• From ocean hazards to coastal preparedness

  PhD candidates may be from geosciences, coastal engineering, economics, and law
  Research focuses on large events (e.g., plate boundary earthquakes and associated tsunamis, sudden relative sea level rise, floods and storms) in order to evaluate their impacts on the coastal zone and to develop adaptation strategies for coastal geohazards, based on the analyses of on-going, recent, and past events.
  Recent experience teaches mankind that oceanic geohazards, such as plate boundary earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, coastal and submarine landslides, and resulting tsunamis can reach dimensions that exceed the probable and the expected, as would be defined by conventional hazard and risk analysis (Showstack, 2011). This new class of threats (e.g., the 2011 Sendai event in Japan) results from chains of superimposed disasters, and can produce an immediate impact on the intricately linked global community and economy. They affect large populations and sensitive industrial installations on coasts and offshore, already confronted with problems of rising sea level, rapid coastline retreat, delta subsidence, sediment trapping in upstream river systems, and severe storms (Syvitski et al., 2009).
  We envisage an integrated and multidisciplinary research approach covering the continental slope, the shelf, and coastal areas in order to investigate the entire chain from the physical state of the seafloor to consequences on the coast.
  The central question is: How can we cope with ocean hazards and prepare for coastal change?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/marine-resources-and-risks/submarine-hazards-at-continental-margins/facts/
  Principal Investigators are: J. Behrmann, S. Krastel, K. Stattegger
  Also involved are: E. Flüh, A. Holzheid, R. Mayerle, H. Kopp, M. Quaas, W. Rabbel, K. Schrottke, K. Schwarzer, A. Vafeidis,
  K. Odendahl

• Effects of micro-scale processes on substance fluxes

  PhD candidates may be from biology, che­mistry, geochemistry, geology, physical oceanography and mathematics
  The ocean interacts with the atmosphere and lithosphere through continuous exchange of matter and energy. Under­standing exchange processes across the ocean interfaces is key to unraveling complex interplays such as climate system feedbacks. The relevant processes are determined by a combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes acting on a variety of scales in time and space. Accumulation of organic and inorganic substances, both in the wider boundary layers and in the microlayers directly at the interface, together with intense biological activity, lead to unique heterogeneous physico‐chemical and biological properties deviating greatly from bulk seawater conditions. Further modifications of ocean interfaces, for example through photochemical and microbial transformations, contribute to forming an environment, in which transfer processes can both be augmented and diminished. By combining state‐of‐the‐art molecular, microbiological and biogeochemical analytical techniques, laser spectroscopy, micro and mesocosm experimentation, in-situ measurements and theoretical modeling, the research topic.
  The central research question is: How do micro‐scale processes at ocean interfaces affect fluxes of climate relevant substances?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/greenhouse-oceans/sea-surface-chemistry/facts/
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/greenhouse-oceans/seafloor-warming/facts/
  Principal Investigators are:  G. Friedrichs, T. Treude , U. Riebesell, F. Temps
  Also involved are: A. Biastoch, S. Börm, A. Engel, S. Gorb, B. Hartke, A. Körtzinger, P. Linke, L. Rüpke, R. Schmitz-Streit,
  R. Schneider, K. Schrottke, U. Sommer, T. Slawig, M. Wahl, K. Wallmann

• - Evolution of life histories and life spans
  - Evolutionary biogeochemistry
  - Evolution of biomineralization

  PhD candidates may be from biogeochemistry, marine ecology, genomics, and biomedical research
  Life originated in the sea, and the oceans harbour the greatest phylogenetic diversity of life, which in turn drives biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem services. At the same time, marine ecosystems are increasingly exposed to multiple stressors such as warming, ocean acidification, deoxygenation, eutrophication, and species invasions. Thus far, global change research has focused on the short-term physiological and ecological consequences of anthropogenic disturbance, while the potential of populations and communities to adapt rapidly to global change has rarely been considered, a major gap for future ocean scenarios and biogeochemical models. Evidence is rapidly accumulating that eco-evolutionary feedbacks determine biotic interactions and hence the functioning of ecosystems over time scales similar to present-day anthropogenic disturbances (Hoffmann & Sgro 2011). At the same time, the fundamental molecular genetic principles of many traits that underlie important ecosystem functions can now be analyzed in many marine species that are not genetic models, owing to rapid progress in genomic and transcriptomic techniques. Two trait complexes that are increasingly compromised by global change are: (1) biomineralization – the formation of mineralized shells, scales, skeletons and epidermal structures, and (2) the diversity of life-cycles and life-spans.
  The central question is: Whether and how rapid evolutionary change of populations, species and communities will affect ecosystem and biogeochemical processes?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/marine-resources-and-risks/marine-medicine/facts/
  Principal Investigators are: T. Reusch, P. Rosenstiel

  Also involved are: M. Bleich, T. Bosch, C Dullo, S. Gorb, F. Melzner, A. Nebel, A. Oschlies, U. Piatkowski, D. Piepenburg ,
  U. Riebesell, H. Schulenburg, R. Schmitz-Streit, B. Schneider, U. Sommer, M. Wahl

• What are the oceanic controls on warming climates?

