Participants of the Leibniz Environment and Development Symposium (LEADS) 2017 | Photo: IGZ

04.10.17 | From now on, interested scientists can submit published and unpublished publications for the second Leibniz Environment and Development Symposium (LEADS), which will take place in Berlin from 29 to 30 January 2018.

The organisers invite submissions of original and unpublished research papers, with a preference for empirical papers addressing questions at the intersection of socio-economic and ecological questions of global relevance. Submissions by early career researchers (those studying for a PhD or within five years of completion of their PhD) and from researchers based in the Global South are especially encouraged to submit their papers by 15 October 2017.

About the Leibniz Environment and Development Symposium (LEADS):

Global societal challenges such as achieving food security for all, decreasing social inequalities, preventing and overcoming violent conflict and maintaining biodiversity necessarily require strong inter-disciplinary and international research collaboration.

Research at the interface of the environment and development is often hampered by traditional academic boundaries. New ideas and fresh approaches are required to understand such challenges and for research to help overcome them. Young researchers in particular can play a key role in doing so.

To address these exciting research challenges and to help overcome these structural barriers within academia, the five German research institutes ATB (Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy), GIGA (German Institute of Global and Area Studies), IGZ (Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops), ZALF (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research) and ZMT (Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research) have established the Leibniz Environment and Development Symposium (LEADS). The aim of LEADS is to foster interdisciplinary and international research collaboration dealing with global societal challenges among early career researchers and senior scholars.

The two-day conference aims at strengthening interdisciplinary and international cooperation on global social issues between young researchers and established scientists. As such LEADS also understands itself as a contribution by the German research community to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations.

Please send your completed paper (in English) and a short CV in PDF format by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 15 October 2017.

For further information, please check the PDF-file or visit www.igzev.de/leads2018 or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Academic Committee:
Tilman Brück (IGZ), Philipp Grundmann (ATB), Anna-Katharina Hornidge (ZMT), Kerstin Nolte (GIGA), Lasse Loft (ZALF) and Achim Schlüter (ZMT)

Organizing Committee:
Tilman Brück (IGZ) and Marina Korn (IGZ)