Gfz Potsdam

The Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam (GFZ) is the national research center for geosciences in Germany. It investigates the Earth system with a focus on natural hazards and resources. The GFZ is one of the nine institutions of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.

The GFZ Potsdam was founded in 1960 as Central Institute for Physics of the Earth, following an initiative by Hans Cloos. In 1992, it was renamed to its current name. Since then, it has been located at Telegrafenberg in Potsdam-Babelsberg, near Berlin.

The GFZ conducts its research within four departments: Department 1 “Geophysics”, Department 2 “Mineral Resources”, Department 3 “Geodesy” and Department 4 “Environmental Systems Sciences”. Furthermore, there are numerous cross-departmental research foci such as eScience or Disaster Management. The GFZ employs about 1200 people from more than 60 nations, including 300 scientists.

In 2012, the DFG selected the GFZ as one of five Excellence Clusters in their Funding Initiative for Excellence Clusters (Excellenceinitiative). As part of this initiative, a new department – Dept. 5 ‘Climate System Science’ – was established at the GFZ under direction of Professors Martin Wild and Stefan Rahmstorf