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  • Journey through space and time

    On Wednesday, 2 July 2025, the Polarstern will set sail from Tromsø, Norway, embarking on an expedition to the Arctic Ocean. Over the next two months, an international research team will analyse the feedback [...] parallel airborne campaign will complement the measurements and, at the outset of the expedition, the Polarstern will support the first ice testing of the new French Tara Polar Station research platform.

  • Underwater robot scheduled to surface after a year exploring the Arctic depths

    New Technologies for Arctic Research
    On Tuesday, 22 August the research icebreaker Polarstern will depart the Norwegian port of Tromsø for a unique expedition to the Arctic: the autonomous underwater

  • Unique concept for observing Arctic sea ice successfully implemented

    The Polarstern recently ended a two-month expedition in the Central Arctic in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The international and interdisciplinary research team, led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, focused

  • The new Polarstern features a high-tech heart

    The centrepiece of the new construction project for the Polarstern's successor is now taking shape: by the end of August, TKMS, Wärtsilä, Steerprop and Aker Arctic had inked the contracts for the entire

  • Investigating unexplored ocean currents to the north of Greenland

    north of Greenland was the area of study in the last of three Arctic expeditions undertaken by the Polarstern since the end of May 2025. In the largely untraveled waters north and northeast of Greenland, a

  • Taking to the highsea with a young research spirit

    On board the Polarstern research vessel, an international group of young scientists will immerse in the fascinating world of marine research. They are not only learning the basic methods of oceanography

  • International training on board Polarstern completed

    international group of young marine scientists is arriving in Walvis Bai in Namibia on board the Polarstern. They have been taking part in a specialised training voyage aboard the German research icebreaker

  • Research icebreaker Polarstern sets sail for the Antarctic Weddell Sea

    An international research team led by the University of Rostock is investigating the impact of climate change on biodiversity in Antarctica.

  • Setting sail to a region in rapid transition

    With the departure of the research vessel Polarstern from Punta Arenas (Chile) scheduled for this weekend, the "Summer Weddell Sea Outflow Study" (SWOS) international expedition will commence. Up to early [...] and ocean system, but one that can only be explored on site by research icebreakers such as the Polarstern due to challenging sea ice conditions.

  • New Polarstern vessel: Model Masters the Testing Phase

    Important milestones have been reached in the construction of the new Polarstern. A true-to-scale model of the future research icebreaker successfully completed tests in the ice channel. This marked the