The Josef Wund Foundation from Stuttgart is supporting water research in Baden-Württemberg with €40,000. The funding will support three scientific workshops hosted by the Universities of Freiburg, Karlsruhe (KIT), and Stuttgart, aimed at connecting early-career researchers and generating new research momentum.

Foundation Board Member Christoph Palm: Launch of Long-Term Support for Scientific Collaboration within the Baden-Württemberg Water Research Network

Minister of Science Petra Olschowski: An Important Contribution to Baden-Württemberg as a Research Hub

“The Josef Wund Foundation is committed to supporting water research in Baden-Württemberg in the years ahead. We see these workshops as the starting point for long-term support of scientific collaboration within the Baden-Württemberg Water Research Network,” said Christoph Palm, Member of the Foundation Board, in Stuttgart. The workshop format, with its strong practical focus, is particularly well suited to fostering the exchange of ideas and knowledge across institutions and disciplines, ultimately paving the way for entirely new research approaches.

Minister of Science Petra Olschowski described the funding as an important contribution to Baden-Württemberg’s position as a leading research location: “Water is a vital resource in every region of the world, and the impacts of climate change are especially evident in this area. Baden-Württemberg is already experiencing these effects through droughts, heavy rainfall, and increasing stress on water bodies. This makes strong research networks and outstanding scientific work all the more important to develop solutions for protecting drinking water, ecosystems, and critical infrastructure. I sincerely thank the Josef Wund Foundation for its outstanding commitment to this field and, in particular, for its long-term support of the next generation of researchers.”

The funded projects cover a broad range of current and highly relevant research topics.

The funded projects:

● A workshop hosted by the University of Freiburg, in collaboration with KIT Karlsruhe, focuses on hail research. It aims to bring together early-career researchers from both institutions and promote synergies in joint research activities.

● A workshop led by KIT Karlsruhe, involving among others the Universities of Freiburg and Heidelberg, addresses the impacts of flash droughts—drought events that develop and intensify extremely rapidly. The goal is to connect early-career researchers from different disciplines and advance research in this important field.

● The University of Stuttgart, together with Biberach University of Applied Sciences, is organizing a workshop on trace substances in combined sewer overflows. These are overflow points in sewer systems where, during periods of heavy rainfall, untreated mixtures of wastewater and stormwater are discharged directly into rivers and lakes, potentially causing sudden pollution events.

The Baden-Württemberg Water Research Network, which brings together numerous universities and research institutions across the state and is coordinated through an office at KIT, received funding from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg between 2015 and 2021. Its key research areas include water quality and material cycles, natural hazards and extreme events, ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as water and land-use governance. The Josef Wund Foundation intends to provide long-term support for the network in the years ahead.

Experts have warned for years about the growing risk of global water scarcity. In Germany, too, water resources are increasingly under pressure due to climate change and pollution from harmful substances. Studies conducted as part of the Baden-Württemberg State Government’s Water Supply Master Plan indicate that by 2050, more than half of the municipalities in the state may be unable to meet peak drinking water demand. Water supply and wastewater management are considered critical infrastructure in Germany and are essential to the functioning of society.