  PhD candidates may be from geophysics, biogeochemistry, paleoceanography, and climate modelling
  We propose to study examples of past climate warming and environmental change in order to find the main patterns of ocean feedbacks on climate by concentrating on changes in three-dimensional (3D) ocean circulation, ocean carbon cycle, gas hydrate dynamics, and the influence of geological greenhouse gas emissions.The examples range from the extreme global warming during the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 55 Ma), to the glacial/interglacial transitions, the Holocene climate optimum to the regionally confined medieval warm period. We shall integrate high performance Earth system modelling with geophysical fieldwork on modern analogues of gas release and high-resolution sedimentological and paleoceanographic proxy work to provide a synthesis of the relevant ocean processes during periods of climate warming.
  The central question is: How does the ocean control climate and environment?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/greenhouse-oceans/changes-in-ocean-circulation/facts/
  Principal Investigators are: C. Berndt, B. Schneider
  Also involved are: M. Latif, A. Eisenhauer, M. Frank, K. Krüger, W. Kuhnt, C. Dullo, S. Krastel, S. Meier, L. Rüpke, R. Schneider,
  J. Schönfeld, K. Stattegger, T. Treude, K. Wallmann

• Optimized ocean observing systems

  PhD candidates may be from chemical and physical oceanography, informatics, geochemistry, geology, law and economics
  The provision of routine and sustained global, regional and local information on the marine environment is not sufficient to meet society’s needs for describing, understanding and forecasting natural marine variability from days to decades, marine responses to climate change (e.g., ocean warming, acidification, and deoxygenation) and other human impacts (loss of biodiversity, pollution), sustainable management of living marine resources (fish stocks) and marine protection.
  In order to fulfill society’s mandate for ocean observations, a) advanced concepts and routines have to be developed, tested and implemented that assure the sensors efficiently deliver the information via simulated ocean models  required and b) the systematic design of global, regional and local ocean observation systems under scientific, technical, legal, and economic constraints need to be addressed.
  The central question is: How can ocean observations be improved?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/research-platforms/ocean-observatories/
  Principal Investigators are: W. Hasselbring, A. Körtzinger, M. Visbeck
  Also involved are: A. Biastoch, P. Brandt, C. Devey, K. Hoernle, T. Kanzow, J. Karstensen, R. Koch, N. Luttenberger, K. Odendahl,
  M. Quaas, K. Rehdanz, T. Slawig

• Improving ocean predictions

  PhD candidates may be from the fields of ocean circulation, climate and carbon cycle modeling and mathematics
  The evolution of the state of the ocean on decadal time scales is influenced by both natural modes of variability and anthropogenic trends, and involves spatial patterns which are far from uniform. A leading factor governing regional ocean changes is the response of ocean circulation to atmospheric forcing variability and trends: the associated ocean transport anomalies strongly influence the geographical patterns of oceanic processes such as carbon uptake, acidification, near-bottom warming and sea level. Local rates of sea level change during the last decades, for instance, significantly differed from the global-mean rise due to circulation-related swings in the warm upper-ocean waters. Future changes in nutrient supply and associated biological productivity as well as in oceanic carbon uptake and associated acidification, will be significantly impacted on a regional scale by the changes in the 3-D circulation, for instance, the up- and down-welling patterns in the southern ocean and in the tropics, or the deep wintertime convection in the subarctic Atlantic. A common denominator of future ocean changes at the regional scale is an over-arching influence of ocean dynamics: understanding the behavior of ocean circulation and its effect on biogeochemical fluxes in response to changing atmospheric conditions represents a prerequisite for developing capabilities in projecting the future evolution of societally relevant properties at the regional scale.
  The central question is: How can ocean predictions be improved on regional scales?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/greenhouse-oceans/oceanic-cosub2sub-uptake/facts/
  Principal Investigators are: C. Böning, M. Braack
  Also involved are: A. Biastoch, S. Börm, C. Devey, G. Friedrichs, R. Froese, R. Greatbatch, M. Latif, A. Oschlies, L. Rüpke,
  B. Schneider, T. Slawig, A. Srivastav

