Competitions

In the marine competition "Research at Sea", pupils from the 9th grade onwards can conduct their own marine research project on a real research vessel and spend a week experimenting, taking and analyzing samples on board the ALDEBARAN. The teams receive active support from their scientific mentors both during the excursion and the subsequent laboratory activities.

In 2024, the marine competition "Research at Sea" celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The three winning teams were:

Student team:
Lara Marsell, Emely Schüle
Amandus-Abendroth-Gymnasium, Cuxhaven
Research topic:
Biodiversity of diatoms as the "marine lungs" of the earth
Science sponsors:
Dr. Claus Dürselen, AquaEcology; Dr. Dirk Reinhardt, LADR GmbH Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum Dr. Kramer & Kollegen (supporters).

Student team:
Greta Banzhaf, Frieda Greiling, Melissa Horras, Serafina Uhl
Gymnasium Spaichingen, Schülerforschungszentrum Tuttlingen
Research topic:
Microclimate in seagrass meadow
Science mentors:
Sebastian Storey, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg; Dr. Matteo Lattuada, Technical University of Braunschweig (advisor).

Student team:
Luise Koball, Arian Niclas Wulf
Gymnasium Reutershagen, Schülerforschungszentrum Rostock
Research topic:
More than just looking into the tube
Science mentors:
Lisa Schüler, Institute for Applied Ecosystem Research GmbH; Peter Schmedemann, bilSE Institute for Education and Research; Heiko Betz, Frauenhofer Institute.

The German Ocean Foundation, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and boot Düsseldorf honour environmentally-friendly projects and technical innovations for a better climate and healthier ocean with the annual ocean tribute award.

This year's winner is the organization Ambiente Europeo with the project SeaLabs. With SeaLabs, sailors can collect important marine data in remote areas and turn every trip into a research expedition. The company equips participating sailing vessels with affordable sensor technology and an intuitive app and thus uses the potential of the sailing community to obtain large data sets.

This year's finalists were SeaLabs, enteron, The Healthy Seas Foundation, High Seas Alliance and Ocean Material.

Together with SMM, AI Hamburg and the Forum Oceano from Portugal, the German Ocean Foundation is launching the "AI for the Oceans Award" 2024. Start-ups and initiatives from all over the world that use artificial intelligence to improve the situation of the ocean can apply for the award. 

2024 won HUB Ocean, a non-profit foundation that aims to use AI to retrieve, compare and analyze data to simplify and accelerate research and planning processes for ocean observations.

The jury of the AI for the Oceans Award recognized the importance of their project for improving the availability and quality of science-based data for research, industry and administration. The platform enables researchers and planners to compare older data or data from other regions with new results, leading to greater efficiency and speed in research and planning processes.

The two other finalists were blueOASIS and OceanOS.