While the Chilean part of the Atacama Desert was the focus of the first funding phase, the researchers will also conduct research in the Namib in Namibia in the coming period. "We are very pleased to be funded for another four years," says spokesperson Professor Dr. Tibor Dunai. "This gives us the opportunity to deepen our existing knowledge, to pursue further research questions and to foster new cooperations." The CRC 1211 is a joint project of the Universities of Cologne (Host University) and Bonn and the RWTH Aachen University.
An international team of more than 80 scientists from different disciplines works together in the Collaborative Research Centre. "Combining the results from the research areas has great potential to significantly advance our understanding of our planet," adds Dunai. With their research area, they occupy a scientific niche that offers an enormously relevant and exciting field for explaining the fundamental processes of our planet, not least in times of global climate change. “Especially the interaction of the organismal and abiotic research projects is a fundamental aspect of the CRC,” emphasizes Professor Dr. Dietmar Quandt from the Nees Institute for Plant Biodiversity of the University of Bonn and co-speaker of the CRC1211.
