Professor Nils Goseberg receives AXA IM Research Award Award for the development of nature-based solutions for coastal protection

Professor Nils Goseberg, Director of the Leichtweiß Institute for Hydraulic Engineering at TU Braunschweig, has received the AXA IM Research Award for his research into coastal protection in the context of climate change. The theme of this year’s award was “Greening the Blue Economy” and focused on work in the field of marine energy and infrastructure. This is the fourth year that AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) and the AXA Research Fund have awarded the €80,000 prize to scientists from around the world.

Professor Nils Goseberg, Director of the Leichtweiß Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management. Photo credits: Nils Goseberg/TU Braunschweig

The AXA IM Research Award recognises Professor Nils Goseberg’s research into developing nature-based solutions to protect coastlines from extreme weather events and rising sea levels caused by global warming. With his research team at the Leichtweiß-Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources, he is investigating how vegetated dunes can improve the safety and resilience of coastal areas and affected regions.

Experiments in the Large Wave Flume

“My research group uses engineering methods to integrate the properties of natural systems into coastal protection.This is an important contribution to bridging the gap between nature and the necessary technical systems,” says Professor Nils Goseberg. ”The next step will be to investigate how vegetated dunes respond to extreme coastal water levels and waves. The funding provided by the award will enable us to carry out further experiments in the Large Wave Flume at the Coastal Research Centre.”

Julia d’Astorg, Director of the AXA Research Fund: “Professor Goseberg’s research into developing sustainable solutions for coastal protection and mitigating the effects of natural disasters is an example of the kind of science the AXA Research Fund supports: innovative scientific research with a tangible impact on both science and societal progress through risk reduction.”