University of Bremen: 4,000 square meters for deep sea research
The Center for Deep Sea Research (ZfT) – built according to a design by the Bremen architectural office Haslob Kruse + Partner – is to become an interdisciplinary research center at the University of Bremen. Organizationally, it belongs to the so-called “Research Faculty” MARUM of the university. Here, marine sciences and climate research are to be further developed in the long term in order to sustainably strengthen the research location in the state of Bremen.
“On the one hand the MARUM and right next to it the new center for deep-sea research: It goes really well together,” says Bremen’s Senator for Science, Dr. Claudia Schilling. “The new building once again underlines Bremen’s unique selling point in the German university landscape. This is where research is carried out on the key environmental issues of the future, and the necessary equipment and infrastructure are being further developed at the same time. “
Scientifically, the main focus is on questions relating to the climate crisis and the role of the oceans and the deep sea in explaining global climate processes. Geological, physical, biological and chemical processes in the oceans and on the seabed interact and influence the climate system and the global carbon cycle. Many of these processes cannot yet be fully explained.
The dramatic climate change, the rise in sea levels and the generation of energy from the sea present the researchers with new, complex tasks. A clear research understanding of the processes is important in order to meet the challenges posed by environmental changes.
Taking marine science to the next level
“With the new center for deep-sea research, the comprehensive and internationally oriented profile of marine sciences in the state of Bremen is to be raised to a new level,” says Professor Michael Schulz, director of the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences.
Office and seminar rooms, laboratories, a workshop for diving robots and an extension of the drill core cold store will be built in the new building. Before the actual construction began, the area was cleared and the ground prepared. The corona pandemic delayed the entire project; After about two years of construction, the building is to be occupied.
The total cost of the project is around 38 million euros, which is shared by the federal and state governments. This also includes funds for the purchase of a remote-controlled diving robot that can work in the oceans up to a depth of 5,000 meters.