On 17 March 2021, Prof. Dr. Dirk Wagner was appointed as the new head of Department 3 - Geochemistry. In addition to his current position as Department Director, Prof. Dr. Dirk Wagner is Head of Section 3.7 Geomicrobiology at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. He teaches geomicrobiology and geobiology at the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Potsdam and also acts as Scientific Advisor to the GeoGraduates at the GFZ. Prof. Dr Wagner succeeds Prof. Dr Michael Kühn, the head of Section 3.4 Fluid System Modelling, who chaired the department from 2016 to 2020.

The research work of Department 3 - Geochemistry takes place in seven sections. Geochemical and geomicrobial processes in the Earth system are studied here. The focus is on the fundamental interactions of inorganic, organic and biogeochemical material cycles and the formation of georesources.