• Marine carbon sequestration

  PhD candidates may be from biogeochemistry, geosciences, marine biology economics, law or mathematics
  The global ocean is the major natural sink for carbon, nutrients and other biologically active substances. Most of the anthropogenic CO2 will ultimately be removed from the atmosphere and transferred into the oceans to be stored as dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater and particulate organic and inorganic carbon in marine sediments. The uptake rate of atmospheric CO2 is determined by the efficiency of the physical and biological marine carbon pumps transferring CO2 to the ocean’s interior.
  Climate engineering (CE) approaches have been proposed to stimulate these natural CO2 pumps. They aim to exploit the vast nutrient inventory of the oceans to sequester additional CO2 as marine biomass or intend to employ the buffering capacity of seawater to neutralize CO2. Geological formations below the seabed have already been used to dispose CO2 from natural gas for more than a decade and a large number of new storage sites below the seabed will be opened in the near future to accommodate CO2 from coal power plants.
  Marine CE options and sub-seabed CO2 storage may help to mitigate future climate change but could also amplify ongoing ocean acidification and oxygen loss in the ocean with potentially grave and harmful consequences for marine ecosystems. By combining perspectives of disciplines relevant to the subject the research topic Ocean Sinks aims for an unbiased assessment of these marine carbon sequestration techniques (MCST).
  The central question is: What is the future role of marine carbon sequestration techniques to mitigate climate change?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/greenhouse-oceans/cosub2sub-sequestration/facts/
  Principal Investigators are: A. Oschlies, K. Rehdanz, U. Riebesell, K. Wallmann
  Also involved are: C. Berndt, J. Bialas, M. Haeckel, M. Jegen-Kulczar, G. Klepper, A. Körtzinger, F. Melzner, K. Odendahl,
  M. Quaas, W. Rabbel, T. Requate, P. Schäfer, T. Slawig

• Marine resources

  PhD candidates may be from biology, geology, economics or law
  For millennia, human beings have taken advantage of ocean usage in multiple ways. The oceans serve as transport media, provide food and other resources, and serve as a sink for human waste. For several decades the oceans have also served as a source of fossil fuel exploitation, with gas hydrates exploration as one of the most recent developments. A severe problem with living ocean resources is their overuse. Due to ill-defined property rights and missing or insufficient rules and regulations, ocean resources and services are being used in an unsustainable way. Exploitation of common property resources under open access has led to over-harvesting and severe stock depletion of major seafood species. This kind of overuse calls for national or international coordination and agreements on limiting economic activities to sustainable levels and on associated management rules. This research proposal has therefore two main objectives: To explore the functioning and potentials of ocean resources on the one hand, and to develop improved management and governance rules, on the other. With respect to the resources, this proposal focuses on (1) geological resources such as deep-sea ore deposits and methane hydrate accumulations, and (2) biological resources such as fish and other living resources. The aim of this research area is (i) to better understand the formation and global distribution of geological seafloor resources and to evaluate the risks and benefits of their exploitation, (ii) to better understand the relationship between fishing practices and other human impacts on the genetic diversity and health of fish (and other seafood) stocks, and (iii) to define operational management rules and targets in the presence of common property and ill-defined property rights.
  The central question is: How can ocean resources be exploited in a sustainable or low impact manner by an appropriate balance between ocean use and ocean protection.
  More Information: http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/marine-resources-and-risks/seafloor-resources/facts/
  Principal Investigators are: L. Rüpke, T. Requate
  Also involved are: A. Dahmke, C. Devey, R. Froese, D. Garbe-Schönberg, H.-J. Götze, I. Grevemeyer, F. Hauff, P. Herzig,
  M. Haeckel, K. Hoernle, S. Petersen, S. Peterson, K. Odendahl, M.Quaas, T. Reusch, K. Wallmann

