Seminar Series

The Seminar Series, organised by OCCR research groups, is public and open to all interested parties.

Paper of the month

Global wetland loss

OCCR member Benjamin Stocker is one of the authors of the article "Extensive global wetland loss over the past three centuries", which was recently published in Nature. The study concludes that the loss of wetlands has been drastic in Europe, the United States, and China. But when considering global totals, a smaller fraction of wetlands has been lost than previously thought – giving conservation efforts a fresh chance of protecting remaining wetlands and preserve their important role for biodiversity, the water and the carbon cycle.

Postdocs "Regional Climate Modelling", “Climate Federalism”, and “Social tipping points and the climate challenge”

The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research invites applications for three Postdoc positions opening September 01, 2023.

The unlikely journey of an Indonesian PhD student to Bern

23 February 2023

Adrianus Damanik is a geology PhD student at the Oeschger Centre - and because of his Indonesian origins, he is an important bridge builder in a project on climate reconstruction from lake sediments in his home country.

Enthusiasm and success the second time around

30 January 2023

Costanza Fileccia graduated second best in her class at the Graduate School of Climate Sciences and was awarded a "2022 Oeschger Young Scientist's Prize". Now she’s conducting research on the effects of climate change on crops.

Ready for the energy transition

30 January 2023

Ursina Dorer graduated at the top of her class at the Graduate School of Climate Sciences and won a “2022 Oeschger Young Scientist’s Prize” for her achievement.
Today she helps power a solar energy company.

Fighting for a “crazy” project

23 January 2023

For an ambitious research project, Chinese environmental scientist Chuxian Li has found the ideal environment at the Oeschger Centre. She wants to determine the role of the Southern Ocean in the carbon cycle.

Climate records from the top of the world

7 December 2022

OCCR member Hendrik Vogel is the PI of a project which has been awarded an SNSF Sinergia grant. The project is entitled: “Deep biosphere-geosphere interactions at the top of the world (DIGESTED): An interdisciplinary approach to interpret a Myr climate record from Lake Nam Co, Tibetan Plateau”. SNSF Synergia Grants are highly coveted and are endowed with approx. 3 million Swiss Francs.

OCCR research highlighted at Dies academicus

3 December 2022

OCCR researchers Ana Vicedo (Climate Change and Health group) and Moritz Burger (Climatology group) were the protagonists of a video on current high-profile research created for the Dies academicus, the annual ceremony at which the University of Bern celebrates its foundation in 1834.

OCCR researchers advise Human Rights Court

5 December 2022

A group of elderly women criticises Switzerland for not doing enough to combat climate change. They are taking their complaint to the European Court of Human Rights. Researchers from the OCCR are contributing their expertise to this case, which is attracting a great deal of international attention.

Conquering the world with curiosity

21 November 2022

Madhav Thakur, a terrestrial ecology professor, wants to know how climate change affects ecosystems. To track down winner and loser species, he is currently launching a field experiment that is unique worldwide.

Extreme humid heat and health

15 November 2022

OCCR member Ana Vicedo has been awarded an SNSF Starting Grant. Her project “Advancing research on extreme humid heat and health” is one of the winners among 445 applications submitted. The SNSF Starting Grant goes to researchers who want to carry out an independent project in Switzerland with their own team. Ana Vicedo’s project is supported with CHF 1,8 Million.

Charting Antarctic Ice Sheet evolution

15 November 2022

OCCR member Johannes Sutter has been awarded an SNSF Starting Grant. His project "Charting Antarctic Ice Sheet evolution via the ice sheet’s internal stratigraphy" is one of the winners among 445 applications submitted. The SNSF Starting Grant goes to researchers who want to carry out an independent project in Switzerland with their own team. Johannes Suter's project is supported with CHF 1,8 Million.

Inclusive decision-making

14 November 2022

OCCR Vice-President Karin Ingold is one of the authors of "10 New Findings of Climate Science". This synthesis for policy and society is regularly produced by three global research platforms and was presented at COP27 in Sharm El Sheik. Karin Ingold co-authored the chapter on decision-making, which states, among other things: "Inclusive and empowering governance is crucial to enable climate-resilient development."

2022 was a normal summer in the 21st century

29 September 2022

Heat, drought, danger of forest fires - conditions like those in 2022 will soon become the norm with climate change. The summer of 2022 will even be one of the cooler summers of the 21st century if we fail in significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades. This is what OCCR researchers write in an additional chapter of the booklet "Heat and Dry Summers in Switzerland", which has just been published.

“A race against time”

1 October 2022

OCCR member Margit Schwikowski chairs the Organizing Committee for
the International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) Conference which takes place from 2 to 7 October 2022 in the Swiss resort Crans-Montana. The theme of the conference is Ice Core Science at the three Poles. “Our field of research faces a massive problem: more and more glaciers worldwide are melting and the melt-water percolating into them is destroying all embedded signals locked in there for many thousands of years”, she said in an interview. “It is a race against time.”

Research competition for young people on environmental issues

24 June 2022

As a scientific partner, the OCCR, together with the environmental education organisation GLOBE Switzerland, organised the largest research competition for young people in Switzerland to date. 1,400 participants from all parts of Switzerland took part. Thematically, the GLOBE Contest was limited to the areas of biodiversity, climate change, soil, and water quality. The winners of the competition were chosen at a Young People's Environmental Conference at the University of Bern.

Lead on Climate Policy for the G7

27 June 2022

In an op-ed piece in the journal Issues in Science and Technology of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine OCCR President Thomas Stocker calls on the G7 countries to take the lead in climate policy: "They have the chance to lead the implementation of measures, avoiding major disruptions and conflicts that are sure to come with further heating."

Tufted grass, bush crickets and climate change

16 May 2022

Based in Bern, Suz Everingham coordinates a global research network called the
Bug-Network. This is the unusual story of a young biologist who has moved from the ocean in Australia to the River Aare.

To the news archive.