Alfred Wegener Institute
@awi.de
We research ice, oceans and climate. Website: www.awi.de Imprint: https://www.awi.de/en/imprint.html
Helmholtz Imaging Conference 2026: abstract submissions deadline extended! Submit your contribution by 30/9 👉 events.hifis.net/event/3981/p... Inspiring keynotes, new formats, workshops, community spirit & Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig await! See you there! 👋 @helmholtz.de @helmholtzai.bsky.social
As part of the preparations for a major international research project in the Beaufort Sea in 2027, AWI researchers traveled to Inuvik, Canada, to meet with Canadian and Swiss researchers, as well as Inuvialuit representatives. While there, they spotted and captured on camera Arctic wildlife.
In early September, researchers from Germany, Canada and Switzerland met in Inuvik, Canada, with representatives of the Inuvialuit communities to discuss research needs and opportunities for collaboration on the BeauPAIR project in the Beaufort Sea. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
Arctic Pulse: Exploring the pulse of the Arctic together
In early September, researchers from Germany, Canada and Switzerland met in Inuvik, Canada, with representatives of the Inuvialuit communities to discuss research needs and opportunities for collabora...
awi.de
Permafrost is a vital part of the Arctic ecosystem. It stores carbon and provides stable, firm ground. When the ice melts, thermokarst lakes form. AWI researchers have now created the 'Lost Lakes' database, which contains information about the state of thermokarst lakes. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
A Year in the Ice: The Tara Polar Station has begun its drift through the central Arctic!🧊🐻❄️On 9 September, the Tara Polar Station, reached its ice floe. From there, it will drift with the sea ice across the Arctic Ocean for a year. AWI scientist Julia Regnery is on board. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
🌱Pollen, charcoal, and biomarkers from 90-million-year-old Antarctic peatland sediments reveal that fire dynamics in the earliest peatlands of the warm, CO₂-rich Cretaceous world closely resembled modern ecosystems. @nu-eccor.bsky.social @awi.de 👉Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Co-evolution of wildfires and early Sphagnum-peatlands near the Cretaceous South Pole - Communications Earth & Environment
Pollen, charcoal, and biomarkers from the 90-million-year-old peatland sediments in Antarctica reveal that fire dynamics in the earliest peatlands of the warm, CO₂-rich Cretaceous world closely resemb...
nature.com
Greetings from the North Pole! Last Friday, the Polarstern reached the North Pole for the ninth time. The crew moored to an ice floe, enabling expedition participants to enjoy a few hours on the ice in beautiful weather, while the scientific work continued on board.
New study by the SCAR-Action Group “Rings” with AWI participation warns: Major gaps in knowledge along Antarctica’s coasts – where the ice sheet and the Southern Ocean interact – are now one of the biggest obstacles to reliably projecting future global sea level rise. Photo: Thomas Ronge
2️⃣ Yesterday, our research icebreaker Polarstern passed the 2 million nautical mile mark during the LAMEX expedition 🎉! 🐻❄️ During its transit from Svalbard to stations off East Greenland, it encountered a few polar bears 🥰! 📸Felix Tulatz @awi.de @meereisportal.bsky.social @helmholtz.de
🐟 Our new paper is out: "Some like it hot: The enigmatic #Arctic #DeepSea eelpout Pachycara platyrhina thrives at hydrothermal vents." This work goes back to a study visit in 2005 at the Natural History Museum #Copenhagen, so pleased to see this outcome now 😊! Free for 24 h: doi.org/10.1016/j.ds...
A team of AWI researchers will depart from Bodø, Norway aboard the Malizia Explorer, heading for East Greenland’s Kangertittivaq, the world’s largest fjord system. They will investigate Atlantic water circulation and how ship noise affects underwater life. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
Atlantic waters and anthropogenic underwater noise in the world’s largest fjord system
A research team from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) is now researching on board of the science and outreach sailing yacht Malizia Explorer how incoming Atlantic Water spreads through the Kangertit...
awi.de
Arctic cyclones can accelerate sea-ice loss, especially when they occur in rapid succession. An international research team led by the AWI has now systematically investigated how this cyclone clustering affects the future of Arctic sea ice and coastlines. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
Cyclone clusters in the Arctic reduce sea ice and threaten coastlines
In the Arctic, the weather plays a key role in determining how much ice covers the ocean. One weather phenomenon that has a significant influence on this is Arctic cyclones: they cause unusually warm ...
awi.de
Antarctica InSync is a global, interdisciplinary research initiative bringing scientists together to better understand how Antarctica’s interconnected systems are changing. The new Science Plan provides a roadmap for coordinating Antarctic research. The AWI is part of this international project. 🐧🌍
Publication of the Antarctica InSync Science Plan - Antarctica Insync
We are pleased to announce the official publication of the Antarctica InSync Science Plan! This important milestone has been achieved through the outstanding collaboration, dedication, and expertise o...
antarctica-insync.org
Are you in Oslo this weekend? Join the SYNCHRONY workshop at #SCAR2026, held in the context of Antarctica InSync and IPY-5. Saturday, 15 August, Clarion Hotel The Hub, room Hyde Park A 11:30–13:00: Closed session 13:15–18:00: Open session scar2026.org/schedule/syn...
