Core Facility Environmental Analytics

• Subject Area: Soil Sciences ; Forestry ; Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management ; Physical Geography
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 445679673

The challenges of sustainable development require answers to complex environmental problems and research topics as climate change, clean water availability, green materials for a bio-based industry and loss in biodiversity. The huge progress in the development of analytical techniques offers large opportunities solving these problems. However, these deve¬lop¬ments are accompanied by high degree of specialization and harbor the risk of severe fragmentation of the different disciplines of environmental sciences. Furthermore, costs for run¬ning analytical devices are continuously increasing. A Core Facility (CF) ‘Environmental Analytics’ should resolve the large fragmentation of analytical techniques and instruments at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at TU Dresden (TUD) by improving the availability and accessibility of modern instru¬ments to scientists of TUD and their external partners. The intended CF ‘Environmental Analytics’ will comprise highly innovative and complex instruments to (i) analyze a broad range of stable isotopes in different matrices for process identification, (ii) use spectroscopic methods for the identification of molecular structures in organic substances, and (iii) Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) for studying micro- and nanostructures. These core instruments are complemented by a broad range of supportive analytical techniques representing the huge potential for integrative research projects in environmental sciences. Integrative data analysis will be an additional component of the intended CF. In this project, a management system will be developed allowing an easy access and efficient shared use of all instruments in a cost effective way as the precondition for synergetic interdisciplinary research of scientists from different places and disciplines. Establishing this CF means the development of new standards in quality of analytical capabilities in environmental sciences at TUD. The CF goes beyond offering analytical tools. Scientific advice will be given to the users of the CF to select the most appropriate combination of analytical methods. Support will be offered for integrative interpretation of complex environmental data. Furthermore, training will be provided for advanced students and young researchers. This intended CF will foster and in¬spire interdisciplinary research at the forefront of environmental sciences and will enhance the impact of the different disciplines in¬volved at TUD. External partners will get more oppor¬tu¬nities for successful colla¬boration with partners at TUD potentially resulting in generation of new research ideas and their implemen¬ta¬tion in integrative scien¬tific projects. Thus, a CF ‘Environ¬mental Ana¬lytics’ will give scientifically excellent answers to the complex environmental problems that challenge our society.

• DFG Programme: Core Facilities
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Dresden
• Leader: Professor Dr. Karsten Kalbitz
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Michael Zech