On Friday, Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science, Björn Thümler, was given an insight into the interdisciplinary fields of research at the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) at the University of Oldenburg, which was founded in 2017.
With the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity, Oldenburg is developing into a centre of marine and climate sciences of international significance, said Thümler during his visit. “The institute successfully combines basic research with tackling important societal challenges.”
The institute’s director, Prof. Dr Helmut Hillebrand, also briefed the minister on the planned new building, which is being funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science (MWK) with around 15 million euros. A site has already been secured for the new building in the Technologiepark development area in Wechloy. By 2022, office and laboratory space for 85 of the Institute’s staff is to be built here.
Alongside the Director of the HIFMB, University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper, Prof. Dr Thomas Brey, Deputy Director of the HIFMB, Prof. Dr Oliver Zielinski, Director of the University’s Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Sea (ICBM), and Dr Karsten Wurr, Administrative Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute – Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), who welcomed the guest from Hanover.
The Minister also gained insights into the research from Dr Irene Roca. She explained how scientists use acoustic methods to assess marine biodiversity and highlighted the consequences of underwater noise. Roca is part of the first group of early-career researchers to spend three years at the Institute as part of a special postdoctoral programme, during which they are deepening their research. The programme is designed to promote collaboration between colleagues at the University of Oldenburg and the AWI.
About the Institute:
Through the HIFMB, the University of Oldenburg and the AWI are pooling their research on marine biodiversity. The scientists’ aim is to elucidate in detail the functional role of biological diversity in the oceans and thus lay the scientific foundations for the protection and management of the marine ecosystem.