Towards a synchronized circumpolar Southern Ocean observing system – SYNCHRONY workshop in the context of Antarctica InSync and the IPY5 | SCAR Open Science Conference
This meeting will consist of a combination of open and closed meetings: 11:30-13:00: Closed Meeting 13:15-18:00: Open Meeting Pleaser register here if you are planning on attending the open part of th...
scar2026.org
The Arctic's permafrost stores large quantities of organic carbon. Researchers from the AWI and @marumunibremen.bsky.social have shown that large quantities of this carbon, released by thawing permafrost and coastal erosion, are permanently buried in seafloor sediments. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
The Arctic Ocean keeps permafrost carbon firmly locked
Permafrost in the Arctic stores large quantities of organic carbon. When the frozen ground thaws or coastal sections erode, this carbon can enter the sea, where microorganisms can break it down and co...
awi.de
The SYNCHRONY project, led by the AWI, will start on 1 August 2026. It will strengthen observations in the Southern Ocean, improve our understanding of changes to the ocean, ice and atmosphere, and lay the groundwork for the UN Ocean Decade initiative, Antarctica InSync. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
A new observing system for the Southern Ocean
The EU project SYNCHRONY will launch on August 1st, 2026. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of the rapid changes taking place in the complex system comprising the ocean, ice and atmosphe...
awi.de
The Ararat Glacier has been surveyed geophysically for the first time. As part of a project led by the University of Münster, AWI and its partners mapped its ice cap, laying the groundwork for an ice core drilling campaign in 2027. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
One week left to apply for a PhD position about phage-host interactions on the beautiful island Helgoland. Come and work with us on the importance of phages in oyster-pathogenic Vibrios and which effect different seasons have on phage-host interactions. jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/22... @awi.de
PhD position in “Molecular Microbial Ecology focusing on phage-host interactions” (x/d/f/m)
Layout AWI Verwaltung englisch extern
jobs.awi.de
Tara Polar Station set off from the port of Lorient on 19 July. The mobile, international research station run by the Tara Ocean Fondation is now on its way to the Arctic, where it will drift across the ocean. Among the participants will be AWI researchers. 📸 François Dourlens/Fondation Tara Océan
Last week, we welcomed new AWI Director Hajo Eicken at HIFMB. As a collaborative institute between the University of Oldenburg and AWI, HIFMB is legally and organizationally part of AWI, and we collaborate closely. It was a great opportunity to exchange ideas with Hajo so soon after he took office.
On Saturday,research vessel Polarstern will head to HAUSGARTEN,a long-term Arctic observatory in the Fram Strait. Since 1999,it has recorded ecological changes in the water column and on the seafloor, providing key insights into climate impacts on polar marine ecosystems. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
Polarstern sets course for the HAUSGARTEN Arctic long-term observatory
In 1999, the Alfred Wegener Institute launched an ambitious project: the HAUSGARTEN observatory in the Fram Strait between northeast Greenland and Svalbard. Spanning ice-covered waters and extending t...
awi.de
In 2027,AWI scientist Mar Fernández and NIOZ's Linda Amaral Zettel will lead a REV Ocean expedition to study the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, a largely unexplored algal ecosystem that plays a significant role in climate, biodiversity, and the transport of microplastics. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
Setting Sail for the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt with the New REV Ocean Research Vessel
In 2027, the Norwegian initiative REV Oceans will send its new vessel on its first expedition: in April, the floating research platform will set sail from Rio de Janeiro alongside the UN Ocean Decade ...
awi.de
🪱New paper in the 25 years of HAUSGARTEN Observatory issue on "Biological variability & ecological sensitivity of #Arctic #DeepSea macrobenthos to environ. change" showing subtle long-term trends, incl. fauna responses to warm water anomaly (2015-2017). @awi.de www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Biological variability and ecological sensitivity of Arctic deep-sea macrobenthos to environmental change
Global accelerated changes impact deep-sea ecosystems, as particularly the current global warming trend is amplified in the Arctic. Studies on tempora…
sciencedirect.com
Need to cool off? ❄️Our wintering team celebrated 'Midwinter' at Neumayer Station III over the weekend. This means that, from now on, the days in Antarctica will become longer and brighter once again. The first half of the polar night is over!
Congratulations to AWI researcher Ulrike Herzschuh! The geographer has been endowed with three million euros by the European Research Council for her ‘plantExtinct’ project. She will be able to focus more on the extinction of plant species and develop new methods and models for this purpose.
Arctic sea ice reflects solar radiation, slows global warming and influences global ocean and atmospheric circulation. Due to limited observations, reanalysis data is used, which can be biased. A research team led by AWI researcher Akil Hossain has developed an AI model to correct these biases.
🥳Something to celebrate: 25 years of ecological time-series studies at the LTER Observatory HAUSGARTEN! As we see right now, it's not easy to sustain time series over long times -especially covering all spheres- yet it's vital to monitor #ClimateChange. @awi.de www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Marine heatwaves in the Arctic are now more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense than in the past. A recent AWI study led by Marylou Athanase shows how these extreme events have changed significantly and where gaps in our knowledge still exist. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
Since 2016, the AWI has operated an atmospheric observatory in Palau in the Pacific. The station measures ozone, water vapour, clouds and aerosols to help improve our understanding of atmospheric processes and refine climate models. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
10 Years of the Palau Observatory: Why polar researchers are working on a small Pacific island
In 2016, the Alfred Wegener Institute, together with the University of Bremen, the Palau Community College, and the Coral Reef Research Foundation, opened a research station at what is probably its wa...
awi.de
😊 I fondly remember the 'eek' moments we had after each visit to an ice floe to collect microplastic samples during #Polarstern expedition #PS126 in 2021 to our #Hausgarten observatory! 🚁During one flight, we discovered a small ‘boulder island’ in the ice & examined it more closely. 🎥 H. Jager 🧵->