The Future Ocean Forum meets for a strategy workshop at the Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg
Climate change, research infrastructure, the social (in)compatibility of the marine science profession, the balance between the protection and (sustainable) use of the oceans - the challenges facing German marine research could hardly be greater. They require overarching and future-orientated solutions that can only be discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective. With the aim of providing unfiltered ideas and forward-looking impulses for German marine research, the members of the Future Ocean Forum met for two days at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg in Delmenhorst.
The agenda included a number of topical items and a discussion of the current field of work. German Ocean Science OpportunitiesIn the context of this, a bibliometric analysis was used to identify the funding and collaborations in German marine and maritime research, in particular to identify new topics. The participants from various institutes and scientific disciplines discussed different topic proposals, from which the three new fields of work of the Future Ocean Forum emerged:
- Inter- and transdisciplinary marine cooperation (Director: Tanja Bogusz and Moritz Holtappels),
- Research infrastructure for observing the sea: needs and visions (Directors: Johannes Karstensen and Leif Christensen),
- Attractiveness and prospects of academic careers in the marine sciences (Director: Hans Burchard and Alice Lefebvre).
For the ZFO members, the workshop was not only groundbreaking in terms of new topics that will be worked on and discussed in the coming months. Rather, the meeting in the presence of the members provided a valuable cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional exchange, which not least strengthened the motivation and enthusiasm for the goals of the marine science forum.