thünen-institute (vti) – germany’s major research ... · umbrella“ becomes mindless; every...

Thünen-Institute (vTI) –

Germany’s major research institution for the rational use of natural resources

Research strategies and prospects of cooperation

Stefan Lange, March 21st, 2012

Research within the scope of the BMELV

Food Chemistry

Biology of Farm Animals

Agr. Development in Central and Eastern Europe

Agricultural Engineering

Vegetable and Ornamental Crops

Agricultural Landscape Research Biomass Research Centre

(DBFZ)

Risk Assessment

Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV)

Leibniz InstitutesRural Areas, Forestry, Fisheries

Cultivated Plants

Nutrition and Food

Animal Health

Fisheries

Fisheries

Forestry

Agriculture

Ecology Technology

Economy

Agriculture

Ecology Technology

Economy

Foresty

Profile of the Thünen-Institute

Agric. Technology and Biosystems Engineering Biodiversity Agric. Climate Research Organic Farming

Rural Studies Farm EconomicsMarket Analysis and Agric. Trade Policy

World ForestryForest Based Sector

EconomicsWood Technology and

Wood Biology

Forest GeneticsForest Ecology and

Forest Inventory

Baltic Sea Fisheries Fisheries Ecology

Sea Fisheries

Institutes of the Thünen-Institute

Our research covers all farmed zones and landscape components.

1. to advice the German Government regarding sustainable and rational use of natural resources: Responsibility for longterm monitorings,

Representing Germany in international scientific committees / advisory boards

Preparing of scientifically based reports, statements and recommendations

Providing rapid and highly qualified answers to urgent requests from politics

2. to research and to participate in the free scientific competition:

Scientific activities of high societal relevance based on institutional budgets

Applying for third-party funds on national and international level

Collaborating in national and international research consortia

Two main tasks of Thünen-Institute

Thünen-Institute – from scattered history to a strategic structure

The fact:

Developed in 2008 from a fusion of three thematically different research institutes – initially the composition of Thünen-Institute wasn‘t based on a clear strategy.

The risk:

Each of our 15 specific institutes continues its separate research → the „Thünen-umbrella“ becomes mindless; every single institute competes with external institutions

The chance:

Sustainable use of natural resources on fields, in forests, seas and oceans – this is our „joint bracket“ – at least in Germany an unique feature for a major research institution!

The consequence:

Active Organising of co-operations between 3 thematic blocks and all 15 institutes – Preparing of a „Strategic Concept of Thünen-Institute“

This strategic orientation bears first fruits …

Thünen-Institute - more and more in demand to consult:

▪ European Commission / DG Research & Innovation

▪ Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection

▪ Federal Ministry of Education and Research

▪ ERA-NETs (e.g. RURAGRI, Susfood, MariFish etc.)

▪ Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs)

▪ International boards (e.g. FAO, OECD, ICES, EFSA etc.)

▪ Economy, associations and NGOs

as to future research strategies, design of funding schemes and call topics.

to influence the agenda setting of research funders on national and international level in order to answer societal relevant questions concerning:

1. sustainable land use and agriculture (feed, food, non-food)2. issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation3. vital and liveable rural regions4. sustainable forest management5. sustainable management of marine resources

Thünen-Institute makes these efforts for a final goal:

Locations of theThünen-Institute

Input

• 577 permanent positions (> 200 for scientists)

• Total staff (incl. external funded personnel): approx. 1.000 persons

• Annual budget: approx. 60 million Euro

Output

• > 800 scientific papers per year

• 1.000 lectures and posters on symposia and conferences

• > 400 reports and statements for BMELV and other ministries

• Cooperation with research institutions in 66 countries worldwide

• academic networking: appr. 60 scientists of Thünen-Institute give lessons at universities, 80 students finish their PhD, MSc or BSc at Thünen-Institute per year

Input – Output of the Thünen-Institute

International Cooperation 2010

Researchers of Thünen-Institute currently cooperate with partners from 144 universities / higher schools and 234 other scientific institutions in 66 countries worldwide.

Cooperation

No cooperation

Looking for cooperation opportunities …

… that is to say first of all presenting own research areas.

That‘s why now in a fast-forward modus a tightly arranged survey of our 15 institutes under the Thünen-umbrella.

