News
![[Translate to English:] Tests für die neue Polarstern](/fileadmin/_processed_/6/a/csm_20250903_PlanungNeuePolarstern_AnnikaKropp_058_4e9e7ded3a.jpg "Tests New Polarstern")
![[Translate to English:] Südlicher Seeelefant (Mirounga leonina)](/fileadmin/_processed_/9/f/csm_2010_BulleMitSender_JPloetz_1796244d20.jpg "Southern elephant seal")
Focus
Short notices
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Honorary Professorship in Biology
30. March 2026AWI scientist Stephan Ende has been appointed Honorary Professor by Bremen University of Applied Sciences. His tenure will begin in the summer semester of 2026 in the International Programme in Technical and Applied Biology (ISTAB). The honorary professorship recognises outstanding achievements in research and practice, as well as sustained commitment to academic teaching.
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Annette Barthelt Prize for Ayla Murray
23. March 2026Dr Ayla Murray was awarded the Science Prize of the Annette Barthelt Foundation at GEOMAR on Friday for her doctoral thesis completed at the Alfred Wegener Institute. Further information can be found here.
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Visit of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
19. March 2026Exchange at the AWI: The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) visited the AWI’s main campus in Bremerhaven. AWI Interim Director Maarten Boersma welcomed the delegation. This was followed by presentations from the AWI faculty and a tour of the institute. The ITLOS is an independent organisation within the UN system, operating on the basis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982.
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Scientific exchange at NCPOR
16. March 2026During a delegation visit to Goa, India, Maarten Boersma, Nicole Biebow, Frank Lamy, Lester Lembke Jene, Hanno Meyer and Wolfram Geissler visited the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) at the invitation of Director Thamban Melot. At the meeting on 12 and 13 March, the participants discussed the further cooperation between the AWI and NCPOR, particularly in the fields of palaeoceanography and within the Antarctica InSync project. The discussions were based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed two years ago.
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New measurement campaign investigates clouds over Arctic sea ice
13. March 2026The international research campaign COMPEX (Clouds over complex environment) is kicking off with Polar 5 measurement flights over the Arctic and will investigate the properties of clouds over sea ice that cannot be detected by satellites. Since clouds play a central role in the climate of the polar region, the results will help scientists understand why this region is warming particularly rapidly compared to the rest of the world. The University of Cologne is leading the research campaign. To the original press release.
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![[Translate to English:] Wetterballon](/fileadmin/_processed_/a/f/csm_20120905_Neumayer__SC87926_SChristmann_95cfd8ec36.jpg "[Translate to English:] Wetterballon")
Antarctic Research Trends Report 2025
02. March 2026German research on Antarctic topics is at the forefront internationally. This is shown by the recently published “Antarctic Research Trends Report 2025,” which evaluated around 30,000 academic publications on Antarctica and the Southern Ocean from 2016 to 2024. For example, Germany ranks third behind the US and the UK in terms of publications produced in international cooperation, and fifth in terms of total number of publications. The publications of AWI researchers contribute significantly to this. They consistently rank in the top 10 in the international ranking of institutions. The report is published by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the University of the Arctic (UArctic) and can be found here: https://scar.org/scar-news/antarctic-research-trends-report