Partnership Institutions

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (AWI)

The Alfred Wegener Institute was established in 1980. Since then, it has
developed from modest beginnings into an internationally recognised centre for
polar and marine research and makes significant contributions to Earth system research in polar regions and coastal waters. The research is aimed at identifying past and future changes in the global environment from a marine and
polar perspective. AWI is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German research centres and pursues long-term research goals of the federal government on its own responsibility.  The methodologies are based on many different scientific disciplines to pursue new approaches in gaining an understanding of polar and coastal regions.

One major issue of the Helmholtz Research School on Earth System Sciences (ESSReS) is to integrate and compare data sets from ice core, marine and land records in conjunction with modeling to obtain a better understanding of the ice-sea-atmosphere interactions and feedbacks for past, present, and future climate. Advanced numerical models simulate the behaviour of the atmosphere and its chemistry, the ocean and its biogeochemistry, the cryosphere and biosphere, as well as the interactions between these different components of the Earth's system. The AWI operates powerful high-performance computing facilities for modelling of environmental systems. Almost 140 PhD students are currently undergoing training at the AWI, among whom around 30 pursue computationally-oriented projects. The AWI has had a PhD qualification concept since 2001, including modules for communication skills, project management, scientific writing, conflict management, etc.

Contact:    

Prof. Dr. Gerrit Lohmann (Spokesman)            
Email: gerrit.lohmann@awi.de                     
Phone: +49-(0)471-48311758                     

Dr. Klaus Grosfeld (Coordinator)
Email: klaus.grosfeld@awi.de
Phone: +49-(0)471-48311765

 
New coordinator from January 15, 2013:

Dr. Helge Meggers
Email: helge.meggers@awi.de
Phone: +49-(0)471-48311873

Jacobs University Bremen, School of Engineering and Science

The Jacobs University Bremen is a highly selective, private institution for the advancement of education and research. Its academic programmes and cultural environment prepare graduates for international leadership and global citizenship. Multinational students from more than 80 countries, faculty, and researchers of distinction collaborate in learning, creating and disseminating information and new knowledge. Jacobs University’s unique transdisciplinary approach to learning and research is guided excellence as regards students and faculty, international with respect to the student body and faculty, transdisciplinary regarding teaching and research, interactive through its networked environment, unity of living and learning on campus, and independent in its organisation and management, and maximum flexibility. Jacobs University currently hosts about 800 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. The School of Engineering and Science is the largest department in Jacobs University, offering a broad range of BSc and MSc programmes in Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Computational Science and Electrical Engineering, and Geosciences and Astrophysics. In the last few years, in addition to research PhDs, a number of integrated Masters/PhD programmes have been launched. Resources and infrastructure, such as Jacobs University’s high-performance computing centre, the Computational Laboratory for Analysis, Modelling, and Visualization (CLAMV) will support the proposed Research School programme. Since CLAMV users benefit from a shared infrastructure providing remote access to software, servers, and high-performance computing platforms, the CLAMV Computer Teaching Lab is an ideal place to organise courses for graduate students in various areas of computationally-oriented research.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Vikram Unnithan
Email: v.unnithan@jacobs-university.de
Phone:  +49-(0)421-2003161

Institute for Environmental Physics, University of Bremen (Uni-HB/IUP)

The IUP was established in 1993 to address research focussing on the system comprising the sun, atmosphere and Earth, by using physical approaches and methodology. IUP, together with its partners in Bremen, have developed wide-ranging relevant and internationally-recognised competence in the field of Earth Observation and Earth System Sciences. A particular speciality of the IUP has been its participation in the development and exploitation of remote sensing research instruments such as the Microwave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS), the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME), and the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY). The last two were proposed by the IUP, and the IUP acts as Principal Investigator. Satellite observations are complemented by ground-based observations at sites worldwide, from the Arctic in Spitsbergen to the tropics in Suriname. Most ground based observation bases are parts of international networks, like the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition and Change) or the OCO (CO2-Network). Analysis of satellite data has been performed at the IUP for many years, together with the application of the resulting data in sea ice, ocean and atmospheric circulation models. The IUP has developed methods to retrieve sea ice information from the intensity and polarisation signal in operationally-available data. As an example, the IUP operationally provides sea ice maps that currently are the highest resolved sea ice data available on a daily and global basis. These data are based on measurements made with the passive microwave sensor AMSR-E aboard the NASA platform AQUA, launched in 2002.


Contact: Prof. Dr. Justus Notholt
Email: notholt@uni-bremen.de    
Phone: +49-(0)421 -218-8982