Please note: All information will be provided afterwards. So just look and see, do not take notes about all details.Institutes with a small -flag sign already carried out resp. currently run research activities with Russian partners.

Thünen-Institute of Rural StudiesBraunschweig

• Living conditions in rural areas, provision of basic

public services, regional disparities

• Economy and jobs, social policy for farmers

• Use of resources, environmental protection

• Agricultural policy, policy impact assessment

• vTI model network for different decision levels

(farm, region, sector), e.g. RAUMIS, CAPRI

Director: Prof. Dr. Peter Weingarten

Staff: 35, thereof 29 scientists

Thünen-Institute of Farm Economics

• Farm Economic Analyses (cash crops, animal

husbandry, organic farming, food industry

• Policy impact assessment and evaluation of policy

options

• Agricultural production systems

• International competitiveness („agri benchmark“)

• Policies for agriculture, environment, animal welfare

• vTI model network (e.g. FARMIS, TIPI-CAL)

Braunschweig

Director: Dir. u. Prof. Dr. Hiltrud Nieberg


Thünen-Institute of Market Analysis and Agricultural Trade Policy

• analysis of consumers behaviour

• Labelling, certification systems

• Market analysis, world agricultural trade

• Policy impact assessment and evaluation of policy

options

• Agricultural trade policies

• world food affairs / food safety

• vTI model network (e.g. GTAP, AGMEMOD)

Braunschweig

Director: Dr. Martin Banse


Thünen-Institute of Organic Farming

• Organic dairy farming and meat production

• Organic crop production

• Organic grassland management

• quality of products / quality of production process

• Integration of nature conservation in agricultural

production systems

• Efficient use of resources in production systems

with different levels of intensity

• Socio-economic aspects of agriculture

Trenthorst (near Lübeck)

Director: Prof. Dr. Gerold Rahmann


Thünen-Institute of Agricultural Technology and Biosystems Engineering

• Plant cultivation technology, soil conservation• Automatisation technologies for crop production and animal health (contactless sensors, innovative measurement methods)• Environmental technology (composting, biogas plants, air purification systems in animal husbandry)• Renewables as carbon source for chemical industry: conditioning; physical, enzymatic, chemical digestion; biotechnological, chemical, catalytic conversion; product isolation and refining

• biodiesel-fuel mixtures

Braunschweig

Directors: Prof. Dr. Axel Munack, Prof. Dr. Klaus Vorlop


Thünen-Institute of Agricultural Climate Research

• Greenhouse gases (GHG): investigation of

emissions, evaluation of mitigation measures

• impacts of a changing climate on nutrient cycling

in agricultural production systems

• carbon flow in soils, GHG from organic soils

• Emission of ammonia gas from animal husbandry

• Provision of the German National Emission

Inventory Report (NIR) concerning agriculture and

land use

Braunschweig

Director: Prof. Dr. Heinz Flessa


Thünen-Institute of BiodiversityBraunschweig

• Soil biology (covering soil biodiversity from soil micro-

organisms to soil fauna as well as their services)

• Biodiversity under changing climate conditions

• concepts for conservation and promotion of biodiver-

sity in agricultural ecosystems

• test indicators and monitoring-systems for the assess-

ment of pressures or mitigation schemes on the state

and response of biodiversity and ecosystem services

Director: Prof. Dr. Hans Weigel


Thünen-Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology Hamburg

• Wood structure, wood properties and wood quality

• Wood in construction; wood preservation

• Chemical feedstock, pulp and wood based composites

• Wood and environment (e.g. CO2 storage effects in

wood products; emissions from wood and wood

based composites)

• Detection of boreal / tropical wood species and wood

timber origin in order to uncover illegal logging

Director (provisional): Dir. Uwe Schmitt


Thünen-Institute of Forest Based Sector EconomicsHamburg

• Forest policy: monitoring and analysis of political

decisions, legal regulations and societal demands

on forests (multifunctional services of forests)

