Scientific leadership through networks

Climate change and its impact upon our society are among the most pressing topics currently being addressed by the scientific community. The National Centre of Competence in Research on Climate (NCCR Climate), which is based in Bern, Switzerland, was established in 2001 with the aim of contributing substantially towards this concern. Our aim is to better understand the climate system by carrying out interdisciplinary research on its variability and its potential for change. The NCCR Climate is a scientific network bringing together 130 researchers from 8 partner institutions, including the University of Bern and ETH Zurich, both prominent climate research institutions. Our research encompasses the reconstruction of past climate, the development of procedures for seasonal forecasting, the study of key physical, chemical and ecological processes, and the impact of climate risks on the economy and society. Concerted research in these four areas is designed to develop along three major cross-cutting themes: the hydrological cycle, extreme events, the assessment of climate risks, and the management of climate risks.

Additional aims of the programme are education, the transfer of knowledge, and we organise, among other activities, a yearly summer school for young researchers.

The NCCR Climate is currently in its 3rd phase and will end in 2013. An institutional accomplishments of the first two phases of the NCCR Climate is the creation of two permanent research institutions: the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern and the Center for Climate Systems Modeling (C2SM) at ETH Zurich.

Further information about the NCCR Climate can also be found in our presentation.