«Born 1977 in Erlangen, Michael Krautblatter, completed his studies in Geography and Geology at the Universities of Passau, Durham, Erlangen, Oxford und Bonn in the year 2009 with a PhD dissertation on geophysical monitoring and the stability of permafrost rock slopes in the Alps. Since 2012 he is professor at the Technical University of Munich and holds the Chair of Landslide Research. With his fundamental and innovative scientific work, Michael Krautblatter has become an internationally leading expert concerning slope stability in permafrost under conditions of global climate change – an emerging research field of growing significance for livelihood and alpinism in cold mountain regions.

In his research work, Michael Krautblatter makes use of advanced technologies and combines field measurements with laboratory experiments and theoretical model development. This enables him to improve in a pivotal way our understanding about how temperature changes affect rock and ice components in permafrost and induce long-term modifications concerning the stability of steep icy slopes in high mountains.» 

Albert Mountain Award 2016