ZMT - Leibniz Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung

22.1.16 | New “Year of Science” by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is dedicated to marine science

“Seas and Oceans” is the name of the new “Year of Science” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which will start in the middle of 2016 and continue throughout 2017. Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister for Education and Research, recently introduced the Year of Science in Berlin. The new motto is “Discover, Use, Protect with marine science as the center of the activities.

Topics include the marine habitats, food sources and economic areas to the role of the oceans for weather and climate as well as the social significance of the seas and coastal regions as cultural sites, places of longing or tourist destinations.

Nationwide more than 100 events, discussions, exhibitions and competitions will take place. The exhibition vessel MS Wissenschaft will moor at German ports from May onwards and the hands-on exhibition ScienceStation will tour German railway stations throughout the summer. For both events a contribution by the ZMT is currently being planed: a digital 3-D visualization of a tropical coral reef will invite people on a research dive.

Oceans cover roughly 70 percent of our planet. Every third person on Earth uses the sea as a food source. More than half of the world’s population lives in coastal regions. Most goods reach us via the oceans and the sea floor carries large mineral deposits. In addition, the oceans absorb a large amount of the carbon dioxide produced by humans.

“Seas and oceans are of vital importance for our lives. A major part of the oceans is still unknown to us. Nonetheless, they are often ruthlessly exploited and polluted. Micro plastic can now be found in fish, small sea animals and in the arctic ice,” the Federal Minister for Education and Research said. “The seas and oceans are food source, economic areas and climate machines for us. We’d like to make the people aware of this important subject and have allocated more time this year so that our citizens can find out much more about the largest habitat on our planet and how to protect it.”

The Year of Science is a joint initiative by the Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) and Research and Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD). More partners are also involved in the event.

You can find more information on the BMBF website or watch the video.