On the third of June, the r/v Oceanograf became a 'drifting university' where academic communities from the two SEA-EU universities could work together and exchange knowledge. Students and scientists from Christian Albrecht University Kiel (CAU) boarded the catamaran. The guests took part in research in Eckernförde Bay, where the cruise research team carried out hydroacoustic measurements and took samples of sediment, water, microplastics and zooplankton.

- 'Our unit is very good at collecting samples from a single location, it holds its position accurately, which also makes performing hydroacoustic transits very precise,' - presented the research potential of the vessel dr Aleksandra Brodecka-Goluch, the scientific leader of the cruise. Dr Jens Schneider von Deimling from Kiel University talked about the current research in the Eckernförde Bay.

The one-day expedition was very diverse in terms of the research carried out. First, Oceanograf scientists made hydroacoustic measurements using, among other things, a multibeam echosounder that maps the seabed. They then collected samples from the water column over pockmarks, which are funnels on the seabed through which greenhouse gases can be emitted. Using other tools such as a Van Veen scoop, WP2 net and multinet, the research team sampled sediment, zooplankton and microplastics.

- 'It's the first time I've been on this type of vessel, because of the pandemic I haven't had the opportunity to go on a marine research expedition before,' - says Chris Straßburger, a geophysics student at Christian Albrecht University in Kiel. - 'As part of my bachelor's degree I analysed ready-made data like this, so it's cool to see how it's collected.'

- 'The ship is very technically sound. On other research vessels I've been on, there was similar equipment, but here the equipment on the research desk is more modern. Usually, we have to bring our own computers, and here everything is ready,' - Merve Jensen, a geophysics student at Christian Albrecht University in Kiel, sums up her impressions.

The meeting between the Oceanograf research team and the CAU students also led to discussions about potential cooperation. - 'One of the students was very interested in my work. In Germany, an undergraduate degree in biology is quite general, only later do you choose a specialisation. The girl I talked to was thinking about spending the next stage of her education at the University of Gdańsk,' - says dr hab. Agata Weydmann-Zwolicka, prof. UG, head of the Department of Marine Plankton, UG.

The one-day cruise in the Eckernförde Bay will not be the last expedition in which students from other SEA-EU universities will take part. During the next stops, the r/v Oceanograf will again serve as a 'drifting university'. Soon students from the University of Brest, as well as the University of Cadiz, will see how research is carried out on Europe's most advanced marine research vessel.