How does marine research work? What technical solutions help us to better understand our oceans and use them sustainably? And what sort of people actually work in ocean technology? 13 schoolgirls aged between 14 and 18 explored these questions at this year’s ocean technology inventors camp. From July 6 to 9, 2026, they learnt about the enormous breadth of marine research and marine technology – primarily through hands-on experience – at the IOW and together with various other partners of the Ocean Technology Campus Rostock.

The presence of the marine bacterium Vibrio vulnificus, which is potentially dangerous to humans, can now be predicted up to five weeks in advance in the Baltic Sea using artificial intelligence (AI). A research team led by the IOW reached this conclusion by combining high-resolution environmental, satellite, and microbiome data in an AI-based analysis. The study, recently published in “Water Research,” shows that this approach allows for a much more precise identification of risk periods than was previously possible.