AQUALINK

Aqualink is an interdisciplinary doctoral training and research programme focusing on aquatic boundaries and linkages in a changing environment. Over a 3-year period, doctoral candidates will receive training towards accomplishing an original doctoral thesis and international publications on the aforementioned topics. Two Leibniz institutes (Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, IGB, and the Leibniz Centre of Agricultural Landscape Research, ZALF) and three international partners (University of Aberdeen, Eawag, University of Southern Denmark) will provide enabling and complementary research environments, mobility schemes and support structures and assistance, all aimed at developing the doctoral candidates' skill set.

Aqualink is structured in following complementary 8 PhD projects:

Boundaries between aquatic and terrestrial systems (T1)

1. Hydraulically and temperature controlled exchange between surface water and groundwater
2. Regime dynamics of  aquatic-terrestrial boundaries  and their changes
3. Climate change and the ecohydrology of connections between landscapes and riverscapes

Internal boundaries in aquatic systems Boundaries (T2)

4. Influences of water level fluctuations on sediment water interactions
5. Gas exchange across aquatic boundaries
6. Effects of groundwater seepage on benthic primary producers and their nutrient retention in lakes

Revitalisation and management (T3)

7. Influence of river restoration on groundwater recharge
8. Lake Management under changing water levels

PhD students:

Cécile Périllon             Groundwater seepage influences the development of benthic primary producers and their effect on nutrient retention in oligotrophic lakes
Franziska Pöschke     Groundwater discharge to Lake Stechlin: Hydrology and biogeochemistry
Christian Lehr              Regime dynamics of  aquatic-terrestrial boundaries and their changes
Maximillian Lau            Influences of water-level fluctuations on sediment‑water‑interactions
Nina Ullrich                  Gas exchange across aquatic boundaries
Anna-Marie Klamt        Sediment biogeochemistry and lake management under changing water levels
Anne Marie Kurth         Effect of river restoration on groundwater recharge
Maria Blumstock         Connectivity and storage in upland catchments