As an international competence centre for environmental sciences, the UFZ investigates interrelationships between humans and nature under the influence of global change.

They examine issues relating to future land use, the preservation of biological diversity and of ecosystem services, the sustainable management of soil and water resources and the effect of chemicals on humans and the environment – from the level of single cells and organisms up to the scale of regions.

The work of the UFZ is characterised by integrated environmental research that overcomes disciplinary boundaries between the natural and social sciences (interdisciplinarity) and brings together decision-makers from business, government and society (transdisciplinarity).

The goal of UFZ research is to identify ways in which fundamental natural resources can be used sustainably for the well-being of humans and the environment.

[2] 18 natural/engineering sciences and medical/biological research centres with about 44,000 employees (as of July 2022) and an annual budget of over 5.8 billion euros (as of June 2022) came together to create the association.

The UFZ carries out its research in one of six research fields of the Helmholtz Association: Earth and Environment The UFZ cooperates and works with a large number of government agencies, research facilities and organisations at a national and international level (including UNEP, EU, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),[3] Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES),[4] the Umweltbundesamt (UBA),[5] the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR),[6] and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)[7]).