German Research Vessels Portal

Welcome to the portal for German research vessels. This portal serves as an information platform for researchers who wish to use vessels of the German marine research fleet(interner Link).

In order to be allocated ship time, a cruise proposal(interner Link) has to be submitted which is subject to scientific quality assurance by the Review Panel German Research Vessels (GPF)(interner Link). Cruise proposals may be submitted either for ship time only, without funding, or in connection with a grant proposal under the DFG Infrastructure Priority Programme SPP 2520 “Research Vessels”(externer Link). Cruise proposals that receive a positive review are then incorporated into the cruise planning pool by the institutions which operate the vessels.

After the expedition(interner Link) has taken place, a cruise report is prepared. Following analysis of the data and samples, the scientific results are presented no earlier than two years later at the Status Conference Research Vessels(interner Link). See the various sections of this portal for further information.

News
The establishment of SPP 2520 “Research Vessels” by the DFG Senate on 25 September 2024 resulted in numerous changes to the GPF process. Please familiarise yourself with the current instructions(interner Link)
The SPP 2520 now has an own website with further information: https://www.spp2520.uni-heidelberg.de/en(externer Link)
The new call for proposals for SPP 2520 (SPP 2520/3) has been published on July 23, 2026. Submission deadline is December 2, 2026. Please refer to DFG’s Information for Researchers.(externer Link)
Dates of the upcoming GPF meetings and deadlines for the submission of new cruise proposals can be found on the subpage Review(interner Link)
The next coordination workshop for SPP 2520 Research Vessels takes place on 15-17 May 2027 in Bremen.
A current overview of cruises in the planning pool that have not yet been incorporated into the published cruise schedule can be downloaded here(Download).