The Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (HIFMB) was founded on 31 May 2017.

The HIFMB is an institutional co-operation between the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven and the University of Oldenburg. Located in the Wechloy Technology Park, it is the first Helmholtz Institute in Oldenburg and thus a milestone in the university's history. "With the founding of the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity, Oldenburg is developing into an internationally important centre for marine and climate sciences," emphasised Dr Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić (centre), Lower Saxony's Science Minister at the time. Since 2021, the Helmholtz Association has provided the Institute with basic funding of around 5.5 million euros per year - 90 per cent of which comes from federal funds and 10 per cent from the state of Lower Saxony.

The HIFMB's research centres on the question of how biodiversity in the oceans is changing. The researchers are also investigating the consequences of this for the functioning of marine ecosystems and their contribution to human well-being. On this basis, they are developing sustainable conservation concepts for marine ecosystem management. In doing so, the HIFMB relies on an integrative research approach that combines natural science-based conservation concepts with social science approaches to analyse social and political processes. HIFMB Director is the biologist Prof Dr Helmut Hillebrand (2nd from left). More information about the HIFMB's research can be found on its website.

The other people in the photo are (from left): Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann, the then University President Prof Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper and the then AWI Director Prof Dr Karin Lochte.