IOW · Newsletter

The Briese Award for Marine Research 2025, endowed by the shipping company Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG and managed by the IOW, was presented on February 19, 2026, at the IOW to Dr. Iason-Zois Gazis of GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel. The jury recognized his outstanding dissertation on the high-resolution mapping of manganese nodules at a water depth of 4,500 meters and on the monitoring of sediment plumes during deep-sea mining.

The 6th Baltic Earth Conference took place in Heringsdorf on Usedom island from April 13 to 17, 2026. The conference was aimed at the international research community of the Baltic Earth network, which addresses scientific issues relevant to sustainability and environmental protection in the Baltic Sea region. The conference was organized by the IOW, the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN), and the International Baltic Earth Secretariat (IBES).

On June 25 and 26, 2026, the IOW hosted the first workshop of an NFDI4Biodiversity topic table on the subject of “AI Tools for Metadata Extraction in Sequence Databases.” Around 30 experts in research data management, science and business from 17 institutions in Germany and beyond came together to discuss how metadata in sequence data archives can be made more readily searchable, comparable, and easier to use for specific research questions through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The network activity (AIMS for short) is funded for one year by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

On January 1, 2026, Heide Schulz-Vogt took over as scientific director of the IOW. The internationally renowned marine scientist has been closely associated with the institute for many years, most recently as the deputy director. She succeeds Oliver Zielinski, who joined the Helmholtz Centre Hereon as scientific director. Schulz-Vogt is leading the IOW as interim director until a new director is recruited through a regular appointment process.

Prof. Dr. Elda Miramontes, an expert in marine geosciences at MARUM, the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, joined IOW’s Scientific Advisory Board on January 1, 2026.

On April 21, 2026, the researchers involved in KOFI met for the first time at the IOW to launch the project. KOFI aims at investigating the development of biodiversity of marine benthic life and carbon storage in marine sediments following the mobile bottom-trawling ban in the Fehmarn Belt Natura 2000 site.

Duration: November 1, 2025 – March 31, 2030 • Project lead (IOW): Klaus Jürgens • Funding: German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)

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.

Duration: December 1, 2025 – November 30, 2030 • Project lead (IOW): Michael Zettler • Funding: German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)

The interdisciplinary Shore To Basin (S2B) coastal research project allows the IOW to engage not only in its core research area of the Baltic Sea but also in international fundamental research projects – including field studies on the physiology of corals of Heron Island, a small island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

On February 12, 2026, the research vessel “Meteor” began its M217 expedition from Las Palmas (Gran Canaria, Spain). On board: a 26-member interdisciplinary team of researchers from the IOW, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, and the University of Hamburg. The IOW scientists who accompanied the expedition were responsible for deploying moored CTD measuring systems.

On July 4, 2026, the research vessel “Elisabeth Mann Borgese” left Rostock to embark on expedition EMB398. During the 11-day research cruise, the IOW team collected samples for an inventory of benthic organisms, for environmental DNA analyses, and for further molecular biological studies.

IOW’s German language summer lecture series, the Warnemünde Evenings, is taking place again this year. From July 9 to August 27, researchers from the IOW and partner institutions invite the general public to learn more about the latest Baltic Sea research.

On April 23, 2026, everything at the IOW revolved around the fascination with science: While 14 schoolgirls experienced marine research first-hand during Girls’ Day at the IOW, the institute presented itself to a wide audience that same evening at Rostock’s Long Night of Science on the University of Rostock’s Südstadt campus.

On May 20, 2026, a citizen science project for environmental monitoring in the Lower Warnow was officially launched with the handover of the first Warnow probe to a group of pupils from the Rostock-based Borwinschule.

From June 10 to 19, 2026, the MV Baltic Sea Days took place for the first time under the motto ‘Broadening Horizons’. Initiated by the Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the event brought together institutions and organisations from the fields of science, business, culture and society to present projects and ideas that have emerged from wide-ranging cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. The IOW also joined in: At the opening event in Greifswald, the institute presented the Plasticschool learning module for school classes in the “Marine conservation and sustainability” pavilion, and during the public dialogue in Greifswald Cathedral with MV Minister for European Affairs, Bettina Martin, Sven Hille from IOW’s Science Management represented the topic Baltic Sea research on the panel. Furthermore, for the whole period of the MV Baltic Sea Days, IOW’s exhibition opened its doors every day for the general public. In collaboration with EUCC – Die Küsten Union Deutschland the permanent exhibits were complemented by impressive videos about people, whose lives are shaped by the sustainable management of the sea, and an introduction of the SeaStore project, which focuses on the protection and restoration of seagrass beds.

Under the lead of the IOW, the influence of parasitic fungi on the physiology and survival of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) in the Baltic Sea was investigated. The loss of nitrogen and carbon resources from the host cells as a result of such infections could directly affect their viability and, in consequence, the future occurrence of blue-green algae blooms, the study found.

Greenland’s coastal macroalgal forests may be a far more significant contributor to global carbon storage than previously thought. That is the outcome of a study co-led by the IOW and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. The international research team demonstrated, how ocean currents and intense mixing events act to push seaweeds – and thus the carbon in their tissues – into the deep ocean.

Commercial shipping affects the Baltic Sea not only at the surface, but also has a significant impact on the water column and the seabed. A study by the IOW and Kiel University has now shown for the first time that wake turbulence caused by large ships in heavily trafficked areas of the western Baltic Sea significantly alters water stratification and leads to marked sea floor erosion.

Although phosphorus and nitrogen river loads, the main cause for eutrophication in the Baltic Sea, have been significantly reduced, adverse effects such as algal blooms and oxygen depletion still massively occur. Scientists at the IOW have published a comprehensive review showing how nutrient pollution, internal matter cycles and global warming interact, thereby delaying the impact of protective measures. The authors also identify potential approaches for effective Baltic Sea management.

In the Amazon river plume, microscopic algae adopt a surprisingly flexible survival strategy: They combine photosynthesis with the uptake of organic matter. An international research team led by the IOW has shown that this so-called mixotrophy becomes the dominant and most successful lifestyle in mature plume waters.

The presence of the potentially dangerous human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus in the Baltic Sea can now be predicted up to five weeks in advance 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. Furthermore, the IOW is testing an AI-supported drone measurement program for local Vibrio warning systems.