Potsdam strengthens climate research: PIK expands with a new institute!

Potsdam strengthens climate research: PIK expands with a new institute!

In 2025, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) will undergo a significant strategic expansion. How City Gazette Online reports, the renowned Berlin climate research institute MCC (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change) will be integrated into the PIK. This integration takes place within the framework of a so-called special situation, which was formally approved by the Joint Science Conference of the federal and state governments. The measures serve to pool climate know-how from the basic sciences to policy advice, while at the same time opening up new fields of research in Earth system resilience, machine learning, and inequality and well-being.

The integration of the MCC, which has been producing evidence-based recommendations for action for decision-makers for twelve years, will enable the PIK to establish a “Policy Research Hub”, as described in the report by MCC Berlin is emphasized. This is intended to significantly improve the exchange between science and politics and ensure that research results can flow directly into political decision-making processes. The increase in annual basic funding by around 3.8 million euros is the first significant increase in the PIK's 33-year history and reflects the trust of politicians in the institute's scientific work.

Growth and new perspectives

With the announced expansion, the number of employees at the PIK will increase from around 400 to around 480. This is considered the largest organizational change in the history of the institute, as Bettina Hörstrup, the administrative director of the PIK, emphasized. The comprehensive hybrid projects of the two institutions are intended to enable the PIK to act even more effectively in the future in researching the complex challenges of climate change, as Johan Rockström, another director of the PIK, also emphasizes. Focusing on combining physical and social sciences will be crucial to meeting the needs of the climate crisis and providing practical solutions.