Following its success in the Excellence Competition, the cluster of excellence "The Ocean Floor – Earth's Uncharted Interface" will enter its second funding period in January 2026. The work builds on the results of the first funding phase (2019–2025) and on more than two decades of cutting-edge research within the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.

As one of the world's leading centres for marine Earth system research, the cluster will systematically investigate the function of the seafloor within the Earth system, as well as its carbon cycle and biodiversity. By bringing together geological, palaeobiological and ecological expertise, applying modern molecular approaches to seabed samples, and combining the latest findings from research into environmental variability and ecological stability, the cluster will expand our understanding of biodiversity responses to climate change.

The cluster operates across locations and combines the expertise of the universities of Oldenburg and Bremen. In addition to the ICBM – Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment at the University of Oldenburg and MARUM – Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, the following institutions are also involved:

• Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Bremerhaven)
• Constructor University (Bremen)
• Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (Delmenhorst)
• Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (Bremen)
• Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (Bremen)
• Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (Oldenburg)