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Structured postgraduate programs are a relatively new feature at German Higher Educational Institutions, mainly fostered in the 90ies by the funding programs of the German Science Foundation (Research Training Groups) and the Max-Planck-Association (International Max Planck Research Schools). Since then, funding opportunities for postgraduate programs have equally been set up by the Helmholtz and Leibniz Associations as well as the Excellence Initiative. Today, doctoral candidates can chose from a wide range of training programs to earn a doctoral degree within a structured framework under excellent research conditions. In consequence, the percentage of PhD students in natural sciences that follow a PhD within a structured program has been continuously increasing. Graduate Schools provide a roof under which different curricula can be accommodated. They offer a com-prehensive training program, foster interdisciplinary thinking and are a key instrument for quality assurance byproviding rules relevant and equal to all doctoral candidates regardless of funding or affiliation. With more and more Graduate Schools becoming a permanent feature in the training of doctoral candidates, universities and research institutions are provided with a tool to create added value for the whole range of early career scientists and beyond. The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is currently developing a comprehensive strategy for early and pre-career support with the aim to provide a continuous support chain from high school students to Postdocs. Included are also the apprentices that get a vocational training at AWI as laboratory assistants, office clerks or qualified IT specialists. AWI aims at establishing a solid training network between these groups (apprentices, high school students, Bc and Ms students, internships, doctoral candidates, and Postdocs) across biographic borders. This network serves more than the classical transition phases from high school to

The Helmholtz Graduate School for Polar and Marine Research (POLMAR) at the Alfred Wegener Institute Bremerhaven was founded in 2008. It is exclusive in its focus on high latitude marine ecosystems and polar climate change. It aims to improve the qualification of the participating Ph.D. students and provides an optimal research environment towards their doctoral degree. The students will be prepared for taking over leading positions in research, management and policy, technology development, or consulting and education.Membership is open to all PhD students of the AWI and its cooperating institutions. Within its first year, POLMAR attracted more than 70 members, some of them being in their second or third year of the PhD project. Furthermore, eleven stipends are financed by POLMAR (period 2009 2012), a second call will be launched at the end of 2011.A structured postgraduate education program started in 2009. It consists of scientific courses, soft and transferable skill trainings as well as a monthly seminar and invited guest speakers. The program is set up in close co-operation with the Helmholtz Research School on Earth System Science (ESSRES) at AWI and our partner institutions (University of Bremen, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Jacobs University, University of Potsdam, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Marine Ressources). Courses at the partner institutions are mutually open to all students. In consequence, students have a wide choice of up-to-date disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses and can tailor their study program according to their specific needs, interests and time availability.Also, students find support in all matters concerning their PhD, notably contract and insurance issues, help with their PhD committee, support during maternity or parental leave and child care. Financial support is offered as travel grants and short-term outgoing scholarships in order to foster collaborative research with inte

Study of plankton sample from the northeast Atlantic has revealed an exceptional specimen of Ceratolithus cristatus. This consists of a rostratus-typeceratolith surrounded by a collapsed coccosphere of delicate hoop-coccoliths and a partial outer collapsed coccosphere of nishidae-type planoliths. Thisprovides the final direct evidence needed to support the earlier hypothesis that these three calcareous structures are all provided by the single speciesCeratolithus cristatus. It appears likely that this species has a complex life-cycle.

Coccolithophore flux variations in sediment traps of the time-series station ESTOC (European Station for Time-series in the Ocean, Canary Islands),located 60 nautical miles north of Gran Canaria, were recorded from April 1993 to December 1996. The 20 cup particle traps were deployed at 1000 and 3000 m belowsea surface, and sampling intervals ranged from eight days to three weeks.Coccolith and coccosphere fluxes at both trap depths were characterized by a strong seasonality. At 1000 m, maximum coccolith fluxes were reachedduring spring from March to April 1995 and from February to March 1996. Highest coccolith fluxes of 4538e6 coccoliths m-2 d-1 occurred at thebeginning of March 1996, whereas lowest values of 19.8e6 coccoliths m-2 d-1 were recorded in June 1994. Total coccosphere fluxes were constantly lowduring most of the investigated time interval and showed only high values during the main sedimentation phases from January to March 1995 (up to 6.2e6spheres m-2 d-1) and in March 1996 (36.4e6 spheres m-2 d-1).At 3000 m water depth, the sedimentation pattern was rather similar to the pattern observed at 1000 m. Maximum coccolith and coccosphere fluxes werealso reached during spring time in February 1994 (8200e6 and 15.6e6 m-2 d-1, respectively) and in March 1996 (8114e6 and 32.3e6 m-2 d-1,respectively). However, total coccolith flux peaks at 3000 m were about 2-4 times higher compared to the upper traps, probably due to horizontal advectionfrom phytoplankton material from north of the study site. This effect also influenced the coccolith-CaCO3 flux estimates. Mean calculated coccolith-CaCO3fluxes ranged between 3.9 mg m-2 d-1 for the upper traps (1995/1996) and 9.9 mg m-2 d-1 for the lower traps (1996). Coccoliths contributed for about8-78% of the measured total CaCO3 fluxes (<1 mm fraction), with a mean contribution of 33.4% in the upper, and 41.4% in the lower traps.The coccolithophore assemblages were dominated by Emiliania huxleyi, Florisphaera profunda, and Gep

Six studies in this special issue dealt with modern nannoplankton assemblages. In total during these studies 552 samples were analysed and about 180,000 specimens identified, from 152 species. This paper provides a unified list of taxa from these studies, records the present/absence of each species across the studies and indicates the more common species. Comparison of results indicates a high level of consensus on taxonomy and a high commonality of the floras.

Biometrical analyses were performed on nearly 3200 specimens of distinct coccolith species from the time-series station ESTOC (European Station for Time-series in the Ocean, Canary Islands). Originally begun for calculation of modern species-specific carbonate fluxes, this study was further intensified, both to improve our knowledge of the morphological variability for each of the investigated species, and to check the seasonal size-variations of the various species. Besides the dominant taxa Emiliania huxleyi and Florisphaera profunda, intensive measurements of various parameters have been made on Calcidiscus leptoporus, Gephyrocapsa spp., Helicosphaera carteri, Syracosphaera pulchra, and Umbilicosphaera sibogae. Generally, the species are unimodally distributed, with respect to length/diameter, and show only slight seasonal variation.

A method for non-destructive disaggregation of coccoliths contained in fecal pellets, marine snow and on coccospheres is described. It consists of repeatedchemical oxidation of organic material with (NaClO and H2O2) combined with brief periods of ultrasonification.