Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW)
The Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde, IOW) was founded in 1992 on the recommendation of the German Council of Science and Humanities. It succeeded the Institute for Oceanography, Warnemünde, which was the premiere oceanographic research institute of the German Democratic Republic's German Academy of Sciences. Today, the institute is a member of the Leibniz Association (Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, WGL). The institute's facilities are financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry of Education. IOW's research program focuses on coastal oceans and marginal seas, with a particular emphasis on the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea.