Rector Bernhard Fügenschuh has officially welcomed ten new doctoral candidates to the FWF-funded doctoral school AlpsChange, which operates within the broader research framework DynamitE. These early-career researchers will tackle critical questions concerning geo- and biodiversity in the face of environmental change, using the European Alps as their principal model system.

The Alps represent a biodiversity hotspot in Europe, characterized by exceptional geological and geomorphological diversity.

Combined with the region’s rapid natural and anthropogenic climatic shifts, an increase of geohazards such as landslides, and extensive land use changes, this mountain range provides an unparalleled opportunity to examine how accelerated environmental transformations affect both geodiversity and biodiversity.

The doctoral cohort benefits from a wide range of academic backgrounds in geo – and biosciences, as well as history. Together, they will work to integrate disciplines, methods, and datasets to gain comprehensive insights into the complex linkages between biodiversity dynamics and geodynamic, tectonic, as well as surface processes.

The individual subprojects span a broad spectrum, from microbial soil processes, pollinator interactions, sedimentary DNA analyses, microhabitat modelling to rock fracture analysis, hydrogeological measurements, remote sensing, and numerical modelling from outcrop- to orogen-scale.

The AlpsChange initiative uses the combined academic strengths of the Departments of Environment & Biodiversity and History, creating an interdisciplinary research environment that fosters systematic knowledge exchange.