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.

As of now proposals for POLARSTERN and HEINCKE may only be submitted to Portal deutsche Forschungsschiffe (www.portal-forschungsschiffe.de). On this site you will find information on how to write the proposal.

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 2021 the deadlines are: 02.09.2019 closing 10:00 h and 28.02.2020.

For Polarstern (main user) submission deadline - 02.09.2019 closing 10:00 h

TRANSIT: 2020 (North - South) 2021 (South - North) and later

ARCTIC: 2021, 2022, 2023 and later

ANTARCTIC: 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 and later

For Polarstern (secondary users) the submission deadlines are the same as for medium-sized vessels end of August and end of February each year with a lead time of about 1.5 years.

Submission of proposals are currently possible from the transit journey (north - south) at the end of 2020

Please also keep informed about: www.portal-forschungsschiffe.de

If you have any questions, please contact: polcoord@awi.de

Expeditions with the smaller vessels of the Alfred Wegener Institute require shorter periods of planning. We do, though, recommend to submit proposals in due time. Proposals for Uthörn, Mya II, Aade and Diker are sent directly to the contact persons.

At the Neumayer III Station 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 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:

• Short-term projects: are performed in January/February of the coming season (freight is being transported on board Polarstern), or in November/December (freight is completely being transported by aircraft).
• Large-scale projects: long-time and/or early starting campaigns (November until February). In this case, freight can only be transported into Antarctica on board Polarstern. This means that transport hast o be effeccted in the previous season.

A description of the planning procedure is here.

Information for expedition participants here.

If you have any questions, please contact neumayer-coordination@awi.de .

The Dallmann laboratory provides a basis for biological and geoscience field work. From October to April, 14 scientists can use laboratories, workshops and storage rooms.