Operation Area of the Vessels

German Research Vessels Portal

In the field of basic marine research, Germany has a very efficient fleet of research vessels at its disposal. As universal platforms, the vessels facilitate research in all marine science disciplines and in the waters of all oceans.

This portal provides a platform for scientists working at publicly funded research institutions (universities, institutions of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, institutions of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Association, institutes of the Max Planck Society, and subordinate federal authorities) to submit cruise proposals for the research vessels POLARSTERN, METEOR, SONNE, MARIA S. MERIAN, ALKOR, HEINCKE, and ELISABETH MANN BORGESE. Proposals for secondary use of RV POLARSTERN are accepted also from scientists who are employed at a research institution outside Germany.

The decision on which research groups will be allocated access to the research vessels is made in the framework of a uniform evaluation procedure based on scientific criteria. For further information, please refer to the subpage "Evaluation".

Important note: The "Cruise Proposal Preparation Instructions" are updated consistently and the ship proposals must be composed in accordance with the current version.

Short cruises of one to three working days aiming at the test of scientific equipment under development can be requested directly at the ship operators (see subpage "Contact").

Information for potential secondary users:

All cruises recommended by the GPF to be included in the scheduling process that could not be scheduled yet by the ship operating institutions are listed in the following overview:

> Overview table of approved but not yet scheduled cruise proposals

News and Announcements:

CHANGE IN THE FINANCING OF EXPEDITION AND INITIAL EVALUATION COSTS 

SPP 2520 „Research Vessels“

In September 2024, the Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG) decided to implement the new infrastructure priority programme SPP 2520 “Research Vessels” to fund the expedition and initial evaluation phase of ship expeditions on German research vessels. The first funding period will commence in January 2026. Cruise projects that require funding via this SPP must in future be submitted as a DFG grant proposal as part of the annual calls for proposals for SPP 2520 (“Priority Programme” section in ELAN). In addition to the grant proposal, a corresponding core cruise proposal with cruise-specific data that cannot be represented in the format of the grant proposal, must be submitted via the “Cruise proposals” section in ELAN. Both parts are reviewed as a single unit. Details can be found under “Submission” and in the Cruise Proposal Preparation Instructions. 

From the second funding phase onwards (call will be published in July 2025), prior participation in the SPP 2520 coordination workshops, which take place annually in early summer, is expected before submitting a cruise project. The calls for proposals are usually published in July and allow applications to be submitted by the end of December of the same year. Applicants and ship operators are notified of the results of the evaluation in May/June of the following year. Approvals are only issued at the beginning of the financial year in the following January (at the earliest one year after submission of the proposal). If the cruise has not yet been scheduled at this point in time, it will be possible to apply for a later grant starting date and, if necessary, for a cost-neutral runtime extension of the project.  

The call for proposals for the first funding phase for cruise projects starting in the transition year 2026 or later can be found from early October 2024 under the following link: DFG Information for Researchers: Calls for Proposals. In this funding phase, it will be possible to submit proposals for RVs MARIA S. MERIAN, METEOR and SONNE only, both for new cruise projects and for the adaptation of cruise proposals (see below) from the existing planning pool. It is expected that proposals for funding cruise projects with RVs POLARSTERN, ALKOR, HEINCKE and ELISABETH MANN BORGESE starting in 2027 or later can be submitted from the next call for proposals in the second half of 2025.

The previous system of obtaining funding within the framework of a regular cruise proposal via the DFG Research Vessel Funding (for RV METEOR and RV MARIA S. MERIAN) or BMBF project funding (for RV SONNE) is no longer available.

Adaptation of cuise proposals from the existing planning pool to the funding scheme of SPP 2520

For all cruises with the RVs SONNE, METEOR and MARIA S. MERIAN that begin earlier than May 2026 and have already been or will be included in the cruise planning, the financing for carrying out and (initial) evaluation of the cruise will still be handled via BMBF project funding (SONNE) and DFG Research Vessel Funding (old METEOR and MARIA S. MERIAN), respectively.

Cruise proposals for RVs METEOR, MARIA S. MERIAN and SONNE that have already been positively assessed by the GPF or the previous “Marine Research with RV SONNE” review committee, but which have applied for funding under the previous funding system and whose cruise will not begin before May 2026, must submit an additional application to SPP 2520 “Research Vessels” (section “Priority Programmes” in ELAN) and a corresponding core cruise proposal (section “Cruise proposals” in ELAN) to receive the funding. The budget applied for is to be adjusted to the framework conditions of the SPP.

The previous positive scientific assessment will of course be taken into account in the decision-making process within the SPP. 

New cruise proposals that do not require funding via SPP 2520

Regular cruise proposals that do not require funding (e.g., cruises within the framework of programmes funded otherwise, educational cruises, and equipment tests) can be submitted year-round for all research vessels as before. If you wish to have a cruise proposal evaluated on a specific GPF meeting, the following new deadlines apply: 

NEW CRUISE PROPOSALS FOR RV METEOR

New cruise proposals should no longer be written for RV METEOR (1986), but already for the new RV METEOR (see Research Vessels). As its predecessor, the new RV METEOR will be able to operate expeditions in the Atlantic and its adjacent seas and, in the future, in the Indian Ocean and the Eastern Pacific.

Current GPF Panel sessions:

15th GPF meeting: February 04-05, 2025
Feedback to proponents: from March 03, 2025

16th GPF meeting: May 08-09, 2025 –including SPP 2520 proposals (funding from 2026)
Feedback to proponents: from June 30, 2025

17th GPF meeting: November 13-14, 2025
Feedback to proponents: from December 15, 2025

18th GPF meeting: May 07-08, 2026 – including SPP 2520 proposals (funding from 2027)
Feedback to proponents: from June 30, 2026