10 Years of Excellence

The NF-Pogo Centre of Excellence has been running at the AWI for ten years. Since 2013, 10 scholarship holders have been selected annually from more than 100 applications to spend ten months on Helgoland and Sylt learning and deepening their knowledge of marine research methods. The programme, which was designed to promote young scientists from emerging and developing countries in particular, was financially supported by the Japanese Nippon Foundation. A team of dedicated teachers and supporters at the AWI - Helgoland looked after the Helgolanders on a temporary basis. The team led by Prof. Dr Karen Wiltshire as chair of the programme, Dr Eva-Maria Brodte as scientific director and quality assurance, and Dr Bärbel Wichmann in day-to-day operations, was supported by numerous members of staff.

Over the past ten years, a total of 100 scholarship holders from 44 different countries have been trained at the AWI on Helgoland and Sylt. This has made the Helgoland Biological Institute a temporary home for young researchers from all over the world. They came from Argentina, Cameroon, Indonesia, Madagascar, Vietnam and many other countries. Ten months in which they learnt oceanographic methods, plankton determination, chemical seawater analyses and much more were accompanied by training at sea on board research vessels. They worked in the field in unfamiliar cold weather, taking samples and working together as a group.

After the ten months at the Centre of Excellence, around half returned to their home countries, while the others moved on to the Arctic, the Antarctic, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands or Ireland, and some stayed in Germany at the AWI or other marine research institutes. Some participants are now heads of department in their institutes, some have their own working groups and new participants have joined the programme from these. They all have one thing in common: they have fond memories of their time on Heligoland and Sylt.

On 25 April 2024, the ten fellows of the tenth year of the Centre of Excellence celebrated their graduation in the Sauriersaal of the Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research in Berlin. This event honoured the tenth anniversary of the Nippon Foundation-POGO Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography (CofE) at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). This not only honoured the successful training of the past decade, but also thanked the high-ranking teaching staff and supporters from all over the world who have made this excellent training possible. Around 70 alumni and 50 teachers and supporters from over 40 countries were expected to attend the celebrations. The farewell to the last group was therefore also a big reunion with the former scholarship holders.

Prof Karen Helen Wiltshire hosted the evening. The evening began in style with speeches from Museum Director Prof. Dr Joachim Vogel, Mr Mitsuyuki Unno, the Executive Director of the Nippon Foundation (NF) Ocean Affairs Department, Prof. Dr Antje Boetius, as AWI Director, Dr Sophie Seeyave, representative and CEO of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), and State Secretary Mario Brandenburg of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Three former participants of the programme reported on their career paths after their participation in the NF-POGO Centre of Excellence at AWI. Finally, the certificates were handed out to the scholarship holders of the current and last year of the programme. A reception with a great vegan buffet and intensive discussions followed. The event ended at 23:00 and all guests received a brochure about the programme and a cookbook as a souvenir.