Scientific Advisory Board - Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research

The Scientific Advisory Board of the UFZ

(as of October 2025)

Chairman

Prof. Dr. Niklaus E. Zimmermann
Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Members

Prof. Dr. Mònica Guxens
Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain

Prof. Dr. Daniel Hering
Universität Duisburg-Essen

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Jardin
Ruhrverband Essen

Dr. Riyong Kim
European Environment Agency, Kopenhagen, Dänemark

Prof. Dr. Christine Lang
TU Berlin and BELANO Medical AG, Henningsdorf

Prof. Dr. Sonja Peterson
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)

Prof. Dr. Alexander Probst
Universität Duisburg-Essen

Prof. Dr. Jan Dirk Wegner
Universität Zürich

Prof. Dr. Alfred Johny Wüest
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Schweiz

Organisation chart

Here you will find the organisation structure of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ.

Organisation chart

Obituary for Prof. Dr. Gernot Klepper

Photo: Klaus-Dieter Sonntag

It is with great regret that we bid farewell to Prof. Dr. Gernot Klepper, a long-standing and valued member of our Scientific Advisory Board (2015 to 2021) and committed supporter of environmental research. Prof. Klepper has decisively shaped and enriched the UFZ and its strategic orientation in recent years. His contribution to the further development of the Earth and Environment research field, his expertise in environmental and resource economics and his visionary commitment to climate economics have had a lasting impact.

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His contribution to the further development of the Earth and Environment research field, his expertise in environmental and resource economics and his visionary commitment to climate economics have had a lasting impact.

Prof. Klepper joined the UFZ Scientific Advisory Board in August 2015 and supported us for two terms of office until July 2021 as its chair. During his term of office, he worked intensively for the adoption of the UFZ Strategy 2025+, which further consolidated the UFZ as an interdisciplinary environmental research institute and shifted the focus to future topics in environmental sciences and sustainable development. Prof. Klepper was instrumental in establishing new research structures, such as the founding of the “Integrative Bioinformatics” and “Advanced Remote Sensing” departments. These pioneering initiatives raised the scientific profile of the UFZ and took research into environmental issues to a new level.

His tireless commitment was also evident in the evaluation of the Helmholtz PoF III program and the development of its successor programs. With great foresight and scientific rigor, he evaluated research infrastructure investments, including the strengthening of the UFZ site in Bad Lauchstädt. Prof. Klepper was particularly committed to the promotion of young scientists and the empowerment of women in science. Thanks to his support, important junior research groups and professorships have been established that make a valuable contribution to environmental research.

In addition to his contributions to the UFZ, Prof. Klepper was an outstanding environmental economist and researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, where he headed the research area “Environment and Natural Resources” until 2017. His appointment as honorary professor of the state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1998 underlined his achievements in this field. Since 2014, he also coordinated the “Dialogue on Climate Economics” and contributed significantly to the networking of scientific and political actors in climate research.

With Prof. Dr. Gernot Klepper, we are not only losing an outstanding scientist, but also a colleague and friend of integrity who was always supportive. His work on the Advisory Board and his scientific excellence leave a deep gap. The UFZ and environmental research as a whole will benefit from his legacy and honor his memory.

Our deepest sympathy goes to his family, friends and all those who were close to him.