• Sustainable fisheries management

  PhD candidates may be from economics and biology
  For millennia human beings have taken advantage of ocean usage in multiple ways. The oceans serve as transport media, provide food and other resources, and serve as a sink for human waste. A severe problem with living ocean resources is their overuse. Due to ill-defined property rights and missing or insufficient rules and regulations ocean resources and services are being used in an unsustainable way. Exploitation of common property resources under open access has led e.g. to over-harvesting and severe stock depletion of major seafood species. This kind of overuse calls for national or international coordination and agreements on limiting economic activities to sustainable levels and on associated management rules. This research proposal has therefore two main objectives. The functioning and potentials of ocean resources are to be explored, on the one hand, and improved management and governance rules are to be developed, on the other.
  The central question is: How can ocean resources be exploited in a sustainable or low impact manner by an appropriate balance between ocean use and ocean protection?
  More Information:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/research-areas/marine-resources-and-risks/fisheries-and-overfishing/facts/
  Principal Investigators are: T. Requate, L. Rüpke                                                                   
  Also involved are: A. Dahmke, C. Devey, R. Froese, D. Garbe-Schönberg, H.-J. Götze, I. Grevemeyer, F. Hauff, P. Herzig,
  M. Haeckel, K. Hoernle, S. Petersen, S. Peterson, K. Odendahl, M. Quaas, T. Reusch, K. Wallmann

• Marine biogenic materials

  PhD candidates may be from biology, medicine, and materials science
  The diversity of marine life forms harbors an invaluable resource of biological substances, materials, and principles that may potentially be exploited for medical and technological applications. The resource comprises a wide range of molecular structures from small diffusible molecules with signaling, antibiotic, and other functions to large biopolymers, materials from bioceramics to hydrogels, and surfaces from adhesive to anti-fouling ones. Despite the theoretical wealth of these principles only very few marine bioactive substances, materials, surfaces, and/or their biomimetics have found their way into application. Recent technological advances (e.g. automated diving and sampling units, NMR spectroscopy, advances in imaging techniques and high-throughput genomics) have enabled a streamlined discovery process that may allow for a rationale target prioritization scheme. It is evident that a broad-scale drug screening and particularly the subsequent development program across many indications cannot be realized in an academic environment, yet we feel that the unique resources and the expertise available within the Cluster are an excellent starting point to follow up with a competitive translational approach focused on specific innovations that can be reached from research on marine organisms.
  The central question is: How can ocean biological substances and materials be used to support technological innovations for a range of applications that benefit human society?
  More Information:
  http://www.uni-kiel.de/zoologie/gorb/bionics.html
  Principal Investigators are: S. Gorb, R. Schmitz-Streit                                                           
  Also involved are: M. Bleich, T. Bosch, J. Imhoff, E. Maser, F. Melzner, P. Rosenstiel, C. Schulz, R. Schulz, S. Schreiber

• Ocean sustainability and governance

  PhD candidates may be from law, economics, political scien­ces, philosophy, geography and natural marine sciences
  Existing approaches to governing the oceans have largely failed. One example is the over-fishing problem. According to FAO (2011) the state of the world’s marine fish stocks is worse than ever: Almost a third of all stocks are overexploited or depleted, imposing a threat for marine biodiversity and the functioning of marine ecosystems. New problems such as CO2 storage in the ocean or climate engineering are also not sufficiently handled by existing frameworks and thus require completely new governance approaches, too. Furthermore, all of these international issues lack a clear assignment of responsibility to an authority, institution, or person. Different players impact the ocean, including States, international organizations, private businesses, and individual citizens. A major challenge is the growing interconnectedness of both differing societies in the world and the issues that States and civil societies have to deal with. Therefore, regulation at different levels (international treaties, EU law, national law, “soft law” such as codes of good practice, contracts between private parties or with the State, or discussion processes) has to be coordinated. We will focus on two broad approaches of governing the ocean towards sustainability, both of which assign responsibility for the sustainable use of the oceans to specific entities.
  The central question is: How can rules of environmental liability law be implemented in the international setting and which revisions are required to sovereign rights in exclusive economic zones (EEZs)?
  
  Principal Investigators are: K. Odendahl, M. Quaas                                                               
  Also involved are: T. Duscher, R. Froese, G. Klepper, D. Nabers, T. Requate, K. Rehdanz,

  U. Schmidt, A. Trunk , A. Vafeidis

• Communication and Outreach

  PhD Candidates may be from any discipline, and must be interested in focussing on the development of new communication avenues to a variety of stakeholder interests. We encourage enthusiastic young scientists to formulate imaginative and interesting research proposals.
  Examples of Outreach Efforts:
  http://www.ozean-der-zukunft.de/english/exhibition-and-school/exhibition/overview/
  Principal Investigators are: T. Duscher, M. Quaas, M. Schulz

The Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean” is not bound to a particular faculty. Prerequisites for your doctorate at the University of Kiel will depend on the rules of the faculty you choose to join.

Faculties involved are

The Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts and Design is also a partner in the Cluster.