Funding

At the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), the research station of a joint German-Brazilian project in the Brazilian rainforest, scientists have been studying the ecosystems of the Amazon and their interactions with the atmosphere and climate for more than 10 years. Recently, representatives of the Brazilian Ministry of Research and foreign ambassadors visited the station. mehr

Within the framework of the German-Brazilian joint project ATTO (Amazon Tall Tower Observatory) with its research station in the Brazilian rainforest, scientists for several years have gained valuable data and insights for climate and environmental research. For German partners, the Max Planck Society will continue to ensure the operation of the station and the research. In addition, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will fund the project for another three years with around 5 million euros through ATTO+. mehr

The successful independent research group (Max Planck Research Group) was recently extended for two more years. While a strong emphasis will remain on the evolution of early algae, the researchers are planning to increase their focus on the evolutionary role of nutrient accessibility, in particular nitrogen, and on reconstructing the evolution of the steroid biosynthetic pathway. mehr

In this country, we take clean drinking water for granted. More than two-thirds comes from groundwater. But how secure are these essential subsurface water reservoirs in view of intensive land use, environmental pollution and climate change? Researchers are looking into this issue in the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) ‘AquaDiva’. Started in 2013, the research partnership will continue to be supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the next four years, receiving over 9.5 million euros for the funding period to 2021. mehr

Fine roots are a substantial but transitory carbon pool in many ecosystems and highly responsive to seasonal and environmental forcings. However they are also difficult to study, as roots are often highly spatially heterogeneous and direct sampling is very slow. Consequently, representation of roots in vegetation models is often highly simplistic. To address this knowledge gap, MPI-BGC postdoc Richard Nair had successfully applied for a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship. His project MrPARTS will be fully funded by EU for 2 years, starting in June 2017. mehr