Hubertus Fischer

Hubertus Fischer is a Full Professor for Experimental Climate Physics at the University of Bern's Climate and Environmental Physics (CEP) department within the Faculty of Science. He serves as Head of Division for Past Climate and Biogeochemical Studies on Ice Cores and Greenhouse Gas Concentrations in Ice Cores. Fischer is also an Honorary Professor for Glaciology at the University of Bremen and holds significant leadership roles including Co-chair of the International Partnerships for Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) and Co-Chair of the Scientific and Technological Advisory Board of the Swiss Polar Institute.

His research focuses on paleoclimate reconstruction using ice cores, with particular expertise in greenhouse gas concentrations, atmospheric chemistry, and glaciology. Fischer leads major international projects including Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice Core, deepSLice (an ERC Advanced Grant project), and MATRICs (a previous ERC Advanced Grant). His work spans multiple ice core drilling projects across Greenland and Antarctica including EPICA, NEEM, NGRIP, and EGRIP.

Fischer's publication record shows consistent high-impact research in climate science, with recent work examining methane dynamics, ocean temperature reconstruction, volcanic eruption proxies, and millennial-scale climate variability. His research integrates ice core analysis with climate modeling to understand past climate changes and their implications for future climate scenarios.

• Hans Oeschger Medal, European Geoscience Union (EGU), 2018
• Dansgaard Award, American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2017
• European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant deepSLice
• Sir Nicholas Shackleton Visiting Fellow 2014, Clare Hall, Cambridge University
• Descartes Prize for Transnational Collaborative Research for EPICA, European Union, 2007

Fischer has secured significant research funding including multiple ERC Advanced Grants and leads major international ice core consortia. His work with the Beyond EPICA project aims to retrieve ice cores dating back 1.5 million years, representing one of the most ambitious goals in contemporary ice core research. He has been instrumental in developing new analytical techniques for ice core gas analysis, particularly through his deepSLice project which created innovative laser spectrometry methods requiring minimal ice samples.

As Co-chair of IPICS and leadership roles in Swiss Polar Institute and Swiss Committee for Polar and High Alpine Research, Fischer coordinates international polar research efforts. His laboratory at University of Bern specializes in ice core gas analysis and continuous flow analysis for chemical impurities, contributing to major discoveries about past atmospheric composition and climate dynamics.