Jana Wäldchen
Project: 352460010B more
ForExD
Forest vulnerability  to compound extremes and disturbances in a changing climate
Duration: 09/2022 - 08/2027
Funding: ERC starting grant (Grant ID: 10103956)
Contact: Ana Bastos more
FOR 5000
Biotic interactions, species communities and eco-evolutionary dynamics as control variables of long-term relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions
Duration: 1/2020 - 12/2024
Funding: DFG
Contact: Gerd Gleixner, Markus Lange more
FIT FOR THE FUTURE: Verbesserte Bodeneigenschaften durch künstliche Huminstoffe auf Gut Linde
Duration: 07/2023 - 06/2026
Funding: Zwillenberg-Tietz-Stiftung
Contact: Gerd Gleixner, Markus Lange more
GreenFeedBack

GreenFeedBack

Improved understanding of greenhouse gas fluxes and radiative forcers, including carbon dioxide removal technologies
Duration: 07/2022 - 06/2026
Funding: EU- Horizon Europe (grant ID 101056921)
Contact: Mathias Göckede
ICON-4C4M-L: Development of a land component for emission-driven ICON-seamless simulations in CMIP7

ICON-4C4M-L: Development of a land component for emission-driven ICON-seamless simulations in CMIP7

Duration: 1/2024 - 12/2026
Funding: BMBF - DWD (FKZ 4823EMF02A )
Contact: Sönke Zaehle
ICOS-ERIC

ICOS-ERIC

Inverse modeling of GHG fluxes using the CarboScope regional inversion system
Duration: 4/2012 - 12/2025
Funding: DWD
Contact: Christoph Gerbig
IRS4BEF - Integrated Remote Sensing for Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function

IRS4BEF - Integrated Remote Sensing for Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function

Duration: 01/2023 - 01/2025
Funding: ESA / Living Planet Fellowship
PI/Co-PIs: Javier Pacheco-Labrador
RS4BEF will develop new methods that allow remote sensing to decipher the role of vegetation functional biodiversity on ecosystem functions and environmental responses. IRS4BEF will determine which spectral information is necessary to characterize functionally-significant diversity and how to connect this new spatial information with ground measurements or remote estimates of ecosystem functions.
ITMS-B

ITMS-B

Joint project ITMS Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany - Module B (demonstration phase)
Duration: 08/2022 - 07/2026
Funding: BMBF
Contact: Gregory Duveiller
ITMS-K

ITMS-K

Joint project ITMS Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany - Module Coordination
Duration: 08/2022 - 07/2026
Funding: BMBF
Contact: Christoph Gerbig
ITMS-M

ITMS-M

Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany - Modelling, Phase 1 (Demonstration Phase) - CSR-Inversion
Duration: 12/2021 - 2/2026
Funding: BMBF
Contact: Christoph Gerbig
ITMS-QS

ITMS-QS

Joint project ITMS Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany - Module QS (demonstration phase)
Duration: 08/2022 - 07/2026
Funding: BMBF
Contact: Gregory Duveiller
ITMS-QS II -TORCH

ITMS-QS II -TORCH

Joint project ITMS Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany - Characterization of uncertainty for high-resolution AI-based biogenic CO2 fluxes
Duration: 12/2023 - 11/2026
Funding: BMBF
PI/Co-PIs: Martin Jung
Max-Planck Caltech Carnegie Columbia (MC³) Center 4 Earth
Land-surface mediated Earth system feedbacks - AI enabled understanding, modeling and prediction
Duration: 04/2023 - 12/2027
Funding: Max Planck Foundation
PI/ Co-PIs: Markus Reichstein

The Max-Planck Caltech Carnegie Columbia (MC³) Center aims to transform Earth system analysis and predictions, integrating advanced Earth observations and machine learning for deeper understanding and sustainable management of our planet, in particular the land. Our mission is to set new standards in Earth system modelling, foster next-generation scientists, and lead in earth sciences research and education, shaping a sustainable future through innovative, interdisciplinary collaboration.

Participating department members: Alexander Winkler, Nuno Carvalhais,
Stefanie Johnson more
MOMENT - Permafrost research towards integrated observation and modeling of ecosystem methane budgets.

MOMENT - Permafrost research towards integrated observation and modeling of ecosystem methane budgets.

