Prof. Dr. Veronika Eyring - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prizewinner 2021
Earth System Modelling, German Aerospace Center, Oberpfaffenhofen site and University of Bremen
Prof. Dr. Veronika Eyring
© DLR / Universität Bremen
Prof. Dr. Veronika Eyring
© DLR / Universität Bremen
Veronika Eyring receives the Leibniz Prize because she has made a significant contribution to improving the understanding and accuracy of climate predictions through process-oriented modelling and model evaluation. Her research originally related to assessing the impact of ship emissions on atmospheric composition, climate and human health, and she expanded this to include Earth system and climate modelling. More recently, she has focused on developing innovative methods to improve the predictive power of the models. As part of a large international research network, Eyring is leading the development of the so-called Earth System Model Evaluation Tool, which allows climate models to be compared – a decisive step towards reducing uncertainties in predictions of future climate development. Eyring also contributes her findings as coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Assessment Report on “Human Impact on the Climate System”.
Veronika Eyring received her doctorate from the University of Bremen in 1999 and habilitated there in 2008 in environmental physics as part of a Helmholtz Young Investigators Group. From 2000 onwards she was also a research associate at the DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics. This was followed by visiting professorships and stays at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, USA, and an honorary visiting professorship at the University of Exeter, UK. In 2017, Eyring was appointed jointly by the University of Bremen in conjunction with DLR as Professor of Climate Modelling at the Institute of Environmental Physics. Since 2018, she has also headed the Earth System Model Evaluation and Analysis Department at DLR.