The operators of the large and medium-sized German research vessels have jointly established a procedure which offers the opportunity to exchange the applications for ship time for individual ships. This procedure provides a comparable standard as to the reviews for all ships and thus helps optimizing operation.
Proposals for POLARSTERN and HEINCKE may only be submitted to Portal deutsche Forschungsschiffe (www.portal-forschungsschiffe.de). Here, you will also find all necessary information on how to write the proposal.
AWI-internal main-user and secondary-user applications for both vessels have to be related very closely to the POV IV programme (exception: Third party funded projects). Therefore, it is necessary to consult the scientific coordinator (polcoord@awi.de) and the AWI Board of Directors well before submitting an application.
Twice a year, you may submit proposals for all medium and large-scale research vessels: End of February and end of August each year.
For HEINCKE – season 2023:
Submission deadlines: August 31, 2022 and February 28, 2023 - in each case until 10:00 am at the latest
For POLARSTERN (main use):
Submission deadline: February 28., 2023 - until 10:00 am at the latest
TRANSIT: from 2024 (South to North) and later (only applications without significant additional need for shiptime)
ARKTICA and ANTARKTICA: The mid-term planning for expeditions into the polar regions until March 2025 is completed. Currently, no further main-user applications can be accepted for these areas.
For POLARSTERN (secondary-use):
Currently the submission deadlines are the same as for medium-sized ships - end of August and end of February each year with a lead-time of approx. 1.5 years. Applications are currently possible for transit (south - north) at March 2024.
Please also keep informed about: www.portal-forschungsschiffe.de
If you have any questions, please contact: polcoord@awi.de
The submission of proposals for all medium-sized and large research vessels can be done twice a year: End of August and end of February each year.
For HEINCKE – season 2022: Submission deadlines: August 31, 2020 and February 28, 2021 - in each case until 10:00 am at the latest
For Polarstern (main user) submission deadline - August 31, 2020 closing 10:00 h
TRANSIT: 2022 (South - North) and later
ARKTICA and ANTARKTICA: the mid-term planning for expeditions into the polar regions until April 2024 is almost completed. Currently, no further main-user applications can be accepted for these areas.
For POLARSTERN (secondary-use):
Currently the submission deadlines are the same as for medium-sized ships - end of August and end of February each year with a lead-time of approx. 1.5 years. Applications are currently possible for transit (north - south) at the end of 2021.
Scientific coordinator
FS Polarstern & Heincke:
Dr. Ingo Schewe
Marine Stations Helgoland and Sylt
The AWI operates marine stations on the islands of Helgoland and Sylt and makes them available to the international scientific community. National and international users can access the marine biological stations.
Register here as user:
What happens to my request / proposal?
After registration or login to the portal and, if applicable, submission of an application for the use of the marine stations Helgoland and Sylt, including the associated infrastructures (Uthörn, Aade, Mya II, mesocosms, long-term data series, scientific diving, laboratories, material shipping, etc.), an assessment of technical and logistical feasibility is carried out.
Applications with a minimum of five user days or the equivalent of €5,000 per day will be reviewed externally; applications below this threshold will be included in the station seasonal schedule for direct use.
If you have any questions, please contact Angelika.Dummermuth@awi.de
Registration for university courses 2024 on Helgoland and Sylt until 28.02.2023
Registration for periods of use up to max. 5 days possible on an ongoing basis
Registration for periods of use over 5 days by August of the current year
Dr. Angelika Dummermuth
Coordinator
MSc Anna Bergmann
Coordination Guest Research and University Courses
The planning procedure is described in the handout for user.
Download template proposal
Uthörn:
Instructions (PDF to be filled in available for download) please submit two weeks prior to the expedition at the latest.
Mya II, Aade and Diker are operated according to the local requirements. Please contact the persons in charge.
Research in polar regions requires special equipment and logistics because the access to the research areas is very difficult due to extreme environmental conditions. The use of research aircraft is an important link between ground based and satellite investigations. Moreover, the aircraft are integrated into the international logistics co-operation DROMLAN (Dronning Maud Land Aircraft Network).
If you wish to use the polar aircraft for your research projects you have to send project applications to the scientific co-ordinator Daniel Steinhage in due time. In case that you bring your own scientific instruments you must add respective information and certificates to the application.
The planing phase for the polar aircraft comprises 2 years. Due to the required time for preparing the aircraft and primary use the planning phase begins in October and ends in September the following year. Project proposals are due on 30.11. for the period beginning October the year after next.
Ongoing: Deadline 30.11.2023 for projects for the period October 2025 until September 2026.
A summary on the application process can be downloaded here.
Generally, all users have to cover their travel costs for themselves and for the participants they dispatch on the expedition. External, non-university partner will be charged in addition further costs, such as flight hours and for example:
The costs are calculated for each project individually. In case of shared projects the costs will be shared according to the respective share.
The decision about the amount of costs to be covered by the respective party is made by AWI based on the specifications given in the proposal. For joint porjects the contribution of each partner has to be given in the project application, and if necessary explained.
If you have any question please contact us: Coordination Polar Aircraft
Deadline for proposals for the period October 2025 until September 2026 is 30.11.2023.
Dr. Daniel Steinhage
Coordinator
Martin Gehrmann
Licensing work, Campaign support
Eduard Gebhard
Measuring techniques, Campaign support
Christoph Petersen
Measuring techniques, Campaign support
Cristina Sans Coll
Measuring techniques, Campaign support, Licensing work
Dennis Ludwig
Measuring techniques, Campaign support
Maximilian Stöhr
Computer infrastructure, Campaign support, Data acquisition
Clemens Gollin
Computer infrastructure, Campaign support
Silke Henkel
Freight handling, Administration, Airport identification card
Dr. Uwe Nixdorf
Head of Logistics
An external advisory board will evaluate the received project proposals. The technical and logistical feasibility will be checked as well. Afterwards a campaign schedule will be compiled and the AWI directorate will be asked for approval.
At the Neumayer Station III the AWI is performing a long-term research program comprising observations in the fields of meteorology, atmospheric chemistry and geophysics. During the polar summer from December until February Neumayer Station III, in combination with the plateau station „Kohnen“, is used as logistical base for flight operations all over Antarctica as well as field campaigns on the continental ice sheet.
The logistic requirements of such expeditions differ with regard to large-scale or short-term projects:
Information for expedition participants here.
If you have any questions, please contact antland-coordination@awi.de .
The deadline for project proposals taking place at Neumayer Station III in the summer season 2024/25 and at Kohnen Station in the summer seasin 2025/26 is: 30 June 2023
Please send project proposals to antland-coordination@awi.de .
Prof. Dr. Olaf Eisen
Scientific chair Neumayer Station III, Kohnen Station, ANT-Land
Dr. Julia Regnery
Scientific coordinatorin Neumayer Station III, Kohnen Station, ANT-Land
Dr. Christine Wesche
Logistics coordination Neumayer Station III, Kohnen Station, ANT-Land
Silke Henkel
freight handling
Nina Machner
freight handling Polarstern
Dr. Uwe Nixdorf
head of logistics department
A description of the evaluation process and the planning procedure can be downloaded here (guideline for users).
NOTE:
Due to the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic there may be postponements and changes in the planning process at short notice.
Projects with AWI contribution:
More information on the AWI internal application procedure can be found here.