Institute of Soil Science : Department of Earth System Sciences : University of Hamburg

Photo: UHH, Institut für Bodenkunde, Sebastian Zubrzycki

Want to learn about soil? The Institute of Soil Science at University of Hamburg is the right address!

At the Institute of Soil Science we strive to expand our knowledge of soil characteristics and soil function, the processes that take place in soils, and how these processes interact with other compartments of the earth and climate system. We aim to impart this new-found knowledge to students at our Institute.

The Institute is chiefly responsible for the interdisciplinary BSc and MSc degree programs in the geosciences and is also involved in the international MSc degree program in Integrated Climate System Sciences (ICSS). Our graduate and postgraduate training largely takes place in structured graduate programs (School of Integrated Climate System Sciences, Research Training Group 2530 Biota-mediated effects on Carbon cycling in Estuaries).

The Institute of Soil Science is a teaching and research institute belonging to the Department of Earth System Sciences in the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences (MIN) at the University of Hamburg. The Institute of Soil Science is involved in the Cluster of Excellence CLICCS (Climate, Climatic Change, and Society), and the Research Training Group 2530 Biota-mediated effects on Carbon cycling in Estuaries and forms part of the KlimaCampus Hamburg. Many scientists of the Institute are member of the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), which is the first research center of the University of Hamburg.

Current News

10 October 2025|News

PeTCaT project field site visits in the Canadian Arctic 2025

Carolina Voigt and Christian Knoblauch, researchers in the newly established Virtual Institute for the Carbon Cycle project PeTCaT – Rapid Permafrost Thaw Carbon Trajectories, traveled to the Northwest Territories in the Canadian Arctic in...

Zu sehen ist eine Permafrostlandschaft in Kanada, die rapide taut.

Photo: Christian Knoblauch/ UHH

8 October 2025|Forschung

When permafrost thaws rapidly

Rapidly thawing permafrost can accelerate climate change. Researchers want to determine to what extent the greenhouse gases carbon...

Contribution from the news channel ESRAH News

Simran Sekhri Wins 2025 Best Soil Science Case Study Award

Photo: image courtesy of S. Sekhri

1 October 2025|News

Simran Sekhri Wins 2025 Best Soil Science Case Study Award

Simran Sekhri from the Institute of Soil Science, Universität Hamburg, has been awarded the best 2025 CABI & EUROSOIL Soil Science...

Studierende erarbeiten Fragen zur Bodendiversität

Photo: UHH/IfB/C. Fiencke

1 October 2025|News

Students on a field course on soil diversity in the Hahnheide

From September 29 to October 1, 2025, bachelor's students in the geosciences program studied the diversity of soils in the...

Plant Survival under Drought: Water Vapor Uptake in Sandy Soils

Photo: UHH/IfB/S. Sekhri

30 September 2025|News

Plant Survival under Drought: Water Vapor Uptake in Sandy Soils

Simran Sekhri, Volker Kleinschmidt, Annette Eschenbach and Joscha N. Becker from the Institute of Soil Science, Universität...

Photo: UHH/RTG2530/Lork

22 September 2025|Forschung

Labelling-experiment to investigate the carbon cycle in Elbe marsh soils

Researchers of the RTG 2530 have developed a labelling experiment to investigate the effects of climate change on the carbon cycle...

Contribution from the news channel Blog GRK2530

Photo: UHH/IfB/C. Voigt

19 September 2025|News

COLDSPOT expedition to the Canadian Arctic 2025

Aimée Pellissier-Tanon, Friederike Neiske, and Carolina Voigt of the newly formed ERC bridge group COLDSPOT (UHH & Alfred-Wegener...

Photo: Maren Jenrich

5 September 2025|News

COLDSPOT field campaign in Finnish Lapland 2025

This summer, the newly formed ERC bridge group COLDSPOT (UHH & Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research) carried out...

28 August 2025|News

Heatwave lag effects in the Arctic

In 2020, Siberia experienced a severe, record-breaking heatwave. This unprecedented heatwave affected the carbon cycle in both 2020 and 2021. See the details of the study from Kwon et al. (Minjung Kwon and Christian Beer from the Dynamics...

Photo: Claudia Fiencke / UHH

24 August 2025|News

Treibhausgasmessungen Arktis 2025

For the third summer in a row, Selina Undeutsch and Claudia Fiencke are measuring the three greenhouse gases N2O, CH4, and CO2 at...

Archive of current news