The Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) is Germany’s largest and one of the leading international research centres for freshwaters. We seek to understand the fundamental biological, chemical and physical processes in freshwaters, as well as their responses to global and local environmental change. The knowledge we generate helps researchers and policymakers to develop scenarios and measures for the sustainable management of freshwaters. Thanks to our expertise in areas ranging from biology and chemistry to physics and geography, we are in a position to address a broad range of topics from an interdisciplinary perspective, enabling us to advance knowledge on various aspects of freshwaters. In addition to conducting basic research on freshwaters and aquatic organisms, we investigate the impacts of land use, climate change and pollution on freshwaters, the conservation of freshwater biodiversity, and sustainable aquaculture and fisheries. IGB is a member of Germany’s Leibniz Association, and closely collaborates with numerous (inter)national universities and partners in science and society. We pass on our knowledge to young researchers through the IGB Doctoral Programme, in our Graduate Research Schools, through the Master Programme in Fish Biology, Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the professorships at universities in Berlin and Brandenburg. One of IGB’s core tasks is to provide science-based consulting to societal stakeholders, and information to the interested public. In our Lake Dialogues we discuss current water management issues, and the workshop series IGB Academy transfers research knowledge into management practice. We also present our research results in our publication series IGB Outlines, which shows options for action. Imprint: https://www.igb-berlin.de/en/imprint