• Timber Market Research: raw wood and timber

products markets, market influencing factors;

compiling timber market outlooks for Germany

• Business economics: economic situation for forest

holdings & their adaptability to changing framework

conditions

Director: PD Dr. habil. Matthias Dieter


Thünen-Institute of World ForestryHamburg

• International forest development and forest policy• Sustainable forest management (Subtropics, Tropics) • European and international reporting of forest data: biometrics, spatial statistics, forest information systems, inventories• Climate change and forests, e.g. „Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) - Qualitative and quantitative assessment of changes of tropical forests“

Director: Prof. Dr. Michael Köhl


Thünen-Institute of Forest Ecology and Forest InventoryEberswalde

• Forest Ecology / Wildlife Ecology: e.g. role of forests as habitats for plants and animals, as natural reservoir of water and provider of drinking water

• Forest Inventory and Forest Monitoring: responsibility for National Forestry Inventory (BWI), Forest Soil Survey (BZE), Forest Condition Survey (WZE), Intensive Forest Monitoring (UN-ECE/EU-Level II), Greenhouse Gas Monitoring (THG)

• Forest Data Center: collecting, editing and providing geo-reference data (forestry, agriculture, fisheries) for research, for the general public and for European use beyond country borders (under EU guideline INSPIRE)

Director: Prof. Dr. Andreas Bolte


Thünen-Institute of Forest GeneticsGroßhansdorf (near Hamburg)

• Provenance and breeding research

• Pathogen resistance and seed quality research

• Ecological genetics: Population structure and gene

flow shaping genetic diversity in woody plants; adap-

tation to dynamic environments; species identification

and tracking systems against illegal logging

• Genome research: structure and function of genes

and genomes; development of molecular markers,

assessment of potentials and risks of GMO trees

Director: PD Dr. habil. Bernd Degen


Thünen-Institute of Sea FisheriesHamburg

• Population dynamics of exploited marine resources

• Effects of climate and oceanographic variability on

distribution, growth, reproduction and recruitment

success of fish stocks

• Impacts of competing utilization of seas and oceans

on fish stocks and fisheries (offshore wind energy

plants, maritime traffic, protected sea areas)

• Monitoring of fishing effort and yield (impact of

commercial fishery on target/non-target species)

• Fisheries economics and socio-economic aspects;

fisheries policy impact assessment

Director: Dr. Gerd Kraus


Thünen-Institute of Fisheries EcologyHamburg

• Monitoring of radioactivity in water, fish and other marine organisms• Integrated marine monitoring for health of marine ecosystems: Environmental stressors (e.g. organic contaminants / heavy metals: concentrations in fish, impact on fish, cause of diseases)• Biology and management of diadromous fish• Molecular biology und genetics• Aquaculture and freshwater fishing

Director: Dr. Reinhold Hanel


Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries

• Monitoring and assessment of fish stocks (esp. cod,

herring, sprat, flounder), fish stock recruitment

• Catch- and survey technologies

• Fishery management: contribution to ICES advice,

development of alternative approaches (catch quota

instead of conventional landings quota, avoidance of

discards)

• Fishery, marine environment and increasing utilisa-

tion of the sea

Rostock

Director: PD Dr. habil. Cornelius Hammer


Situation in Russia (examples):

need for sustainable reforestation after forest firesgreat chance as producer and exporter of feed & food vs. current potentials and deficits in sustainable land use, animal husbandry, and crop productionaccumulated needs concerning agricultural engineeringInterest to prevent illegal wood harvest and illegal fishery – need for reliable tracking systems Interest for decentralised substantial and energetic utilisation of agricultural waste, biomass, and renewable materials

= broad range for German-Russian R&D programmes and projects!

Food & Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries – promising areas for German-Russian research cooperation!

Broad range of expertise (economics, ecology, technologies)

Scientifically independent, close to politics

Embedded in networks (national / international)

Sufficient number of highly qualified researchers

Latest methods and first hand data to answer key future issues

Take-home-message: Five features of the Thünen- Institute

Thünen-Institute – partner for promising cooperation!

благодарю́ вас за внима́ние!

Contact:Stefan Lange – Research CoordinatorJohann Heinrich von Thünen-InstitutFederal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and FisheriesBundesallee 50D-38116 Braunschweig

phone: +49 531 / 596 - 1008fax: +49 531 / 596 - [email protected]

thünen-institute (vti) – germany’s major research ... · umbrella“ becomes mindless; every...

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