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Organisational structure

Organisational structure of the Institute

The Institute of Environmental Systems Research (IUSF) is is a research center of the University of Osnabrück, which is supported in particular by scientists from the departments of Culture and Social Sciences, Mathematics/Computer Science and Economics.

Managing board of the Institute

The managing board includes the following members:

• Prof. Dr. Andreas Focks (Institute of Mathematics, Director)
• Prof. Dr. Stefanie Engel (Institute of Economics)
• Prof. Dr. Karin Frank (Institute of Mathematics)
• Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow (Institute of Social Sciences)
• MSc Patrizia Schattan (Institut Institute of Geography)
• Dr. Fabian Thomas (Institute of Economics)
• Dr. Jürgen Berlekamp (Institute of Mathematics)

Representatives:

• Prof. Dr. Claudia Pahl-Wostl (Institut of Geography)
• Dr. Laura Herzog (Institut of Geography)
• MSc. Moritz Fritschle (Institute of Economics)
• MSc. Femke Reurik (Institute of Mathematics)
• Nina Nowack (Institute of Mathematics)

Research

Research at the Institute is organised in the following research groups according to the current research profile.

Institutes history

The subject Applied Systems Science, which is equally interdisciplinary and multi-departmental, was founded in the winter semester 1989/90 together with the establishment of the degree programme Applied Systems Science. In the winter semester 1990/91, a complementary degree programme was also brought into being.

In total, six departments are involved in the teaching of Systems Science, whereby the emphasis lies on the School of Mathematics/Computer Science, which is also responsible for managing the course.

The C4 professorship in Applied Systems Science with a focus on Environmental Systems Analysis was filled in autumn 1992.

A further C3 professorship with the primary focus on Mathematical Modelling was filled at the beginning of 1996.

Thanks to funding from the German Federal Environmental Foundation another C4 professorship with main emphasis on Substance Flow Management was filled in autumn 2001 and assigned to Resources Management in 2010.

In 2007, an assistant professorship was established within the research area,  Applied Environmental Systems Analysis.

In 2010, two W2 professorships in Ecological Modelling were filled in a joint appointment with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig.

Due to age-related retirement the chair of Applied System Science was replaced in spring 2014.

In October 2014 the first ever Alexander von Humboldt Professor joined Osnabrück University: Prof. Stefanie Engel carries out research in Environmental Economics at the Institute of Environmental Systems Research.

On 01.01.2020 the research and teaching unit IUSF was transferred to the research center IUSF.

After the retirement of the previous chair, the professorship for Theoretical Systems Science with the denomination "Environmental Systems Modeling" was newly advertised for the summer semester 2021 and filled on November 15, 2021.