The research training group “Natural hazards and risks in a changing world (NatRiskChange)” aims to foster the scientific knowledge in the field of natural hazards and climate change. The central goal of NatRiskChange is to pursue the development of methods to improve hazard and risk analysis and quantification based on the transient, non-stationary nature of hazards and risks in response to changing natural and anthropogenically altered components of the Earth system. Key scientific aims are the development, testing, and pilot application of studies on identification, quantification (mechanisms) and prediction of transient natural hazards and associated risks. NatRiskChange started on October 1st 2015 and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG.

The educational goals of NatRiskChange are to train young researchers in both an interdisciplinary and multi-methodological manner, which will enable them to explore the complex makeup of natural hazards and risks in a changing world from different perspectives. The qualification concept and the research program are mutually complementary. The study program is anchored in the broad and diverse expertise of the participating institutions in Potsdam and Berlin in the relevant scientific fields. NatRiskChange will also actively foster the mobility of the young researchers and introduce new forms of interactions such as joint work in task force exercises. Task force exercises are formed in response to recent damaging events or natural disasters. These task forces will analyze and investigate these events jointly under real-time conditions.

The total teaching program offered to PhD students of Nat­RiskChange comprises 30 Credit Points (ECTS), which are sub-divided into blocks of “lecture modules” (18 ECTS), soft skill courses (6 ECTS) and applied teaching by conducting project-oriented works within the “task force exercises” (6 ECTS).