On March 10, 2026, the IOW project BenthQual started its active research phase with the first sampling. Its goal is to genetically catalogue all known macrozoobenthic organisms of the Baltic Sea and to advance molecular biological monitoring methods for this animal group. The project, which officially started on December 1, 2025, is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and will run until the end of November 2030.

Every two years, the international research network Baltic Earth organizes a conference in a Baltic Sea coastal state, bringing together scientists working on a wide range of topics related to the Baltic Sea region. This year, the conference is held in Heringsdorf on the island of Usedom, Germany, from April 13 – 17, 2026, and co-organized by the IOW and Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN). The conference has been endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Activity, highlighting its role in advancing ocean science and supporting sustainable solutions for the marine environment.