RTG-UGI News & Events

04. - 06.03.2024: Retreat in Raitenhaslach

We are currently in the middle of planning our retreat in Raitenhaslach from March 4 to 6, 2024. Two intensive days of lectures, interactive work and discussions await us, followed by an excursion to the city of Burghausen on the third day. Please contact us if you are interested in attending!

10.01.2024: Inaugural lecture of our PI Michael Schloter

Our PI Prof. Dr. Michael Schloter will give today at 2:00 pm his naugural lecture on “The role of environmental microbiomes for human health”. Please join at Lecture Hall 1 , Freising-Weihenstephan campus!

04.12.2023: Seminar with M.Sc. Wenxi Liao

The RTG-UGI currently hosts guest scientist Wenxi Liao. On 04.12. we will have a joint seminar with a talk of Wenxi about "Building multifunctional and sustainable green roofs with biochar".

Please find here the agenda of the seminar.

04.12.2023: Talk by Mercator Fellow Tatyana Vakhlamova

Our Mercator Fellow Tatyana gave on 04.12.2023 a presentation about „Urban ecology and vegetation in Kasachstan“. Thank you Tatyana for this interesting insight to Kasachstan and its vegetation!

01.12.2023: Seminar with Prof. Anne Loes Niellesen

On 1st December, the RTG-UGI consortium met for a seminar with Prof. Anne Nillesen on “Architecture and the built environment”. Please find here the agenda.

Her field of work:

Anne Loes Nillesen explores the impact of transitions such as climate (rising sea levels, heat and precipitation), mobility and circularity on cities. She is specialised in challenges at system level that require insight in complex mechanisms across different scale levels, such as for instance climate change and the agricultural transition. Thanks to her practical experience, she is able to contribute valuable insights to the academic world and vice versa. 

As the founder of Defacto Urbanism Anne Loes Nillesen's daily work involves the application of research by design to demonstrate and explore how such transitions affect towns, cities and regions. "The objective is to develop design principles and strategies which improve the quality of urban areas. To do so, the integration of research and design is essential. A good designer also applies a design perspective during the research phase."

15.11.2023: Short Version of the results brochure published

Within the RTG-UGI, we published a shortened version of our results brochure. It contains a small summary for each subproject and the latest scientific publications of the RTG.

Please find it here for download!

13.11.2023: Presentation on "Building multifunctional and sustainable green roofs with biochar" by Wenxi Liao

M.Sc. Wenxi Liao will give on 13.11. a talk about "Building multifunctional and sustainable green roofs with biochar" within the RÖK Monday seminar.

Please find here the abstract of the presentation.

06.11.2023: New Mercator Fellow Tatyana joined the RTG-UGI

We warmly welcome our new Mercator Fellow Tatyana Vakhlamova to the RTG-UGI! Tatyana comes to us from Kazakhstan and works closely with subproject 13 on invasive grassland species. We are looking forward to an exciting time with you, Tatyana!

01.10.2023: Results Brochure Released

The RTG-UGI released a results brochure on the developments within the RTG-UGI for the past one and a half years since the start of the RTG. Here you can find the overall aim of the RTG, the latest results in each SP and an outlook with the publications of the RTG.

Please find it here for download!

22.09.2023: First Reflection Day of the RTG-UGI

On 22.09.2023 the consortium of the RTG-UGI met for the first Reflection Day of the group. The PhD students presented their latest results, timelines and causal loop diagrams within the clusters. We discussed how to move forward with the RTG and decided to hold a Retreat in March 2024. More information on the Retreat will follow soon. Thank you for your participation!

30.08.2023: Seminar with Prof. Dr. Thomas Hauck

We are pleased to welcome Prof. Dr. Thomas Hauck from the Vienna Technical University at our RTG-UGI. As part of a seminar, he gave a lecture on the topic "The Lab and the City: Navigating the Tension between Research and Planning".

31.07.2023: Open Position!

We are looking for another Post-Doc to help us in developing an overarching system model integrating all the SP's and SET approach of our RTG-UGI. Moreover help in management and communication would be needed. Apply now if you are interested!

We are looking forward to your application!

25.07.2023: Seminar with Prof. Dr. Alessandro Ossola and Dr. Maha Deeb

In a joint seminar, our Meractor Fellow Dr. Maha Deeb and guest scientist Prof. Dr. Alessandro Ossola presented us some insights in their research. Maha spoke on the research project ARAGORN and Alessandro on urban climate and SET research.

13.07.2023: Seminar with guest Prof. Dr. Maria Ignatieva

Guest scientist Prof. Dr. Maria Ignatieva from the University of Western Australia presented her work Urban biodiversity and design: global vision - Implementation of research into practice to the RTG-UGI team!

July 2023: Mercator Fellow Dr. Maha Deeb visits the RTG-UGI

For whole July, Mercator Fellow dr. Maha Deeb has joined us at TUM to support our research at our RTG-UGI! Maha is an expert in soils, urban soils, techno soils and working as a Post-Doc at the City University of New York - Brooklyn College.

