Research Structure

The seas and oceans are vital for us: they provide food and oxygen and play a key role in shaping the climate in which we live. Scientists are therefore working hard to better understand the physics, biology and chemistry of the oceans and their relationship with the human factor – in order to develop a knowledge base for the protection and sustainable use of the world’s oceans.

Marine and climate research is of great importance in Germany. Numerous universities, institutes and research facilities deal with issues relating to the coasts, seas and oceans. They all make an important contribution to global science in this field and work closely together at national, European and international levels. In order to strengthen this leading position and promote cooperation between the institutions, German marine research joined forces with the federal government and the northern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein in 2019 to establish the German Marine Research Alliance (DAM) – one of the largest marine research alliances in the world.

There is a reason why the seas and oceans have been comparatively little explored to date: They are huge and inaccessible. In order to collect data, numerous research devices are required, which must not be too large or heavy, as they have to be transported on ships. The ships, in turn, need special equipment to meet the diverse requirements of science. As there are only a few research vessels, ship time is a scarce commodity. Expeditions lasting several days or weeks are particularly expensive and have to be meticulously planned. Most of the research work therefore takes place in laboratories and on computers in order to analyze the data collected from the expeditions.

Dive deeper?

Concentrated knowledge from marine research on the topic of “research structure” is available in the DAM information portal Meere Online:

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