The Kiel Cluster of Excellence is said to be unique. Why?
We have been cooperating with various oceanographers all over the world for a long time and know the scientific scene very well. Of course, there are also excellent professorships and experts elsewhere. However, it would be great for our work if we had one major partner with a similarly broad and interdisciplinary approach to ours. But there really isn’t one anywhere else in the world.
Is such a comprehensive approach to research even conceivable without special government support?
No, definitely not. We have used the funds made available by the German Excellence Initiative to close the existing gaps in our research. Before, there were no economists at the Kiel Marine Sciences Institute, for example. We have been able to create a total of 13 new posts for junior professorships, each with an initial budget of 800,000 euros.
Oceanography is so complex that it takes a lot of time to arrive at reliable findings. Will this be possible with the Excellence Initiative?
We started in the autumn of 2006 and initially received funding for five years. This will be followed by an extension of one year. With a little luck we will subsequently be given a further extension of another five years. Altogether that would be enough time for interdisciplinary research on further essential principles. I must stress again that this type of comprehensive, interdisciplinary support for the marine sciences is unique worldwide.
In addition to research, you also take public relations work very seriously.
Yes. One of the services we provide is work with schoolchildren. We invite children to what we call the Schoolkids’ University, where they can listen to specially adapted lectures. Students who are particularly interested can accompany us in our research or conduct experiments themselves over a school year. Furthermore, our travelling exhibition “Ocean of the Future”, which draws attention to the dangers threatening the seas, started out on a tour of Germany in 2010. At the same time we would like to show what we can all do to combat climate change and the destruction of the oceans. Our current publication, World Ocean Review, is a comprehensive status report on the condition of the oceans. It targets decision-makers in politics and business. It’s an easy-to-understand but sober report on the situation of the oceans.
Reading the report, one gets the impression that it’s already too late to save the ocean.
That would be going too far. But it’s certainly time to change course. Our research initially tries to document the changes and describe the complex processes. We already understand many things. However, if we want to find out what needs to be done, we must continue our research. I’m confident that we will find solutions, but humanity must also be willing to go down this road. One example is the pollution of the oceans with plastic waste. Estimates suggest that 6.4 million tonnes of trash finds its way into the sea every year, often because there is no efficient waste disposal on land. The problem could be resolved quite easily – that is if we all acknowledge the error of our ways.
The World Ocean Review can be ordered free of charge in English and German: www.worldoceanreview.com
Prof. Dr. Martin Visbeck
is physical oceanographer at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences IFM-GEOMAR and spokesman of the “Ocean of the Future” Excellence Cluster