18.04.2023: Journal Club starting

Under the leadership of our post-doc Mohammad, a weekly journal club on urban ecosystems will start on 18.04. within the framework of the graduate program UGI. Recent papers from the research areas of the subprojects will be presented by the PhD students and discussed together. Join us if you are interested!

-> Contact us

18.04.2023: New Lecture Starting!

Our post-doc Mohammad Rahman and PI's Monika Egerer as well as Stephan Pauleit have organized the new Module Advanced Concepts and Methods in Urban Ecosystems. It will start on 18th April with many RTG-UGI members: Register here at TUM online!

Course Description:

Urban areas are major drivers of global environmental change, habitat degradation, changes in biodiversity, and the loss of vegetation biomass. These and many other factors emphasize the necessity to understand and examine how urbanization affects the interactions between humans, greenspaces, wildlife and the built environment. Furthermore, it opens questions around the possibilities for urban habitats and landscapes to support the enhancement of biodiversity, energy conservation, food security, public health and well-being.

This module explores the ecology and planning of urban areas and landscapes. We will discuss advanced concepts in urban ecology including: altered dispersal and colonization dynamics of urban plant and animal communities; effects of environmental stressors on plant and animal traits and their interactions; soil and substrate heterogeneity in community dynamics, ecosystem structure and function; water and energy flows in urban food production; changes in cultural ecosystem services and human values; and the spatial analysis of dynamic urban land use. The students will utilize methodological approaches in urban ecology research including collecting and analyzing biodiversity data, structure and functions of greenspaces data, analyzing remotely sensed spatial data, and harnessing citizen science and social media data.

We will emphasize the importance of understanding and analyzing how dynamic ecological and social forces shape urban ecosystems and the provision of ecosystem services. The module will benefit students interested in urban ecology and conservation science, and those interested in urban planning and urban environmental management.

01.04.2023: Open Position!

We are looking for a system modeler to help us in developing an overarching system model integrating all the SP's and SET approach of our RTG-UGI. Apply now if you are interested!

We are looking forward to your application!

01.02.2023: New PhD Leila has started

Within the SP8: Urban Trees, the new PhD Leila Parhizgar has started! We wish her a wonderful time at our RTG-UGI and fruitful research. All the best to Martin Honold with his new PhD position at the chair of forest growth at TUM.

01.01.2023: Open Position!

The SP9: Health and Disease is looking for a new PhD to conduct the research work. Apply now here if you are interested!

01.12.2022: New Post-Doc Mohammad has started

We warmly welcome our new post-doctoral researcher, Dr. Mohammad Rahman, to our RTG-UGI team! He will continue the work of Zbig to implement the SET-approach within the clusters and coordinates the common goal of an overarching system model that implements all SP's results. Zbigniew Grabowski will continue to be a Mercator Fellow within our RTG.

05. & 06.12.2022: Workshop on Systems Modeling

The RTG-UGI held a joint workshop on systems modeling and systems thinking on December 05 and 06 at TUM Arcisstraße. PI's Gebhard Wulfhorst and Hans Pretzsch gave the participants an introduction to the topic, followed by interactive working groups and joint discussions on the variables and indicators of a holistic model for the RTG-UGI. The workshop showed us the basic principles of systems modeling, and we will continue to explore how we can translate the RTG's diverse research into a common model.

In the evening of December 05, we enjoyed some Christmas spirit at the Christkindlmarkt and celebrated the first successful year! 

We thank everyone for their participation and the great workshop!

26.09.2023: Joint Summer Festival

On September 26, we held a joint summer party for all RTG-UGI members and staff. Thank you very much for the nice evening with lots of delicious food and drinks!

26.09.2022: PhD Research Proposal Presentation

On September 26, the members of the RTG-UGI met in Freising-Weihenstephan to jointly discuss the research goals of the individual doctoral students. For this purpose, each PhD presented his or her research project in detail. Thank you very much for this exciting day with many insights into the everyday research life of the PhDs. 

22. & 23.09.2022: Course on Good Scientific Practice

All doctoral students attended a course on good scientific practice given by Dr. Andrea Kliewer on September 22 and 23. 

02. & 03.06.2022: Kick-off of our RTG-UGI!

On June 02 & 03 we met for a joint kick-off event at the Oskar-von-Miller-Forum Munich to celebrate the start of our RTG-UGI. After introductory words by spokesperson Stephan Pauleit, coordinator Astrid Reischl and qualification manager Monika Egerer, the questions and goals of the RTG were discussed together. The doctoral students met for their first doctoral forum and the next steps for the coming months were determined.

In the evening of June 02, PI Johannes Kollmann gave a short guided tour of the surrounding area, followed by dinner together in the beautiful beer garden at the Chinese Tower in Munich's English Garden. Many thanks to all participants, speakers and organizers.

04.04.2022: Welcome Meeting

In a short, digital welcome meeting, all RTG-UGI members and associates got to know each other and introduced themselves. Spokesperson Stephan Pauleit welcomed everyone and described the goals of the RTG-UGI and the next steps. The kick-off event will take place in Munich at the beginning of June. Further information will follow.

01.04.2022: Official Start of our RTG-UGI!

Finally, our RTG-UGI has officially started! We wish everyone a successful first project phase with lots of exciting research and events.

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