Connecting time: a unified "Cologne Dating Platform" to strengthen interdisciplinary Earth System Research
Prof. Dr. Janet Rethemeyer1, Prof. Dr. Tibor Dunai1, Prof. Dr. Dennis Mücher2, Prof. Dr. Tony Reimann3, Prof. Dr. Silviane Scharl4, Dr. Thorsten Westphal4
1Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, 2Institute for Nuclear Physics, 3Institute of Geography, 4Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology
Motivation
The University of Cologne hosts an exceptional concentration of laboratories dedicated to determining the age of materials and events within the Earth system. These include the CologneAMS facility operated jointly by the Institutes of Geology and Mineralogy and Physics, the Luminescence Dating Laboratory at the Institute of Geography, and the Dendrochronology Laboratory at the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology. Together, these facilities cover a remarkable temporal range from annual to hundred-thousand-year timescales and provide a comprehensive toolkit for establishing robust chronological frameworks essential for understanding climate dynamics, environmental change, and human–environment interactions.
Despite this outstanding expertise, the visibility and coherence of Cologne’s dating facilities remain limited. Information is scattered across separate institutional webpages, and no unified portal exists to showcase the laboratories' complementary capacities or foster interdisciplinary collaboration. This lack of integration hinders both internal cooperation and external visibility, even though Cologne’s combination of dating methods is unique in Germany and directly relevant to the Key Profile Area "Intelligent Methods for Earth System Sciences".
By creating a unified Cologne Dating Platform, this project will raise the profile of this special university infrastructure, strengthen connections across faculties and provide a lasting foundation for future joint initiatives within the Key Profile Area.
Plan
This First-Idea-Project aims to design and implement a joint web platform that brings together all three dating laboratories under one digital umbrella. The Cologne Dating Platform will provide a coherent, accessible, and bilingual (German/English) interface representing the full spectrum of dating methods available at the University. The website will present each laboratory’s analytical capabilities, highlight ongoing research and applications in Earth system and archaeological sciences. By formally linking the laboratories into a single recognizable platform, the University of Cologne will position itself as a national leader in chronometric research and as an essential partner for interdisciplinary projects.
The project will be developed collaboratively by representatives from the participating laboratories over the course of one year. The project will define a shared structure and visual identity for the platform in line with the University’s web design guidelines, compile and harmonize content from the individual facilities, and explain the principles and timescales of each dating method. The outcome will be an informative digital gateway that enhances communication both within the University and with external partners, funding agencies, and potential collaborators.