A special feature of the content is the variety of geographical sub-disciplines offered by experts in the field, non-university research institutions and international universities. The focus includes a variety of methods and the interlinking of methodological training on questions of human-environment research in the context of research-based learning. Students can continue to gain practical experience as part of work placements.

The institute employs a large number of international colleagues and maintains close international contacts. Switching the Master's degree programme in Global Change Geography to English is a central measure of the internationalisation of teaching. Renowned international experts are also involved in the evaluation of dissertations and habilitations. Members of the institute are advisory boards or members of renowned organizations such as NASA or IARTEM.

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spanien; Universiteit van Amsterdam, Niederlande; Stockholms Universitet, Schweden; Lunds Universitet, Schweden; University of Birmingham, UK; Universitè Toulouse Le Mirail, Frankreich; Universitè Jean Moulin Lyon, Frankreich; Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Österreich; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; University of Florida, USA

The equipment includes: Humboldt weather station in Berlin-Adlershof: Continuous measurement of weather, soil and air quality in the measurement garden and on the roof of the institute; Diverse climate measuring system; Computer cluster with over 160 processors and more than 200 TB of storage space (Climatography, Geomatics); Soil science, hydrological air analysis, teaching and learning lab; Historical rock collection; Historical map, aerial photo and photo collection with approx. 100,000 entries from the 19th. to 20 th century; Remote spectrometry laboratory; Drone with multispectral and thermal camera.

Colleagues from the institute run a Marie Curie ITN, participate in the CRC "Refiguration of Spaces", participate in the large BMBF programme "Urban Climate under Change (UC2)" with two subprojects on radiation modelling and air quality measurement, and work in international research networks (Global Land Programme, Future Earth, USGS Landsat Science Team).