• Logistics

    terrestrial polar research of high international reputation. The AWI runs the research and supply ship "Polarstern", the research vessel "Heincke", four small research cutters, two research aircraft, a permanently

  • PERPLEX

    The software was developed at the Alfred Wegener Institute and used during many cruises of the RV Polarstern. PERPLEX allows scientists and chief scientist as well as logisticians and nautical personnel to

  • FRAM Data Integration

    platforms provides information on phytoplankton composition and particle size distribution. On board of POLARSTERN, state of the art underway-measuring systems have been installed, their reliability is frequently

  • Library in the Ice

    travel to the Alfred Wegener Institute’s previous Neumayer Station on board the research icebreaker Polarstern. The laboratories and living quarters of the old station – the second Neumayer Station – were

  • Chronicle

    amounted to 188 million marks (over 96 million euros). Contruction of Polarstern (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) Construction of Polarstern II Data June 1979 – The invitation to tender for construction of [...] in Kiel 25.01.1982 named „Polarstern“ 9. Dezember 1982 by German Federal Ministe r for Research Heinz Riesenhuber Construction period The new research icebreaker Polarstern’s first journeys take her to [...] braves the wind, waves, ice and snow. In 1985 the crew of the Polarstern even frees a British research ship trapped in the pack ice. Polarstern in the waters off Greenland (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut)

  • Statement on Call for Tenders for Polarstern’s Successor

    Polarstern
    Prof Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute: “We were extremely pleased and relieved to pick up on the signals from the political community that the Budget Committee of the [...] the German Bundestag has opted to provide funding for the procurement of the Polarstern II. Thanks to this wonderful news from the Adjustment Session on the Federal Budget for 2022, we have come a major [...] closer to acquiring a modern, high-performance and sustainable successor to our research icebreaker Polarstern."

  • Call for tender procedure for the construction of a successor to the icebreaker Polarstern has been cancelled.

    cancelled the Europe-wide call for tenders for the procurement of a new polar research vessel, Polarstern II, for legal reasons. In times of unresolved climate issues, the research mission of the Alfred

  • Return from East Antarctica

    After more than six months, the research icebreaker Polarstern is returning to its home port of Bremerhaven after a successful Antarctic season. The expeditions to the southern hemisphere and the transit [...] geology of East Antarctica as well as student training. Because of this special study area for the Polarstern, there was a change of personnel in Hobart, which was the first port call in Australia in her more

  • Snow on Sea Ice

    Antarctic sea ice (Photo: Alfred Wegener Institut) We perform snow thickness measurements during Polarstern expeditions by using a “magna probe”, an electronic handheld device which is used to collect snow [...] Wegener Institut) In order to characterize different snow layers, snow pits are prepared during Polarstern expeditions. In addition, we use remote sensing products to obtain the distribution of snow on

  • Polarstern II: German Bundestag greenlights the construction of new icebreaker

    The Research Vessel Polarstern has been underway in the Arctic and Antarctic for 40 years now, giving experts from around the globe the opportunity to safely and effectively conduct research in two of [...] (AWI) to coordinate construction of a modern, high-performance and sustainable successor to the Polarstern, and to announce a corresponding call for tenders. Now that the federal budget for 2022 was approved [...] approved by the German Bundestag on 3 June 2022, the construction procurement procedure for Polarstern II can begin. The AWI plans to promptly launch the Europe-wide procurement procedure so that the competitive