News

Professor Luc De Meester is stepping down after five years of leading the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) to return to the University of Leuven in Belgium. During his time in charge, the Institute established important strategic initiatives and increased its international visibility. Professor Sonja Jähnig will take over as interim director.

In 2025, the Forschungsverbund Berlin will celebrate a special anniversary: the Marthe Vogt Award for outstanding young women scientists turns 25. In the anniversary year, the award goes to IGB's researcher Dr. Afroditi Grigoropoulou. 

Professor Chris Soulsby, researcher at the University of Aberdeen and guest scientist from IGB's Landscape Ecohydrology research group, was awarded the Langbein Lecture of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for his lifetime contributions to the science of hydrology.

New impulses for designing water-conscious cities: The Kurt Eberhard Bode Foundation is funding a junior research group led by Dr Maria Warter. She will investigate the impact of human activity on urban freshwater ecosystems and how they can be restored.

In an article in Nature Microbiology, the authors – including researchers from IGB – discuss improvements for the exchange of microbiome data between institutions.

IGB's full commitment to one of the most important German professional societies for water research: Two scientists from  IGB were elected as members  of the executive committee of the German Limnological Society (DGL), and Michael Hupfer will take over as president of the society in 2026. IGB will also host the next DGL annual conference in September 2026.

An international research team recommends a genetic approach for the obligatory measurements under the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). The article has been published in the journal Nature Water.

We have had limited availability since Tuesday, 9 September 2025, due to a power outage in south-east Berlin. This has affected services such as telephone and email. Availability has now been fully restored.