gaiac was founded in 2003 as a research institute affiliated to the RWTH Aachen University with a research focus on the effects of anthropogenic influences on aquatic and terrestrial biocoenoses. 
The close cooperation with different disciplines at RWTH Aachen University offers optimal requirements to develop interdisciplinary features for a sustainable environmental management and to implement these features into practice.
gaiac as a small and medium enterprise (SME) operates in a very close cooperation with the Institute of Environmental Research at Aachen University which provides the chairman and further members of the board of the association. As part of this collaboration gaiac is involved in lectures and training courses at RWTH Aachen University and in supervising master and PhD students in ecological and ecotoxicological topics.
Members of the board are Prof. Dr. Andreas Schäffer (chair), Prof. Dr. Hans Toni Ratte (vice chair), Dr. Martina Roß-Nickoll, Prof. Dr. Henner Hollert, and Dr. Monika Hammers-Wirtz (managing director). The registered association gaiac is supported by a research advisory committee composed of experts from academia, industry and different authorities. Currently there are 14 employees working with us which corresponds to seven full time equivalents.
The team has many years of experience in ecological and ecotoxicological contract research. The fields of expertise are aquatic and terrestrial field ecology, ecotoxicology, statistics and mathematical modeling of environmental processes.
gaiac research activities include ecological and ecotoxicological lab and field investigations, ecological modelling and the development of environmental decision support systems. The institute is involved in many joint research projects (supported, e.g., by BMBF, UBA, EU) and offers R&D services to industrial partners, different authorities and water associations.
Combining experimental research in the fields of “aquatic ecology”, “terrestrial ecology” and “ecotoxicology” with the development and application of corresponding models is a unique strength of the institute.
