Newswise — The NSERC CREATE Transatlantic Ocean System Science and Technology (TOSST), based in Halifax, joins the EU1.8 million ($2.5 million) Helmholtz School for Ocean System Science and Technology (HOSST) based in Kiel, Germany. The program will train graduate students in advanced science and technology to address responsible use and management of deep sea and open ocean environments.
The program will support an international cohort of masters and PhD students to conduct interdisciplinary ocean research: including physical, chemical, biological and geological sciences, marine technology, and marine management. The connection between research and ocean-related industries will be emphasized through workshops, internships and business management courses with the assistance of the Halifax Marine Research Institute (HMRI) and Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia (OTCNS).
Early exposure to international and industry collaboration (including industry internships and research-stays in Germany) will prepare graduates for the increasingly international nature of modern research and employment possibilities in a wide variety of sectors (government, industry, academia, NGOs).
“Our training partnership addresses problems that cannot be tackled on a purely national level—the oceans and atmosphere are connected and mobile, and what is Canada’s ocean today will be someone else’s tomorrow. Work across national borders is critical for modern ocean science, but it’s still rare for students to have the opportunity to do this intensely at the start of their careers. The Canada-Germany cooperation points the way forward, and our masters and PhD students will have a much broader playing field for their research and future careers,” explains Dr. Doug Wallace, a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Ocean Science and Technology and oceanography professor at Dalhousie University.
The partnerships link Dalhousie University, the University of New Brunswick and HMRI with the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), and the Christian-Albrechts-University (CAU) in Kiel, Germany. The joint graduate school is an example of opportunities offered by the growing cooperation with the powerful Helmholtz Association of research centres in Germany, which was the subject of a visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Dalhousie in 2012.
Research under CREATE-TOSST and the German HOSST programs will be focused along a “Transatlantic Transect” ranging from West Africa over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. The common geographic focus will promote interaction and sharing of results between the students as well as awareness of the connectivity of ocean and climate-related processes operating across the North Atlantic Ocean.
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