Uni Göttingen

What Uni Göttingen does

The Abteilung Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning) was an academic research and teaching unit within the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, a public research university founded in 1737 under the legal supervision of the state of Lower Saxony. The department operated under Prof. Dr. Renate Bürger-Arndt from March 1995 until her retirement in September 2016, after which it was led on an interim basis by Dr. B. Gehlken (2016–2017) and Dr. J. Schaub (2017–2018). The university's own website now designates it as a former department. Following a 2007 faculty restructuring, the unit was established as its own department at the Burckhardt Institute.

The department's functional focus was education and research in forest nature conservation, ecosystem services assessment, vegetation science, visitor monitoring in protected areas, and landscape planning. Teaching was delivered through Bachelor and Master programs in Forest Sciences (B.Sc./M.Sc.) with a forest nature conservation specialization, supplemented by interdisciplinary offerings for students in the agricultural, biological, and geoscience faculties. Research methods centred on GIS-based analysis, remote sensing, vegetation mapping, ecosystem services valuation (including cultural ecosystem services), and the development of the BEST practice visitor monitoring framework adopted by German national parks. Field research extended from Central European forests into tropical study areas, with documented projects in Cameroon.

As a unit of a public German university, the department generated no commercial revenue. Funding flowed from state education appropriations (Lower Saxony), minimal public university tuition fees, and external research grants from bodies including the Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN), the Federal Ministry for the Environment, EU programs, and conservation NGOs such as the WWF. Distribution occurred entirely through university channels — admissions, lectures, seminars, and field excursions — with no commercial go-to-market motion. The unit produced dozens of dissertations, Master theses, and peer-reviewed publications before ceasing active operations after 2018.

Name

Uni Göttingen

Legal name

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Website

https://naturschutz.uni-goettingen.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1737

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The former Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen was an academic research and teaching unit specializing in forest conservation, ecosystem services, and visitor monitoring, operating from 1995 to 2018.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Research Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (11531), Landscape Architectural Services (54132), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Public Lands Administration (State/National Forests) (BPAIAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ecological Restoration Planning & Monitoring (Habitat, Wetland, Stream) (EUAHAHAF), Parks, Recreation & Protected Areas Administration (BPAIAMAH), Site Assessment, Planning & Permitting (Reforestation Plans) (AFAMACAC)

Keywords

• Forest nature conservation
• Ecosystem services research
• Landscape planning education
• Vegetation science
• Visitor monitoring protected areas

Headquarters

HQ city

Göttingen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Public University Funding: As a department of Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, funding comes from German federal and state government education funding, representing the standard model for public university departments.
2. Research Grants and Contracts: External research funding from German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), Federal Ministry for the Environment, EU programs, and other research institutions for specific research projects.
3. Student Tuition: German public universities generally have low or no tuition fees for students.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen operated as an academic research and teaching unit within the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology. It offered Bachelor and Master-level education in forest sciences with specialization in forest nature conservation, and conducted research in forest conservation, ecosystem services assessment, visitor monitoring in protected areas, vegetation science, and landscape planning in both Central European and tropical contexts.

Product overview

The Abteilung Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management) at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen is an academic research and teaching department, not a commercial product company. The department offers educational programs in forest sciences and forest ecology, including Bachelor and Master level courses, and conducts research in areas such as forest nature conservation, ecosystem services, visitor monitoring in protected areas, and landscape planning. The department was led by Prof. Dr. Renate Bürger-Arndt from 1995 to 2016 and is affiliated with the Burckhardt-Institute at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• B.Sc. Forest Sciences Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Dozens of completed dissertations and Master theses advancing forest conservation science
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Burckhardt-Institut der Fakultät für Forstwissenschaften und WaldökologiecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007The department became integrated into the Burckhardt-Institut following the restructuring of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology in 2007, where it operates as its own department focused on nature conservation and landscape planning.
• Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN) - Federal Agency for Nature ConservationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple research collaborations and publications produced for the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, including studies on ecosystem services, visitor monitoring in protected areas, and nature conservation policy.
• WWF (World Wildlife Fund)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on elephant monitoring in Northern Cameroon (2000), mangrove forest protection project on Cameroon's coasts, and sacred forests research project in Western Cameroon (2009-2013).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU): Major Austrian life-sciences university with strong programs in forest sciences, nature conservation, and landscape planning — directly comparable as a Central European academic hub in the same discipline.
• WSL – Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research: Swiss federal research institute conducting applied research on forest ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Closely comparable mission and methodology profile for nature conservation and landscape research at a public-research institute.
• TU Dresden – Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology: German university faculty offering forestry and forest ecology programs with active research in nature conservation, biodiversity, and forest management — a peer academic unit within the same German university system.
• BOKU Vienna – Institute of Forest Ecology: Austrian university institute conducting research and teaching in forest ecology, ecosystem services, and nature conservation — comparable academic profile to the Göttingen department in the German-speaking forestry research community.
• Thünen Institute: Germany's federal research institute for forests, fisheries, and rural areas. Directly comparable as a publicly funded research organization working on sustainable forest management, forest ecology, and ecosystem services with national-policy linkages.
• University of Freiburg – Chair of Forest Ecology and Forest Inventory: German university group teaching forest sciences and conducting research on forest ecosystems, vegetation science, and conservation — directly comparable as a single-chair academic research group in forest nature conservation.

Emerging players

• Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ): Large German research centre covering ecological research, biodiversity, and ecosystem services with a stronger interdisciplinary and technological orientation than the Göttingen department — overlapping research themes at a different scale.

Regional players

• Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke): Finland's national research institute for forestry and natural resources, working on forest biodiversity, ecosystem services, and sustainable forest management. Comparable research portfolio but operates in a Nordic rather than Central European policy environment.

Broad incumbents

• Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN): Germany's federal agency for nature conservation. Functions as both a partner and a broad institutional incumbent in the same policy-research ecosystem — it commissions much of the kind of conservation research the Göttingen department produced.

Others

• Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry: Adjacent basic-research institute studying biogeochemical cycles in forests and ecosystems. Thematically related ecosystem research, though oriented toward process-level science rather than conservation policy and landscape planning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uni-g%C3%B6ttingen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Uni Göttingen