Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries

IGB is Germany’s largest and one of the leading international research centers for inland waters. Research for the future of our freshwaters – Our research findings help to tackle global environmental changes and to develop measures conductive to sustainable water management.

Research Program

Our institute is a creative, lively and diverse place for conducting research and teaching. Scientists from a whole range of disciplines work under one roof at our Berlin and Neuglobsow sites. Hydrologists, chemists, physicists, microbiologists, limnologists, fish ecologists and fisheries biologists from all over the world investigate the fundamental processes governing rivers, lakes and wetlands, and join forces to develop measures conductive to sustainable water management. In the process, we think beyond individual disciplines and spatial boundaries. After all, it will only be possible to develop solutions to the major challenges of the future by taking an integrative research approach. We pool our discipline-based research in six research departments. Added to this are three cross-cutting research domains in which we address topics of high scientific and/or societal relevance. Social stakeholders are involved in the wide range of research activities, which are carried out both locally and throughout the world in close cooperation with universities and research institutions. In the context of innovative development programs and transdisciplinary cooperation models, we give fresh momentum to research, teaching, application and participation. Our objective is to unite scientific freedom and substantive excellence with social responsibility and effectiveness, making a double impact.