“I am pleased that the successful journey of the Ocean Technology Campus Rostock can continue. As a flagship for marine technology, the campus is an important component of the economic success of the Hanseatic and university city of Rostock,” commented Mayor Eva-Maria Kröger on the renewed federal funding commitment.

The Ocean Technology Campus Rostock future cluster sees itself as a regional innovation ecosystem with international reach. Its special feature is that, in addition to the University of Rostock and several major research institutions from the Hanseatic city and the state of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, many small and medium-sized enterprises as well as authorities and associations are also involved. The goal is to create optimal conditions for innovation in marine technology—from education and research to the development of new product ideas and their successful commercialization. The physical center of the future cluster is a campus site in Rostock’s fishing port, featuring a growing infrastructure and hosting many of the smaller partner organizations in particular.

In the first cluster phase, which was already funded with €15 million in federal funds, 23 partners participated and established technology priorities and project structures within the innovation fields of Subsea Mobility & Autonomy, Digital Mission, Ocean Lense, Sustainable Ocean Use, and Ocean Open Innovation. A total of 15 projects with an overall volume of nearly €23 million were selected, with €8 million contributed by the participating partners themselves.

At the current kick-off at the Rostock Training and Continuing Education Center (AFZ), the key figures behind both the concluding and upcoming phases of the future cluster are meeting today and tomorrow to plan future activities based on previous achievements and to bring new partners on board. One of them is cluster spokesperson Uwe Freiherr von Lukas. “The campus supports existing stakeholders at the site in their further development, promotes talent, and offers diverse career opportunities. It stimulates the establishment of start-ups and increases the attractiveness of the location for suitable companies and research institutions. The fact that today’s launch of the second phase of the future cluster has been made possible clearly demonstrates that we are already on a very good path,” said the Managing Director of the Fraunhofer competence network OceanTechnologies@Fraunhofer and Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD site.

In addition to technology development, the recruitment of skilled professionals is one of the key focus areas of the Ocean Technology Campus Rostock. In this context, the University of Rostock, together with the cluster partners, has developed a new international degree program titled Sustainable Maritime Engineering. “There is no comparable engineering master’s degree program in Germany in the field of maritime technology offering so many opportunities. What is new is its international orientation, and the content—developed jointly with companies and partners from the region—also provides a strong practical focus and a more pronounced interdisciplinary approach,” explains Sascha Kosleck, Head of the Department of Maritime Systems and Chair of Marine Technology at the University of Rostock. The first students will be able to begin this program in Rostock from fall 2025.

The future cluster also offers programs for other target groups, demonstrating that the maritime sector is attractive and addresses sustainable topics. For example, the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) develops and supports vocational education and training programs in cooperation with the Rostock Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and coordinates school workshops on marine measurement technology and inventor camps specifically aimed at female students. “These are just some of the measures with which the future cluster aims to attract urgently needed skilled workers to Rostock and promote talent. Added to this is our commitment to a conscious gender equality strategy that is to be applied across all cluster activities. Increasing the proportion of women in the still male-dominated world of technology remains an important issue,” explains Regine Labrenz from IOW. She coordinates the cluster area Ocean Open Innovation, which encompasses talent development and continuing education.

Further information on the Ocean Technology Campus Rostock can be found here:
https://www.oceantechnologycampus.com

New Partners of the Ocean Technology Campus Rostock in the Second Funding Phase:

DRYNET GmbH
Geo-DV GmbH
GICON® Group
4H-JENA engineering GmbH
Institute for Applied Ecosystem Research (IfAÖ) GmbH
40knots – Berkmüller & Scheurer GbR
Leibniz Institute for Plasma Research and Technology (INP Greifswald) e.V.
Mount Even UG
Next Tuna GmbH
NKT GmbH & Co. KG
Photonion GmbH
Schülerforschungszentrum MikroMINT e.V.
WindEnergy Network e.V.

Partners of the Ocean Technology Campus Rostock Since the First Funding Phase:

ALTOW Digital Innovation GmbH & Co. KG
BaltiCo GmbH
Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency
EvoLogics GmbH
FIUM GmbH & Co. KG
Research Association MV e.V.
Framework Robotics GmbH
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Rostock Economic and Technology Development Corporation mbH
50Hertz Transmission GmbH
HYDRO-BIOS Apparatebau GmbH
Julius Marine GmbH
KrakenPower GmbH
State Research Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania
Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde
LGC Genomics Berlin
PLANET AI GmbH
RS Diving Contractor GmbH
SENECT GmbH & Co. KG
Subsea Monitoring Network e.V.
Subsea Europe Services GmbH
Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries
University of Rostock