MARUM Research Academy
About
Purpose and tasks
The MARUM Research Academy is a dynamic hub for researchers at the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM) at the University of Bremen. It offers a structured yet flexible development programme designed to strengthen research excellence and professional skills. Researchers at all career stages benefit from a wide range of opportunities, including expert-level and methods-oriented training, as well as workshops focusing on transferable skills such as science communication, leadership, supervision, career development and mental health. The Research Academy also fosters networking and collaboration through the organisation of symposia, workshops and social events.
Our integrated graduate programme provides doctoral researchers with a structured environment in which they are supervised by an experienced team of researchers (Thesis Advisory Committee – TAC). The programme offers dedicated support tailored to the needs of this stage of an academic career, including funding to attend external courses and conferences and conduct research placements. Membership is open to doctoral researchers at all marine science institutes in Bremen.
The MARUM Research Academy offers counselling and coaching to individual researchers at all career stages and for research teams. This service is designed to help strengthen key skills for personal and professional success. Typical counselling and coaching topics include career planning and transitions within and beyond academia, resilience, communication and conflict resolution, effective teamwork, mental health, time and stress management, and leadership. Our goal is to empower individuals and teams to thrive in research with confidence and balance.
Early-career researchers can also benefit from mentoring programmes, which allow them to learn from experienced colleagues.
The MARUM Research Academy also offers support to temporary graduate programmes in the marine sciences with the involvement of MARUM / the University of Bremen.
Official logo of the MARUM Research Academy
A brief history
Support and training for early-career researchers (ECR) has a long tradition in marine science at the University of Bremen. Structured support for doctoral researchers was first introduced in 1999 with the establishment of the European College for Marine Sciences (ECOLMAS), a collaboration between the marine science institutions in Bremen and the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ).
In 2006, the Bremen International Graduate School for Marine Sciences, 'Global Change in the marine realm' (GLOMAR) was funded in the first round of the Excellence Initiative, a federal and state government funding scheme for graduate programmes.GLOMAR served as a role model for several other graduate programmes, the most prominent of which was the Bremen Early Career Researcher Development Programme (BYRD) at the University of Bremen.
In 2012, the graduate school was integrated into MARUM, broadening its scope of topics. Doctoral researchers were no longer required to specialise in global change topics, and came from a range of marine science disciplines. Between 2006 and 2025, a total of 282 people completed and defended their doctoral theses with the support of GLOMAR.
In 2025, GLOMAR was replaced by the MARUM Research Academy. The latter has a broader scope, offering support not only to doctoral researchers, but also to postdocs, senior scientists, supervisors, and guest researchers. All measures for doctoral researchers remain in place. Our graduate programme continues to welcome members from MARUM, as well as marine researchers from other marine science institutions in Bremen.
Logo of the former Graduate School GLOMAR