In more than 25 years since its founding, the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) has developed and strengthened its network of partners in Germany and abroad. The participation of ZMT employees in national and international organisations contributes to the integration of German marine tropical ecology research with international programmes and the development of common strategies.
Membership in the following national organisations and alliances
Leibniz Association
The Leibniz Association connects 96 independent research institutions that range in focus from natural, engineering and environmental sciences to economics, spatial and social sciences and the humanities. Leibniz Institutes address issues of social, economic and ecological relevance. They conduct knowledge-driven and applied basic research, maintain scientific infrastructure and provide research-based services. The Leibniz Association identifies focus areas for knowledge transfer to policy-makers, academia, business and the public. Leibniz institutions collaborate intensively with universities – in the form of “Leibniz ScienceCampi” (thematic partnerships between university and non-university research institutes), for example – as well as with industry and other partners at home and abroad. They are subject to an independent evaluation procedure that is unparalleled in its transparency. Due to the importance of the institutions for the country as a whole, they are funded jointly by the Federation and the Länder, employing some 20,000 individuals, including 10,000 researchers. The entire budget of all the institutes is approximately 1.9 billion Euros.
Leibniz Research Alliance "Biodiversity"
The Leibniz Biodiversity Network, founded in 2008, bundles the skills of 20 Leibniz institutions in environmental, social, life, spatial and economic sciences to draw up recommendations for sustainable solutions. Scientists from the institutions and research museums record and document biodiversity, research into topics of major social relevance, inform the public competently and advise policy-makers on the development and implementation of their biodiversity goals.
Leibniz Research Alliance "Infections 21"
The Leibniz Research Alliance “INFECTIONS ´21” aims to establish an interdisciplinary research agenda and opens up new avenues of communication across disciplines. New strategies and methods for early warning and outbreak management systems will be developed to control spread of pathogens. This effort will also include public involvement through citizen science projects.
Leibniz Research Alliance „Sustainable Food Production and Healthy Nutrition"
The research alliance sees itself as a transdisciplinary research structure. Most of the member institutions conduct research primarily in the fields of “sustainable food production” and “healthy nutrition”. The alliance also has skills in the natural sciences, engineering, economics and the social sciences and is experienced in scientific political consultancy. Moreover, members have expertise at all scale levels – from the tiniest biological structural units, through interactions between beneficial organisms and their environment, to macro-economic and global economic considerations and the assessment of consumer behaviour.
Leibniz Research Alliance „Knowledge for Sustainable Development"
By formulating the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the global community agreed on an agenda for tackling humanity's most urgent challenges. Science has a key role to play in this: it provides the basis for understanding the complex processes and develops new knowledge, technological, social and ecological innovations together with actors from politics, business and society. The Leibniz Research Network "Knowledge for Sustainable Development" supports researchers in answering the associated theoretical and methodological questions. It brings togther and connects relevant research competencies in the Leibniz Association and contributes to the effectiveness and visibility of research for sustainable development. To this end, the network organises synthesis workshops, international conferences and summer schools in cooperation with other Leibniz institutions and external partners from science and practice, as well as future dialogues with influential personalities from politics, business and society.
German Marine Research Alliance (Deutsche Allianz für Meeresforschung - DAM)
The German Marine Research Alliance (Deutsche Allianz Meeresforschung - DAM) brings together leading German marine research institutions that contribute to the sustainable management of the oceans and seas with top-level research. The alliance addresses major future issues in marine research through joint research missions at the highest level. To this end, existing and new infrastructures, technologies and information systems are further developed and expanded. Together, science-based options for action for sustainable management of the oceans and seas are developed and communicated to society and politics. With the establishment of the German Marine Research Alliance, the Federal Government, the Northern-German Länder of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, together with German marine and maritime research institutions, are sending a clear signal. They are positioning Germany as one of the leading nations in the successful implementation of the UN Decade of Marine Research for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).
German Marine Research Consortium - KDM
KDM brings together the marine science expertise of its member institutions and collectively presents it to policy makers and research funding organisations as well as to the general public. , marine research serves as a stimulus for innovation and contributes significantly to the standing of the maritime sector in the northern German coastal states through research work, contributions to higher education as well as through knowledge and technology transfer.
U Bremen Research Alliance
In April 2016, the U Bremen Research Alliance was founded by the University of Bremen and the ten non-university research institutes funded by the Federal Government and the Länder. The Alliance defines itself as promoter of scientific collaboration with low bureaucracy and short reporting lines. It is geared to researching major cross-institutional research topics. The essence of “U Bremen Research Alliance” lies in the sharing of infrastructures, excellent service and advisory structures, tailored career paths, and swift implementation of scientific ideas.
NFDI4Biodiversity – NFDI Consortium for Biodiversity, Ecology and Environmental Data
NFDI4Biodiversity is a consortium under the umbrella of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) dedicated to the mobilising biodiversity and environmental data for collective use.
The partners pool their scientific and technical expertise to provide a broad service portfolio for handling biodiversity and environmental data and to develop it further in close cooperation with users from research and practice. The consortium consists of Partners include close to 50 scientific institutions, museums, natural history societies, state offices, and other institutes and expert groups.
The cooperation of the partner network is guided by the knowledge that stakeholders in science, politics, nature conservation and landscape management need reliable data to be able to develop better contributions to the conservation of biodiversity.
ZMT will provide unique long-term time series from tropical regions. These will contribute to the research data management infrastructure by providing curation capacities. ZMT is also involved in Task Areas TA1 und TA4.
Northwest Marine Research Association - NWVM
This alliance of marine research institutions in the north-western region of Germany aims to foster the application of research results and the development of marine technologies and to perform research and transfer projects jointly with the business sector.
German Commission for Research Diving - KFT
A professional organisation of German research institutions, which perform scientific diving in accordance with the national regulations. This is the central platform for all issues related to scientific diving in Germany.
GFBio - Gesellschaft für Biologische Daten e.V.
The association GFBio e.V. is committed to the standardisation and sustainable management of research data from biology, ecology and environmental sciences. As a national contact point, the association's services and advice cover all steps in the "life cycle" of research data - from the collection of data to archiving and publication. GFBio has also established itself as a diverse forum for networking and helping to shape future developments in the field of research data management
House of Science - Haus der Wissenschaft (HdW) in Bremen
The House of Science in Bremen's city centre is designed to promote the understanding and appreciation of science to the general public in and around Bremen. It offers exhibitions, discussion panels, talks and other events concerning information on current research.
bremen digitalmedia is the interest group for media and information technology companies in the state of Bremen. Since 2009, the non-profit association bremen digitalmedia has been specifically committed to education and training in the field of IT and media. The industry association bremen digitalmedia e.V. was founded in 1997 – at that time under the name bremen multimedial - as an initiative for the promotion, development, application and distribution of interactive media in the economic region of Bremen.
Partnerships with the following institutions
Zoo Berlin
Protection and preservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of marine resources are important aspects of the research work of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), working with like-minded people is a declared goal.