Bremerhaven, 4 November 2010. Successful German-Russian cooperation will be continued: Prof. Karin Lochte, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in the Helmholtz Association, and Prof. Ivan Frolov, Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), signed an agreement for continuation of the Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Research (OSL) for another three years. Signature of the agreement took place at the end of October at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences IfM-Geomar in Kiel where the Scientific Advisory Board of the Otto Schmidt Laboratory had assembled for its annual work meeting.
Established at the State Research Center of the Russian Federation the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in Saint Petersburg eleven years ago, the German-Russian Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Research is the central interface and base for research projects in the field of marine and polar research that are carried out jointly by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science and the German Ministry of Education and Research.
Named after Russian polar researcher Otto Yulievich Schmidt (1891-1956), the Otto Schmidt Laboratory has developed into a modern research laboratory for the fields of meteorology, oceanography, marine chemistry, biology and geosciences. It is equipped with modern laboratory and measuring devices, a computer centre and a virtual library with access to more than 10,000 journals. The main functions of the Otto Schmidt Laboratory are project coordination, scientific training and development of junior scientists. Since 1999, 280 scholarship holders from 19 research institutions of the Russian Federation have successfully taken part in the OSL scholarship programmes.
The Otto Schmidt Laboratory is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel IfM-Geomar. The Master’s programme for Applied Polar and Marine Sciences (POMOR) jointly offered and organised by the Universities of St. Petersburg, Hamburg, Bremen, Potsdam and Kiel as well as by AWI, IfM-Geomar, IOW and AARI also deserves special mention. For two weeks now the 23 students have been doing their semester in Germany at the above mentioned German partner universities.
Further information at: www.otto-schmidt-laboratory.de
Notes for editorial offices: Your contacts are: Dr. Heidemarie Kassens (at IfM-Geomar), German Director of the Otto Schmidt Laboratory (tel.: 0431 - 600-2850; e-mail: hkassens@ifm-geomar.de), Dr. Jens Hölemann (at the Alfred Wegener Institute), Deputy German Director of the Otto Schmidt Laboratory (tel.: 0471 - 4831-1983; e-mail: Jens.Hoelemann@awi.de) as well as in the Communication and Media Department Stephanie von Neuhoff (tel. 0471 - 4831-2008; e-mail: Stephanie.von.Neuhoff@awi.de). You will find printable pictures on our homepage at: www.awi.de.
The Alfred Wegener Institute conducts research in the Arctic, Antarctic and oceans of the high and mid latitudes. It coordinates polar research in Germany and provides major infrastructure to the international scientific community, such as the research icebreaker Polarstern and stations in the Arctic and Antarctica. The Alfred Wegener Institute is one of the sixteen research centres of the Helmholtz Association, the largest scientific organisation in Germany.