Duration: 11/2022 - 10/2025
Funding: BMBF
Contact: Mathias Goeckede
MeDi Twin - Mediterranean Digital Twin Network for Understanding Climate Extremes

MeDi Twin - Mediterranean Digital Twin Network for Understanding Climate Extremes

Duration: 06/2024 - 05/2028
Funding: EU Horizon EUROPE (Grant ID: SEP-210982611)
Contact: Nuno Carvalhais
MYRIAD
Multi-hazard and systemic framework for enhancing risk-informed management and decision-making in the E.U.
Duration: 9/2021 - 8/2025
Funding: EU Horizon 2020 (Grant ID: 101003276)
Contact: René Orth, Markus Reichstein, Dorothea Frank more
Natura Incognita: workflow platform for KI-based species identification
Duration: 12/2020 - 11/2024
Funding: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
Contact: Jana Wäldchen more
NFDI4Earth
Duration: 10/2021 - 10/2026
Funding: DFG
Contact: Markus Reichstein, Fabian Gans more
NUBICOS - New Users for a Better ICOS

NUBICOS - New Users for a Better ICOS

Duration: 01/2024 - 12/2027
Funding: EU, HORIZON EUROPE (Grant ID: GA 101130676)
Contact: Armin Jordan
Open Earth Monitor
Open-Earth-Monitor aims to accelerate uptake of environmental information to guide users in research, decision-making and citizens toward the most sustainable solutions.
Duration: 01.06.2022 - 31.05.2026
Funding: EU-Horizon Europe (grant ID: 101059548)
Contact: Gregory Duveiller more
PAUL: Pilot Application in Urban Landscapes - Towards integrated city observatories for greenhouse gases

PAUL: Pilot Application in Urban Landscapes - Towards integrated city observatories for greenhouse gases

Duration: 10/2021 - 9/2025
Funding: EU, HORIZON 2020 (Grant ID: 101037319)
Contact: Armin Jordan, Christoph Gerbig
PhenoFeedBacks

PhenoFeedBacks

Duration: 4/2022 - 3/2025
Funding: DFG (Grant ID: MI 2418/4-1)
Contact: Alexander Winkler
Pollen-Net - Phenology-based pollen predictions and EEG-based assessment of allergic reactions using AI

Pollen-Net - Phenology-based pollen predictions and EEG-based assessment of allergic reactions using AI

Duration: 04/2024 - 03/2030
Funding: Carl-Zeiss-Foundation
Contact: Jana Wäldchen
PrOB: Project Office BIOMASS
Duration: 7/2020 - 12/2024
Funding: DLR
Contact: Nuno Carvalhais, Markus Reichstein more
Q-ARCTIC: Quantify disturbance impacts on feedbacks between Arctic permafrost and global climate
Duration: 10/2021 - 9/2027
Funding: EU, HORIZON 2020 - ERC synergy grant (Grant ID: 951288)
Contact: Annett Bartsch, Victor Brovkin, Mathias Göckede, Martin Heimann more
RiGHGorous: Research for an integrated GreenHouse Gas monitoring system and for its use at DWD

RiGHGorous: Research for an integrated GreenHouse Gas monitoring system and for its use at DWD

Duration: 1/2020 - 11/2024
Funding: BMVI
Contact: Christoph Gerbig
SCHR 1181/9-1 - Decoupling surface and subsurface processes of litter decomposition and effects on soil organic matter stabilization with increasing drought.

SCHR 1181/9-1 - Decoupling surface and subsurface processes of litter decomposition and effects on soil organic matter stabilization with increasing drought.

Decoupling surface and subsurface processes of litter decomposition and effects on soil organic matter stabilization with increasing drought.
Duration: 2023 - 2025
Funding: DFG
PI/Co-PIs: Marion Schrumpf
USMILE: Understanding and Modelling the Earth System with Machine Learning
Duration: 9/2020 - 8/2026
Funding: EU, HORIZON 2020 - ERC synergy grant (Grant ID: 855187)
Contact: Markus Reichstein more
ViTamins

ViTamins

Invigorating Hydrological Science and Teaching: merging key Legacies with new Concepts and Paradigms
Duration: 05/2022 - 04/2028
Funding: VW-Stiftung, Sub-contract KIT
Contact: Axel Kleidon
WALDDOKTOR - Development of an AI-supported forest damage monitoring systemTP1: Basics of image-based automatic damage detection and citizen science

WALDDOKTOR - Development of an AI-supported forest damage monitoring system
TP1: Basics of image-based automatic damage detection and citizen science

Duration: 01/2024 - 12/2026
Funding: BMBF (PT Jülich) (Grant ID: 03WIR3605A)
Contact: Jana Wäldchen
XAIDA: Extreme Events: Artificial Intellegence for Detection and Attribution
Duration: 9/2021 - 8/2025
Funding: EU Horizon 20202 (Grant ID: 101003469)
Contact: Ana Bastos, Markus Reichstein more
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