Dr. Nils Goseberg wins the AXA IM Research Award for his work on coastal zone protection in the face of climate change

• The AXA IM Research Award selection committee has decided to award the 2024 edition to Dr. Nils Goseberg, from Technische Universität Braunschweig (Germany).
• The AXA IM Research Award, in partnership with the AXA Research Fund, is an essential part of AXA IM’s global Philanthropy programme aiming at empowering sustainable futures.
• Supporting academic research is part of AXA IM’s commitment to biodiversity and natural capital.

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) and the AXA Research Fund¹  are pleased to announce the winner of the fourth edition of the AXA IM Research Award. As part of AXA IM’s global Philanthropy programme, the award aims to reward the work carried out by a researcher in the sustainability field. This year the award focused on ‘greening the blue economy² , with a particular attention to work related to maritime energy and infrastructure.

The selection committee³  has decided to award the 2024 edition of the AXA IM Research Award to Dr. Nils Goseberg, from Technische Universität Braunscheig (Germany). This decision rewards Dr. Goseberg's work in identifying and defining nature-based solutions to protect natural coastlines from severe weather events and rising sea levels induced by global warming. These solutions notably include exploring how vegetated dunes can improve the safety and resilience of coastal areas and the local communities concerned.

Dr. Nils Goseberg will receive €80,000 in recognition of his work and in support of ongoing and future research.

Commenting on the announcement, Marie Bogataj, Global Head of Communications, CSR And ESG Development at AXA IM, said: “We recognise science and research have a key role to play to develop new solutions to help us become more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Climate and Biodiversity are a focus of attention and investment for AXA IM. Dr. Nils Goseberg’s work to protect coastlines is crucial and a good example of the emergence of nature-based solutions to protect and restore biodiversity.”

Julia d’Astorg, Head of the AXA Research Fund, said: “Dr. Goseberg’s research aiming to find sustainable solutions to coastal protection, mitigating the impact of natural disasters, is emblematic of the type of science supported by the AXA Research Fund: innovative scientific research with tangible impacts on both the academic world and societal progress through risk reduction.”

Dr. Nils Goseberg said: “My group uses engineering science to include nature-based features into coastal protection, in a major stride to bridge between nature and necessary technical systems. It’s fantastic to see that our work is so prominently recognised by AXA IM.  The next step of our research aims to analyze how vegetated dunes respond to extreme coastal flows, and the awarded funds will enable us to conduct new experiments on vegetated dunes in the large wave-current flume of the Coastal Research Center⁴  in Germany.”

The AXA IM Research Award is part of AXA IM’s Philanthropy programme which brings together all global and local initiatives focused on the “Empowering Sustainable Futures” thematic and announced in October 2024⁵ . This program aims to help build a more sustainable future through a three-fold approach: climate resilience and inclusion for communities, education for future generations and protecting biodiversity.

For more information on the AXA IM Research Award: AXA IM Research Award | AXA IM Corporate

Biography of Dr. Nils Goseberg

Full Professor Hydromechanics, Coastal and Ocean Engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig

Topic of Research: Solutions to coastal disasters through nature-based solutions

Dr. Nils Goseberg is an internationally recognized expert on coastal and ocean engineering, with a broad focus on topics stretching from coastal structures, coastal natural hazards, ocean renewables, and ecohydraulics, both in urban and rural coastal settings.

His research builds on a strong expertise in experimental and numerical modelling, paired with field-based methods and data-driven approaches. Dr. Goseberg’s group has developed or revitalized unique coastal research facilities in the form of the saltwater wave current flume in Braunschweig and the large wave-current flume in the Coastal Research Center (GWK+), Germany. These facilities are pivotal for research on enhancing resilience of our coasts through developing innovative coastal protection solutions.

He is a global leader in coastal natural hazards, with a strong emphasis on tsunami hazards. In this field, he has an extensive track record, addressing the interaction of extreme flow conditions and urban housing. In 2024, the European Research Council has awarded Dr. Goseberg a Consolidator grant with the title “AngryWaters – Scaling fluid-driven processes: Building Collapse in Extreme Flow Conditions”, in which he will investigate the complex processes of building collapse during extreme flow events.

For more information about Dr. Nils Goseberg, please see: https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/en/lwi/hyku/staff/goseberg

About the AXA Research Fund

The AXA Research Fund is AXA Group’s global scientific philanthropy initiative, launched in 2008 to address the most important issues facing our planet. It supports human progress by funding research in key areas related to risk and helping inform public and private decision-making based on science. In line with AXA’s purpose to act for human progress by protecting what matters, the AXA Research Fund’s support is directed towards accelerating transformative research around risk in the areas of health, climate & environment, and socio-economy & new technologies. Since its inception, the AXA Research Fund has supported cc 740 research projects in 340 academic institutions in 38 countries.

Find out more about AXA Research Fund:

Website: axa-research.org

LinkedIn: @AXAResearchFund

YouTube: @AXAResearchFundLive