Coastal research

In the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Framework Programme "Research for Sustainable Developments" (FONA II) the German coasts are mentioned as one of four key regions of Earth system research.

In a consultative process with scientific associations and practice-oriented users of oceanographic research on North and Baltic Sea, a coastal research agenda was drawn up which will serve as the thematic guideline for targeted funding measures of the BMBF in the field of coastal research.

Here, the overall goal is the development and continuous improvement of scientific bases for ecosystem-oriented sustainable management of coastal resources. The agenda emphasizes six research priorities:

• hydrodynamics, sediment-dynamics and morphodynamics,
• material cycles,
• biological change,
• use demands from the climate change perspective,
• infrastructures in coastal engineering and maritime traffic engineering as well as
• contributions to the development of measuring and monitoring systems.

There are plans to publish three funding announcements for the implementation of the coastal research agenda.

Topics on which project proposals can be submitted may be the following:

1. Fundamentals for the improved understanding of territorial sea ecosystems,
2. Interactions, exchange and transport processes between seabed and water column,
3. Development and evaluation of concepts for innovative infrastructures and systems in the coastal zone.

Apart from the support of the scientific-technical topics an accompanying project is planned, which is intended to accompany the implementation of the funding initiative with regards to content and organization in close coordination with the BMBF and the project management organization.