Diverse and unique

Researchers at the Wegener Centre at the University of Graz are taking a comprehensive look at climatic conditions - both regionally and globally.

The Wegener Centre at the University of Graz is an internationally outstanding institution for climate research. It celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025.

Physicists and economists, geographers and regional researchers, graduate students and professors from all continents: that's how colourful the team at the Wegener Center is. And it is precisely this diversity of perspectives that enables extraordinary approaches and groundbreaking findings in climate research. Since the research centre was founded 20 years ago, around 60 employees have published more than 1,500 articles in German-language and international journals. "We not only investigate the causes and effects of climate change, but also pay particular attention to adaptation strategies and our options as humans to actively limit global warming," emphasises climate economist Karl Steininger, Head of the Wegener Centre.

The department is named after the geophysicist Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), who came to the University of Graz almost exactly 100 years ago. With his work on meteorology and climatology, he was an interdisciplinary scientist and was regarded as a pioneer of polar research. He died in 1920 during his third Greenland expedition.

Dagmar Eklaude

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