Profile of the CC:R Center

Expertise

The University of Salzburg possesses a diverse range of expertise in climate research. The complex nature of this field requires interdisciplinary approaches that are already partly established in the university’s research activities. Current relevant research priorities include:

• Impacts of climate change on ecosystems (e.g., species composition, stressors, ecosystem functions and health, resilience in forests and agriculture)
• Climate change and food security as well as crop production
• Climate change and quality of life in rural (particularly alpine) and urban regions (urban ecology)
• Patterns of economic activity and climate change
• Impacts of climate change on the cryosphere and hydrosphere (glacier dynamics, formation of glacial lakes, flood protection)
• Alpine natural hazards in a changing climate (rock wall stability, debris‑flow activity, mobilization of landslides)
• Nature‑based solutions for carbon sequestration and storage (e.g., enhanced weathering, underground CO₂ storage, restoration of organic soils and peatlands)
• Circular economy and waste reduction
• New materials for energy storage
• Impacts of climate‑related risks on financial services and financial stability; sustainable finance to support climate mitigation and the green transition
• Climate change and regenerative business models
• Use of renewable resources such as geothermal energy
• Climate science communication
• Public acceptance of climate policy

The center is anchored in the natural sciences and complemented by social, economic, and technical sciences in order to promote resilience at all levels of society. The federal state of Salzburg offers an ideal model region for studying the effects of climate change in alpine environments and for developing global solutions for mountain regions.

National and International Integration

The center is embedded in international research projects and additionally focuses on contributing to national, EU, and global research initiatives:

•  International Science Council programme Future Earth
•  Climate Change Center Austria (CCCA) 
•  Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER-networks) 
•  OSCA (Open Science Cloud Austria)
•  DiSSCo (EU-Programm)
•  Biodiversity Hub Austria 

Objektives

The newly founded center serves as a research hub for pioneering climate research. Its main goal is to strengthen transdisciplinary cooperation, develop consortium proposals, and establish CC:R‑related training and continuing education programs for graduate and postgraduate students across several faculties of the University of Salzburg. Specifically, the center aims to:

• Coordinate research initiatives and leverage synergies to connect researchers within and beyond the University of Salzburg;
• Jointly develop third‑party‑funded research projects;
• Build a platform for collaboration with non‑university institutions;
• Increase visibility: establish the University of Salzburg as the first point of contact for resilience and climate‑change‑related issues, including for society and political decision‑makers (local, regional, national);
• Integrate into international research programs and networks (CIVIS, EU, ERC), and contribute to outreach in science and education;
• Support teaching, particularly in the implementation of cross‑faculty modules.