Three new research groups for young scientists at HU
Three main areas of research: Dr Danai Papageorgiou analyses power among animals, Dr Katrin Martens monitors socio-ecological processes, and Dr Thilo Wellmann develops monitoring tools for green municipal infrastructure.
Three new research groups are working at Humboldt University in Berlin (HU). The group led by behavioral biologist Dr. Danai Papageorgiou, “Maintaining the Balance of Power in Animal Societies,” is being established at the Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences and is funded by the Emmy Noether Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Also based at the Thaer-Institute is the junior research group led by agricultural economist Dr. Katrin Martens, “Co-creative, resilient urban-rural regions – jointly understanding, integrating, and managing socio-ecological transformation processes in energy regions.” It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), as is the group “Urban Landscapes: Development of a municipal monitoring system for green infrastructure in the city and for nature-based solutions” led by Dr. Thilo Wellmann at the Institute of Geography.
1. Maintaining the balance of power in animal societies
Living in groups protects animals from danger and leads to successful reproduction. However, individual group members secure better access to resources through dominant behavior. How different animal societies regulate and balance this unequal distribution of power has hardly been researched to date and is the focus of the junior research group led by Dr. Danai Papageorgiou.
Using freely available long-term data, the researchers are investigating how and when two or more animals - birds or mammals - join forces within a group to attack a dominant, higher-ranking individual. The research includes experiments conducted with the help of robotic fish in aquariums at Humboldt-Universität. The aim is to test whether a school of Trinidad guppies makes collective decisions in the presence of a dominant robotic fish – and becomes more independent over time.
With the help of drones, deep learning, and the collection of genetic data, the project also investigates the behavior of male bottlenose dolphins living in the wild in the Indo-Pacific. The focus is on their cooperation in mating with females in heat, their movement patterns, social interactions, and reproductive success.
The results of the subprojects are summarized using computer modeling and allow conclusions to be drawn about how compensatory behavior contributes to the balance of power in animal societies.
Starting in March 2026, Danai Papageorgiou will receive six years of funding from the Emmy Noether Program of the DFG amounting to about € 1.9 Million. The behavioral biologist is also participating in Germany’s Global Minds Initiative, launched by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. She cooperates with researchers at the University of Bristol (United Kingdom), the Universität Zürich (UZH, Switzerland), and the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin.
Contact
Dr Danai Papageorgiou
Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences at HU
Email: danai.papageorgiou☞ Please insert an @ at this point ☜proton☞ Please insert a period at this pointme
2. KoReGio100: Co-creative, resilient urban-rural regions: jointly understanding, integrating and managing socio-ecological tranformation processes in energy regions
Key actors in the northern German cities of Heide, Rendsburg, Neumünster, and Kiel, as well as surrounding communities, are currently launching the “Clean Energy Valley” initiative in Schleswig-Holstein for their socio-ecological transformation. The region in northern Germany wants to become a global economic powerhouse for the further processing of renewable energies in Europe.
In order to support this process, the KoReGio100 project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space with approximately € 1.5 million, is setting up a real-world laboratory. The aim is to establish a “co-creative region” as a new form of governance. Civil society and business are to be more closely involved in regional developments in order to develop more sustainable solutions and save resources in the long term.
Researchers at HU, in cooperation with the the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V. and Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, are analyzing regional ecological limits and developing formats for conflict management. In the subproject “Social Innovation Capacity,” The group at HU is investigating how different actors can work together more effectively. The questions and findings are being developed and tested together with local actors in the real-world laboratory.
The five-year project also aims to provide other urban-rural regions in Germany and Europe with guidelines on how complex socio-ecological transformation processes can be designed, steered, and managed in the long term with the participation of citizens and businesses.
3. Resilient Urban Landscapes: Developing a Municipal Monitoring System for Nature-Based Solutions in Cities
Climate change and biodiversity loss pose major challenges for local authorities in Germany. Local trends such as increasing land consumption are exacerbating the situation. Both require local authorities to transform themselves towards greater sustainability and resilience – for example, by introducing nature-based solutions such as green roofs, water-permeable pavements, urban forests, and exposed rivers.
To support municipalities in increasing local biodiversity and improving quality of life, the research group “Resilient Urban Landscapes in Global Change” at HU is working with environmental policy stakeholders to develop a novel monitoring system.
This is based primarily on data from satellite images and is intended to provide small and medium-sized municipalities in particular with accessible, understandable, and practical information throughout Germany. This includes, for example, drought damage to street trees, the loss of valuable garden areas or developments in the field of environmental justice — i.e., the connection between socio-economic reality and environmental quality. The data serves to enable sustainable decisions to be made and to make the local environment more resilient and equitable.
The project will receive approximately € 1.86 million in funding from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space, running from November 2025 to October 2030. The project partners areKommbio-Kommunen für Biologische Vielfalt e.V, and Biologische Station Westliches Ruhrgebiet e.V..
