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At Bremen’s scientific institutions, we work together on topics and issues that address the pressing problems of our time. With this in mind, we expressly distance ourselves from all forms of discrimination, exclusion, and xenophobia. These values are set out in a joint declaration of the Bremen research institutions united in the U Bremen Research Alliance and the State Rectors’ Conference.

Climate change will likely affect the spread of pathogens in the ocean: as water temperatures rise, bacteria that are harmful to humans could also appear en masse, posing a biological hazard. The new joint project PrimePrevention, coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, has set itself the goal of developing new tools to help make society more aware of these hazards and prevent or mitigate their adverse effects. It is one of four projects being carried out by the German Marine Research Alliance (DAM) under the umbrella of its third research mission,…

In a new study, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) investigated the long-term changes in the Arctic Ocean eddy activity in response to climate warming. The study reveals a remarkable surge in Arctic eddy activity in a warmer climate, a trend that is probably unparalleled when compared to other regions across the global ocean.

A new study from the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU) investigates crater-like depressions on the seabed, so-called pockmarks. Previous research has been assuming that they are caused by rising gases and liquids. However, the study published in Communications Earth & Environment proposes an alternative assumption: Instead of gases and liquids, vertebrates may be the key to explaining pockmarks. Dr. Jasper Hoffmann from the Alfred Wegener institute, Helmholtz centre for polar and marine research (AWI), was part of this project. The University…

In Berlin, the AWI organized an event on "The Modern Arctic" in cooperation with the Nordic Embassies. The event showed that the Arctic is not only a remote and frozen wilderness, but also a region of dynamic innovation, modern cities and businesses. The Icelandic Ambassador María Erla Marelsdóttir opened the event. AWI Director Prof. Antje Boetius then introduced the topic. This was followed by a panel discussion with international guests.

This year the AWI celebrates the smallest member of its fleet: Mya II is 10 years old. "With the help of Mya II, we collect data as part of a long-term monitoring program that allows us to document ecological changes in the North Sea," says AWI Deputy Director Karen Wiltshire. An anniversary seminar provided insights into the historical research shipping in the Wadden Sea and the work with the multibeam echosounder. Topics such as the MOSES expeditions, the time series of the Sylt Roads and fish monitoring in the Sylt-Römö Bay rounded off the program.

At the end of the year, the magazine "DER SPIEGEL" has once again published a chronicle in which all the important events of the year are summarized in pictures and reports. A photograph of the research vessel Polarstern by AWI photographer Esther Horvath was selected for the pages of September. The picture was taken last summer during the ArcWatch expedition.

The Nobel Prize banquet is usually a culinary highlight - but never with caviar, because the roe was not sustainable and not originally produced in Sweden. Caviar produced according to the AWI's sustainable caviar production method, which does not kill the sturgeon, changes all that, and this year it was used for the first time by the star chefs at the Nobel Prize banquet.

The Global Tipping Points Report was presented at COP28 on 6 December 2023. The report is an authoritative assessment of the risks and opportunities of negative and positive tipping points in the Earth system and in society. Global Tipping Points is led by Prof. Tim Lenton from the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter and supported by more than 200 researchers from over 90 organisations in 26 countries. AWI researchers are also involved in the report.

At the AWI ice laboratories, part of an ice core from the North Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is currently being tested. The core was collected during “EastGRIP”, a joint project involving several international partners. Working together, they drilled to a depth of 2,668 metres, allowing them to penetrate the entire ice stream and reach the rocky substrate below. The analysis of the ice core is to yield new insights into the behaviour of ice streams and improve our grasp of how they could contribute to future sea-level rise. Another goal is to record past…