Established in 1980, the Alfred Wegener Institute is anchored in a global research network by numerous national and international cooperative relationships.
This strong network is supported by more than 100 cooperation agreements with universities, research institutions and other partners.
The Helmholtz Association combines the resources and expertise of 19 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centres. Their task is to pursue the long-term research goals of the state and society.
The German Marine Research Consortium (KDM) combines the marine science expertise of the member institutions and represents them in discussion with decision-makers and funding agencies. The research, contributions to academic training, knowledge transfer and technology development of Consortium members are innovation drivers and make significant contributions to the important maritime sector in the north German coastal communities.
The German Climate Consortium (DKK) represents the key players of the German climate and climate impact research community. Under the theme ‘Research for society, economy and environment’, the DKK works with renowned research institutions in delivering climate change information to support the development of mitigation and adaptation policy options.
The Northwest Marine Research Group (NWVM) links Bremen and Lower Saxony research institutions to strengthen the potential and impact of north-west Germany in marine, climate and polar research.
In 2019, the German marine research community, to-gether with the federal government and the northern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, founded the German Marine Research Alliance (Deutsche Allianz Meeresforschung, DAM). Germany has thereby created one of the world’s largest marine research alliances. The DAM aims to strengthen the sustainable use of coasts, seas and oceans through research and transfer, data management and digitalisation, and by coordinating the infrastructures. To this end, the DAM is working together with its member institutions to develop solution-oriented knowledge and to communicate potential courses of action to politics, business and civil society. To the DAM website.
Partners in Research and Teaching
In addition to these memberships and collaborative partnerships, the AWI maintains close cooperation in research and teaching with a number of universities. All professors at the Alfred Wegener Institute are named joint appointments with universities, including the University of Bremen, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremerhaven University and the Universities of Potsdam, Oldenburg and Kiel.
The Graduate School POLMAR provides doctoral students at the Alfred Wegener Institute with a structured training program in addition to their individual research.
The aim of the International Bremen Graduate School of Marine Sciences (GLOMAR) is to train a new generation of marine scientists who accept the challenge of cutting-edge research.
The International Max Planck Research School of Marine Microbiology (MarMic) is a program for highly qualified and motivated masters and doctoral students at the max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen University, the Alfred Wegener Institute and Jacobs University.
AWI scientists are cooperating in joint research projects and in joint logistics with partners from 50 different countries. In terms of joint publications and joint research projects, the leading partner countries are the USA, UK, Norway and Russia. The most important institutional partners are the British Antarctic Survey, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Norwegian Polar Institute and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. The cooperation with those institutes spans all scientific disciplines of the AWI and includes a significant part of logistic cooperation.
Exceptional is the AWI's long-term and trustful cooperation with Russian partners which was established in 1992, with Polarstern accomplishing its first research cruise to the Russian EEZ already in 1993. Since 1998, AWI scientists are also performing fieldwork in the Siberian tundra with Russian scientists at the Samoylov station.
International Cooperation
Answering the full range of research questions from the Polar Regions is beyond the capabilities of nations acting individually. The Alfred Wegener Institute has therefore fostered since its foundation bi- and multilateral cooperation with European and International partners and developed strong and long-term relationships with its main partner institutes all over the globe.
Your contact for international cooperations at the Alfred Wegener Institute is Dr Nicole Biebow.
In response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), in coordination with the Foreign Office and the Federal Chancellery, announced a fundamental change in its cooperation policy with Russia and Belarus on February 25,22. Nationally and internationally, this pursues the goal of isolating the Russian government as far as possible. For this reason, all current and planned projects of the Alfred Wegener Institute with government agencies in Russia will be frozen and/or critically reviewed. For further inquiries, please contact taskforce.ukraine@awi.de.
An overview of the international cooperation activities of the Alfred Wegener Institute (Graphic: Alfred Wegener Institut)
The Alfred Wegener Institute deploys scientists to institutions, on research vessels and research stations around the world. Scientists from other nations are also invited to the Alfred Wegener Institute, to work with its fleet of research vessels and aircraft, and at its research platforms. Approximately one quarter of all AWI expedition participants in research cruises aboard the RV Polarstern are international visiting scientists.
