The Future Ocean
The Future Ocean is a Cluster of Excellence founded in November 2006 in line with the German excellence initiative by the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU), the Muthesius Kunsthochschule (MKHS), the Institut für Weltwirtschaft (IfW) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung (GEOMAR).[1][2] It is an interdisciplinary marine research group and it is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).[3] Part of the cluster is the Integrated School of Ocean Sciences (ISOS) which is a post graduate school for ocean sciences in Kiel.
Established
Goals[edit]
The ocean plays an important role in the global climate, holds dangers, but simultaneously provides opportunities not just in the form of exploitable resources but also in many different fields of research. With that in mind the scientists in the cluster "The Future Ocean" have one common goal: to reassess the opportunities and risks of global change for the ocean and to allow a sustainable management of its resources based on these insights. [4]
Governance[edit]
The cluster developed an operational framework, which has been approved by the General Member Assembly in 2008. The cluster framework defines the decision making process, advisory mechanisms and several core groups.
The General Member Assembly elects the Cluster's director, acting director and members of the Executive Committee. It also votes on new full and associate membership applications. The General Member Assembly meets at least once a year.
The Cluster Council is the assembly of principal investigators and junior research group leaders. It consists currently of 55 members and advises the Executive Committee on research-related matters, overall budget allocations and meets at least twice a year.
The Executive Committee is composed of a number of representatives from various cluster research and science support topics, participating institutions including platforms, the graduate school, junior research groups, the postdoc network, and PhD students. The Executive Committee meets monthly and makes all operational, management and funding decisions of the cluster.
The External Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is currently composed of 15 national and international experts. The SAB meets in Kiel once a year and provides guidance and advice to the cluster.
The cluster has several international partners, e.g. the Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, Columbia University in New York, USA, the Ocean University of China in Quingdao and others.[6]