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Research

On these pages you find comprehensive details on the interdisciplinary research of the faculty 09 - Agricultural Sciences, Nutritional Sciences, and Environmental Management in the area of Applied Life Sciences

Research Focus Faculty 09

The department represents the following six key areas in the fields of both teaching and research:

  1. Within Agricultural Sciences, the department pursues the goal of contributing to the further development of healthy, high-yielding crops that are resistant to stress, as well as high-performance, healthy livestock in animal-friendly husbandry practices, through the optimization of production processes and through breeding and biotechnical methods and complementary economic research. This will create the conditions for sustainable global food production and the production of high-quality and healthy food.
  2. The research focus of Environment and Resource Management sets itself the goal of achieving sustainable use of biotic and abiotic resources. A special focus is on the analysis of the effects of climate and land use changes on processes and functions of natural ecosystems and agricultural landscapes.
  3. Nutritional Sciences analyze the composition and effects of food. They define biochemical and physiological mechanisms by which nutritional factors promote health and cause disease. One focus is on primary prevention of malnutrition-associated diseases such as metabolic syndrome and premature aging.  In addition, nutritional adaptations are evaluated in the context of secondary and tertiary prevention. In addition to epidemiological and intervention studies in humans, analytical, molecular, cellular and animal studies are used. There are close scientific interactions with the Departments 08 (Biology and Chemistry), 10 (Veterinary Medicine) and 11 (Medicine).
  4. Supply Management and Consumer Research are being expanded as key topics of the department. On the one hand, the development of needs-based supply and consulting concepts for diverse consumer and target groups is gaining strongly in importance against the background of demographic change, climate change and technological developments; on the other hand, issues of securing and promoting healthy nutrition and lifestyles are being addressed.
  5. In Agricultural and Food Economics, instruments for the formation and management of companies and organizations are developed, individual decision-making behavior and the functioning of markets are studied, and the effects of economic policy interventions on the agricultural and food economy are analyzed. These research and teaching activities contribute to providing consumers with a high-quality and safe supply of food and renewable resources and to shaping the social framework for a sustainable agricultural and food system in a knowledge-based and future-oriented manner.
  6. Another innovative field of research is the Insect Biotechnology: Scientists of the Faculty lead the LOEWE Center for Insect Biotechnology & Bioresources at the Justus Liebig-University Giessen (ohne Bindestrich), in which besides the JLU (lead) the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) and the Fraunhofer IME with the institute section Bioresources are involved at the location Giessen. The object of research is the development of organisms as biological resources for new lead structures and the development of innovative strategies for their application in medicine, plant protection and industrial biotechnology. Insect biotechnology is a relatively young, globally prospering discipline with high value-added potential, in which the Institute for Insect Biotechnology at JLU has taken on a pioneering role through science and teaching. The professorships are both involved in the Bachelor program Renewable Resources and Bioresources and coordinate the Master program Insect Biotechnology & Bioresources.