European Summit of Marine Research

01 June 2016 / Kiel. Marine Research is clearly an international task. No single country or research institute can answer the urging questions about a sustainable use and protection of the oceans alone. Therefore, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel maintains strong relations with many partners around the globe. For several years a particularly strong partnership links the scientists in Kiel with colleagues at the French National Marine Research center Ifremer (L'Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) and with those at the British National Oceanography Centre (NOC). From 31 May to 01 June the directors of this so-called “G3” network of European marine research institutions, François Jacq (Ifremer), Professor Ed Hill (NOC) and Professor Peter Herzig (GEOMAR) met in Kiel to discuss recent developments in the field of marine research and to plan further joint activities in the future.

During the discussion several GEOMAR scientists presented their current projects in which partners from all three countries are involved. Topics ranged from mineral and energy resources from the sea floor, monitoring efforts of entire ocean basins to basic research in the field of climate reconstructions and the opportunities and risks of a forced upwelling of nutrient-rich deep water.

"This wide range of topics alone shows how diverse the challenges are that humanity is facing in dealing with the oceans. Thus, it is important that we have reliable partners with whom we can tackle even extensive tasks. The cooperation with the NOC and the Ifremer is a good example of such partnerships," Professor Herzig concluded at the end of the meeting.